Limited Effects of Pain Control Treatments on Behaviour and Weight Gain of Pure and Crossbred Nellore Heifer Calves When Subjected to Hot-Iron Branding.

Hot-iron branding is still commonly performed in cattle farming in tropical countries, and possibly has negative consequences for animal welfare and weight gain. This study examined the behavioural and weight gain responses of pure and crossbred Nellore heifer calves subjected to hot-iron branding on the cheek, without and with use of anaesthesia and analgesia. Ninety-two heifer calves, around 120 days old, were studied prospectively when subjected to hot-iron branding on the cheek (a statutory procedure in Brazil following brucellosis vaccination). Four randomly selected groups of calves were allocated to four treatments: no pain control (CO); subcutaneous anaesthetic local block (LA); intramuscular analgesia (meloxicam) (LT); and local anaesthesia plus meloxicam (LL). Behaviour, flight speed and body weight were evaluated before, during, and five (5-d) and 60 days (60-d) after branding. For these parameters, the only difference observed was higher tension in the CO group 5-d post-branding, suggesting a short-term negative effect of branding without pain control. The limited effects of the pain control treatments suggest interference in pain assessment by other factors, such as expression of fear and stress. Despite the lack of differences observed in behaviour and production parameters, facial hot-iron branding is an obvious welfare issue and, due to the additional handling involved, adoption of a simple pain relief protocol is not sufficient to minimise the welfare impact.

Cryopreservation induces higher oxidative stress levels in Bos indicus embryos compared with Bos taurus.

Freezing and thawing of Bos indicus embryos affect their quality for embryo transfer. The objective of this study was to compare the levels of reactive oxygen species between Bos indicus and Bos taurus embryos produced in vivo, before and after conventional freezing, as well as to analyze damage caused by apoptosis and lipid peroxidation. Bos indicus has higher levels of reactive oxygen species than Bos taurus embryos, both fresh (14.32 ± 1.41 auf vs 8.07 ± 1.15 auf (arbitrary units of fluorescence), P < 0.05) and after freezing (20.91 ± 1.21 auf vs 14.39 ± 0.58 auf, P < 0.05). The number of apoptotic nuclei is also significantly higher in Bos indicus embryos than Bos taurus (8.28 ± 0.80 vs 1 ± 0.57, P < 0.05) but highlighting a notable increase after the freeze-thaw process in both subspecies (Bos indicus from 8.28 ± 0.80 to 10.71 ± 0.42, P < 0.05; Bos taurus from 1 ± 0.57 to 5.5 ± 1.15, P < 0.05). Finally, although lipid peroxidation is lower in Bos indicus embryos before freezing in comparison with Bos taurus (2.46 ± 0.14 vs 4.20 ± 0.51), the effect after the freeze-thaw process showed an increase of 4.34 in Bos indicus than Bos taurus embryos (51.45 ± 5.52 auf vs 11.85 ± 2.88 auf, P < 0.05). In conclusion, in comparison with Bos taurus, Bos indicus embryos undergo greater oxidative stress causing increases in the cryopreservation process, promoting major cell damage and lowering embryonic viability.

Seasonal Differences in Animal Welfare Assessment of Family Farming Dual-Purpose Cattle Raised under Tropical Conditions.

Conditions on farms in the tropics can differ greatly depending on the season of the year. Characteristics such as disease prevalence, climate and availability of resources may not be constant all year around; however an acceptable level of animal welfare must be maintained throughout the year. Since it is neither practical nor economically feasible to perform several assessments per year, the purpose of this study was to define whether there were animal welfare issues at farms that were affected by the season to identify which season would present a greater risk to animal welfare, using a risk-based approach. Forty-five dual-purpose family farms in the Mexican tropics were assessed via the Welfare Quality® protocol. During the rainy season, 2.2% of the farms were classified as excellent, 57.8% as enhanced, 31.1% as acceptable and 8.9% as unclassified. In the dry season, 31.1% were classified as excellent, 68.9% as enhanced and none of the farms were categorized as acceptable or unclassified. Consequently, the season which presented the greatest risk to animal welfare of dual-purpose cattle raised under tropical conditions was the rainy season. However, there were management-related differences observed between the two seasons and the dry season also had some animal welfare threats. The fact that farms scored higher during the dry season is possibly the result of farmer awareness, leading to modification of their systems to provide animals with the necessary inputs to meet their production needs. If these modifications were not fulfilled, then welfare conditions might have been jeopardized.