Source: UNIV OF MINNESOTA submitted to NRP
ADDRESSING DISBUDDING PAIN AND ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS FOR TRANSITIONING ORGANIC DAIRY FARMS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1023662
Grant No.
2020-51106-32357
Cumulative Award Amt.
$499,794.00
Proposal No.
2020-02284
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2020
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2024
Grant Year
2020
Program Code
[112.E]- Organic Transitions
Recipient Organization
UNIV OF MINNESOTA
(N/A)
ST PAUL,MN 55108
Performing Department
CFANS West Central ROC Morris
Non Technical Summary
The long-term goal of this project is to increase and sustain organic dairy production and animal welfare through breaking barriers to organic dairy transition. One of the major barriers preventing transition to organic dairy production is dairy producers' concerns about disbudding dairy calves and the challenges with animal health and welfare in an organic production system. The present proposal addresses these challenges through research involving the University of Minnesota's West Central and Research Center's certified organic dairy. We will develop methods to investigate the management feasibility to address pain and alternative options for disbudding for transitioning organic dairy farms. We will also evaluate markers of calf health, behavior and welfare to ultimately provide recommendations on best calf disbudding options for producers. Holstein and crossbred calves will be compared across and within each calf disbudding option. The results of this project will be valuable to organic dairy producers and will be disseminated to transitioning and organic producers and industry representatives throughout the United States. Our research results will be shared with our larger stakeholder groups through field days, conferences, publications, and webinars. Results from this study will provide research-based information on best options for pain management and disbudding in young calves which will help enhance the sustainability of US organic dairy farms and improve dairy industry's public perception.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
3073499106040%
3153499106060%
Knowledge Area
307 - Animal Management Systems; 315 - Animal Welfare/Well-Being and Protection;

Subject Of Investigation
3499 - Dairy cattle, general/other;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goal of this project is to increase and sustain organic dairy production and animal welfare through breaking barriers to organic dairy transition. One of the major barriers preventing transition to organic dairy production includes dairy producers' concerns about dairy calf disbudding and the challenges with calf health in an organic production system.The long-term goal of this project is to enhance organic dairy animal welfare by advocating for science-based methods to alleviate the negative effects of disbudding. Producers and veterinarians of organic dairy cattle often express their critical need for evidence-based information concerning the efficacy of organic-approved treatments and management practices to reduce the adverse effects of disbudding on animal welfare. Critics of organic dairy practices are concerned that producers use ineffective approaches to care for animals.This project proposes to address an important portion of stakeholder critical needs by conducting controlled experiments to evaluate organic-approved treatments to mitigate acute pain caused by the disbudding procedure, and to evaluate long-term effects of disbudding on animal welfare in organic systems.Our goal is to identify and recommend management practices for disbudding young calves that will address a challenge but also likely provide a market opportunity for transitioning organic dairy producers, therefore improving dairy farm profitability. Specific objectives are: 1)To determine a dose of Salix extract that minimizes inflammation, 2) to evaluate the post-disbudding analgesic effects of Salix extract in calves, 3) evaluate effects of disbudding on weaning stress of calvesand evaluate effects of disbudding on transition stress in primiparous postpartum cows, and 4) disseminate project findings to stakeholders through hands-on and written communication and provide hands-on education for farmers. The success of this project will be evaluated by acceptance and implication of the project findings by organic and transitioning dairy farmers, and publications in farmer magazines, on extension websites, and in peer reviewed journals.
Project Methods
The organic dairy industry is in desperate need of methods to improve animal welfare, and horn removal represents a major identified issue threatening the industry's public image. Critics of the organic dairy industry constantly express concern about practices that jeopardize animal welfare, such as usage of alternative therapies that lack scientific proof of effectiveness. Furthermore, the use of unproven alternative therapies does not meet the legal requirements set by the NOP (i.e., suffering animals must be alleviated by an effective treatment method). A randomized crossover trial with repeated measures will be used to carry out the objective of activity 1. A 3-day washout period will be used to minimize carry-over effects, and treatment sequences will be orthogonal. This activity will be carried out over the course of 1 calving season using 10 female calves 4-8 weeks old--the typical age range for disbudding. During each of the 5 treatment periods, the 10 calves will be randomly assigned to receive an anti-inflammatory treatment: 1)Flunixin meglumine (positive control; 2.2 mg/kg), 2) no treatment (negative control, 3) low dose of Salix extract (225 mg/kg of salicin), 4) medium dose of Salix extract (450 mg/kg of salicin) or 5) high dose of Salix extract (900 mg/kg of salicin). To evaluate the post-disbudding analgesic effects of Salix extract in calves, a generalized randomized complete block design with repeated measures will be used to carry out the objective. This study will be performed over the course of 1 calving season using 45 female calves in 5 pens (blocks) of 12 calves. Within a pen of 12 calves, nine calves will be randomly assigned to receive 1 of the following 3 treatments: 1) disbudded (positive control), 2) sham disbudded, or 3) Salix extract bolus + disbudded. The remaining 3 calves in each pen (n = 15) will not be disbudded and will be evaluated in further objectives. Sham disbudding will demonstrate handling stress, and including this group will improve the comparability and reproducibility of the experiment. Calves will receive their treatment in 15-minute intervals from 9000 to 1100 hours in a chute directly outside the pen. All calves will receive lidocaine (5 mL per horn bud of 2% lidocaine and oral boluses of either Salix extract or placebo. To evaluate long-term effects of disbudding on ability to cope with stressors, a generalized randomized complete block design with repeated measures will be used to investigate the long-term effects of disbudding on stress by following-up on calves during their weaning and transitioning periods. The selected sampling periods reflect life events in which animals are exposed to novel experiences and must cope with exaggerated stressors, which may be exacerbated by previous traumatic events. These periods were also chosen to evaluate the effects of disbudding before and after horns mature; once the horns mature, it will be impossible to delineate effects of disbudding and effects of horns. All analyses will be performed using SAS/STAT software using linear mixed models or using generalized linear mixed models. Normality of each outcome variable will be assessed on the raw-scale visually in a histogram prior to model selection and in diagnostics plots after each analysis to confirm assumptions are met. Transformations of variables will be applied depending on the type of data. For example, a natural log transformation may be appropriate for continuous data, whereas a square root transformation may be appropriate for count data. However, previous literature identified the deficits of transforming response variables without exploring other options. Therefore, Poisson regression models will be considered as viable options--especially to analyze behavior count data--to appropriately balance the bias and precision of the estimates. Furthermore, overdispersion is a common issue in count data, which often leads to an inflated Type I error. For the Poisson regression models, overdispersion will be evaluated by the Pearson chi-squared statistic, which should be approximately equal to the residual degrees of freedom. This can be statistically evaluated by calculating the probability of obtaining the observed Pearson chi-square statistic from a chi-square distribution with an expected mean equal to the residual degrees of freedom, where a small p-value suggests evidence of poor model fit. In this case, a negative binomial model will likely be a better option to account for the additional variance if the overdispersion is not due to specification errors of the Poisson model. Repeated measures models will include a normally distributed baseline covariate and covariance structures of either compound symmetry, first-order autoregressive, or spatial power to define the correlation between repeated observations. The Akaike information criterion (AIC) score will be used to compare models (e.g., compound symmetry vs. first-order autoregressive covariance structures, fixed vs. random block, etc.). Furthermore, diagnostic plots of residuals will be used as tools to assess final model fit. Finally, least squares will be used to estimate means and standard errors for linear mixed models. Back-transformed means will include back-transformed 95% confidence intervals for measures of error. Using frequentist hypothesis testing as the method of statistical inference, a statistical test (e.g., F statistic) with a p-value less than 0.05 (α < 0.05) will declare a "significant" effect of the respective fixed effect, and a Tukey adjustment of the p-value will be made to compare multiple means.

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:We have reached organic and conventional and transitioning dairy farmers across the United States. We have also provided information from the project to farmers and organic dairy industry representatives across the United States on the disbudding proejct. We have also trained 1 undergraduate and 1 graduate student in experimental design and collection of research data. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has trained organic dairy producers on the alternatives for pain mitigation strategies in organic dairy calves. Many organic industry representatives and farmers were informed on dairy calf disbudding practices at the University of Minnesota during many conference presentations and podcast related to this project.We have also trained a graduate students in proper experiemental design, data collection, and analysis of data. A graduate stduent from Minnesota presented research on disbudding of dairy calves for organic produciton at the American Dairy Science Association meeting in June 2024 in West Palm Beach Florida. Also, this research was presented at The 57th Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE) in Curitiba, Brazil in July 2024. Results from the study were also presented in poster format at the February 2024 Marbleseed Organic Conference in LaCrosse, WI. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Over 1000 people have attended presentations related to the objective research in the project. Results were disseminated to academic and audiences through peer-reviewed publications and abstracts presented at conferences. Presentations were also given that included farmers that have used our research results at grazing and organic conferences. We also have small focus group meeting with organic dairy farmers on a monthly basis where we showcased these results from the project. Furthermore, the information was disseminated on The Moos Room podcast. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Behavior and stress of first-lactation horned and dehorned organic dairy cattle during milking.Most US dairy producers disbud cattle. Raising cattle that are horned may more closely align with organic values of natural living while removing a welfare concern in early life. However, many producers perceive horns as a safety concern. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the behavior and salivary cortisol concentrations of dehorned (n = 37) and nondehorned (n = 14) first-lactation dairy cows at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center organic dairy in Morris, Minnesota. Cattle were milked twice daily during the first 8 d of first lactation. Handlers provided scores for ease of milking parlor entry and behavior in the milking parlor and recorded occurrences of kicks and stomping in the milking parlor. Saliva samples were collected immediately after milking. Linear mixed models were used for analysis of salivary cortisol and logistic regression was used for analysis of behavior with the fixed effects of dehorning status, days in milk, time of milking (a.m. or p.m.), and the interaction of dehorning status and days in milk with cow as a random effect. Dehorned cattle (163.3 pg/mL, 95% CI = 152.4 to 174.9) had higher salivary cortisol (P = 0.037) than horned cattle (142.3 pg/mL, 95% CI = 128.1 to 158.0). Mean salivary cortisol was lower (P < 0.001) for increased days in milk from 203.2 pg/mL on d 1 to 140.4 pg/mL on d 8. Cortisol was higher (P = 0.006) during the morning (157.7 pg/mL, 95% CI = 147.6 to 168.3) than during the evening (147.4 pg/mL, 95% CI = 138.20 to 157.3). There was no effect of dehorning status, days in milk, or time for parlor entry or behavior scores or the occurrence of kicking or stomping in the milking parlor. The results indicate that dehorning may have long-term impacts on animal wellbeing. Dehorned dairy cattle had higher salivary cortisol than horned cattle and similar behavior during milking in the first 8 d of lactation.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Organic Milk Production in the USA. SDSU Dairy Science Class, March 1, 2024. South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bacon, M., M.I. Endres, and B.J. Heins. 2024. Behavior and stress of first-lactation horned and dehorned organic dairy cattle during milking. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 107, Suppl. 1 (Abstract #1582) p.155
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Organic Milk Production in the USA. SUSTAG 8000, November 9, 2023. University of Minnesota, St. Paul
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Improving the Health of Organic Dairy Cows & Heifers. Minnesota Organic Conference, January 12, 2024. St. Cloud, Minnesota
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Behavior and stress of primiparous horned and dehorned dairy cattle in the milking parlor. Marbleseed Conference. February 22-23, 2024, LaCrosse, Wisconsin
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Organic Milk Production in the USA. SDSU Dairy Science Class, March 1, 2024. South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota


Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:We have reached organic dairy farmers across the United States. We have also provided information from the project to veterinarians, organic dairy industry representatives across the United States on the disbuddingproejct. A field day was offered for organic dairy producers, extension educators, and organic industry personnel during August 2023. We have also trained 5 undergraduateand 1 graduate student in experimental design and collection of research data. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has trained organic dairy producers on the alternatives for pain mitigation strategies in organic dairy calves. Many extension educators and organic industry representatives were informed on dairy calf disbudding practices at the University of Minnesota organic dairy field day in August 2023. We have trained 2 undergraduate students on how to conduct research and outreach with disbudding and dairy calves. We have also trained a graduate students in proper experiemental design, data collection, and analysis of data.A graduate stduentfrom Minnesota presented research on disbudding of dairy calves for organic produciton at the American Dairy Science Association meeting in June 2023 in Ottawa, Canada. Results from the study were also presented in poster format at the February 2023 Marbleseed Organic Conference in LaCrosse, WI, and the 2023 UMN CFANS Graduate Research Symposium in St. Paul, MN. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We had an in-person organic dairy day at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center in August 2023 to provide farmers and other industry personnel tools that they can take back to their farm when disbudding dairy calves. During the last year, over 150 people have attended the field days at the WCROC. Over 500 people have attended presentations related to the objective research in the project. Results were disseminated to academic and audiences through peer-reviewed publications and abstracts presented at conferences. Presentations were also given that included farmers that have used our research results at grazing and organic conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The investigators on the project continue to review objectives and accomplishments of the project. We continue to collect data on the lactating cows that have been disbudded, as well as horned animals for cortisol and production parameters. During the last year of the project, we will draft peer review publications.Also, a graduate student will complete her PhD with the project and write 3 peer reviewed publications.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Effects of willow bark (Salix) on post-disbudding behaviors in dairy calves under organic management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an oral WB bolus on the behavior of 25 Holstein and crossbred heifer calves disbudded between 5 to 7 weeks of age. Calves were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: hot iron disbudding with lidocaine (5 mL per horn bud; n = 8), hot iron disbudding with oral WB (200 mg/kg; n = 10), or a "sham" disbudding (n = 7) in which an unheated iron is used to simulate the disbudding procedure as a control for handling stress. Tablets continuously recorded behaviors beginning 1 h before and ending 4 h after disbudding. Three observers, blinded to treatment, recorded the frequency of 6 behaviors (ear flicks, head rubs, head shakes, head scratches, tail flicks, transitions between lying and standing, and grooming) in 10-minute intervals using BORIS event-logging software. Logistic regression was used for analysis with the fixed effects of disbudding treatment, hour of observations, and the interaction of treatment and hour, with calf included in all models as a random effect. . The frequency of transitions was affected by treatment (P < 0.05); the adjusted log mean number of transitions was 0.72 higher in calves receiving Salix compared to sham disbudding. Hour of observation had a main effect on head rubs (P < 0.001) and grooming (P < 0.001). Calves across treatments rubbed their heads more frequently in the first hour after disbudding than in hours 2 and 3 and groomed themselves more in the hour before disbudding than in hours 2 and 4 after. There was a main effect of the interaction of treatment and hour in head shakes (P < 0.05. No effect of treatment, hour, or their interaction was observed in ear flicks, head scratches, tail flicks. These results indicate that Salix alone does not provide sufficient relief from disbudding pain. Effects of multimodal pain relief on stress in disbudded dairy calves under organic management. Disbudding is a standard procedure on most dairy farms, but organic options to alleviate pain are limited. White willow bark (WB) is commonly used to reduce pain in dairy calves under organic management. Dull It (DU) is a tincture of organic alcohol, apple cider vinegar, WB, St. John's Wort, chamomile, arnica, and fennel. The objective of this study was to assess the analgesic effects of oral WB and DU on the heart rates, salivary cortisol concentration, and lying behavior of disbudded Holstein and crossbred dairy calves. Calves were hot-iron disbudded between 5 to 7 weeks of age (Mean = 44 d) and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: Lidocaine only (LID; n=18), Lidocaine and DU (n=18), or Lidocaine and WB (n=17). Heart rates and lying behavior were recorded continuously during the study period. Saliva samples were collected from 30 randomly selected "minimally-invasive" (MIN) calves 1 hour before disbudding, at disbudding, 5 min, 10 min, and every 30 min until 240 min after disbudding; the remaining 23 calves served as a "non-invasive" (NI) group. There was no main effect of treatment on heart rate, cortisol concentrations, or lying behavior. The heart rates of MIN WB calves were above baseline in 30 (of 48) 5-min intervals post-disbudding (P < 0.05); heart rates of NI WB calves were above baseline in only 2 intervals post-disbudding (P < 0.01), MIN LID calves in 3 intervals (P < 0.05) and MIN DU calves in 1 interval (P < 0.05). Cortisol concentrations of DU calves (100.40 pg/mL) were higher (P < 0.05) than WB calves (88.37 pg/mL); neither DU nor WB differed from LID. Overall, DU and WB offered little to no analgesic effect. These results highlight the need for continued research on organic methods of pain mitigation. Can willow bark or Dull-It provide pain relief in disbudded dairy calves under organic management? Disbudding is a standard procedure on most dairy farms, but organic options to alleviate pain are limited. White willow bark (WB) is commonly used to reduce pain in dairy calves under organic management. Dull It (DU) is a tincture of organic alcohol, apple cider vinegar, WB, St. John's Wort, chamomile, arnica, and fennel. The objective of this study was to assess the analgesic effects of oral WB and DU on the heart rates, salivary cortisol concentration, and lying behavior of disbudded Holstein and crossbred dairy calves. Calves were disbudded with a hot iron between 5 to 7 weeks of age (Mean = 44 d) and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: Lidocaine only (LID; n=18), Lidocaine and DU (n=18), or Lidocaine and WB (n=17). Heart rates and lying behavior were recorded continuously during the study period. Saliva samples were collected from 30 randomly selected "minimally-invasive" (MIN) calves 1 hour before disbudding, at disbudding, 5 min, 10 min, and every 30 min until 240 min after disbudding; the remaining 23 calves served as a "non-invasive" (NI) group to control for stress from repeated sampling. Results were analyzed with the fixed effects of treatment, group (NI or MIN), time, and the interactions of treatment, group, and time, with calf as a random effect. There was no main effect of treatment on heart rate, cortisol concentrations, or lying behavior. The heart rates of MIN WB calves were above baseline in 30 (of 48) 5-min intervals post-disbudding; heart rates of NI WB calves were above baseline in only 2 intervals post-disbudding, MIN LID calves in 3 intervals and MIN DU calves in 1 interval. Cortisol concentrations of DU calves (100.40 pg/mL) were higher than WB calves (88.37 pg/mL); neither DU nor WB differed from LID. Overall, DU and WB offered little to no analgesic effect. These results highlight the need for continued research on organic methods of pain mitigation.

Publications

  • Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: UMN Extension Moos Room Podcast -Mar 20, 2023 Episode 162 - UMN WCROC Dairy research update with Dr. Bradley J Heins
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Addressing Disbudding Pain and Alternative Options for Transitioning Organic Dairy Farms. ORG-PD Meeting, Washington DC, April 2023
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: Putting Organic Dairy Research to Work - Minnesota Organic Conference, January 6, 2023, St. Cloud, MN
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: M. Bacon, M. Endres, B. Heins. Effects of willow bark (Salix) on post-disbudding behaviors in dairy calves under organic management. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 106, Suppl. 1, Abstract 1307T, p.306
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: M. Bacon. Can willow bark or Dull-It provide pain relief in disbudded dairy calves under organic management? UMN CFANS Graduate Research Symposium, March 16, 2023, St. Paul, MN
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2023 Citation: M. Bacon, M. Endres, B. Heins.Effects of multimodal pain relief on stress in disbudded dairy calves under organic management. Marbleseed Organic Conference. Feb 23-25, 2023, LaCrosse, WI


Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:We have reached organic dairy farmers across the Midwest and all of the United States. We have also provided information from the project to veterinarians, organic dairy industry representatives across the United States on the disbudding project. A field day was offered for organic dairy producers, extension educators, and organic industry personnel during August 2022. We have also trained 4 undergraduate and a graduate student in experimental design and collection of research data. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has trained organic dairy producers on the alternatives for pain mitigation strategies in organic dairy calves. Many extension educators and organic industry representatives were informed on dairy calf disbudding practices at the University of Minnesota organic dairy field day in August 2022. We have trained 4 undergraduate students on how to conduct research and outreach with disbudding and dairy calves. We have also trained a graduate students in proper experiemental design, data collection, and analysis of data. Graduate stduents from Minnesota presented research on 2 disbudding studies at the American Dairy Science Association meeting in June 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri. Results from the study were also presented in poster format at the February 2022 MOSES Organic Conference in LaCrosse, WI. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We hadan in-person organic dairy day at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center in August 2022 to provide farmers and other industry personnel tools that they can take back to their farm when implementing a disbudding program. During the last year, over 250 people have attended the field days at the WCROC. Over 500people have attended presentations related to the objective research in the project. Results were disseminated to academic and audiences through peer-reviewed publications and abstracts presented at conferences. Presentations were also given that included farmers that have used our research results at grazing and organic conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The investigators and students working on the project continue to review objectives and accomplishments of the project. We have completed a 2 disbudding trials during 2021 and 2022 and a graduate student is currently writing those manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication. We have started a Qualitative Behaviour Assessment with calf disbudding that will continue this year. We are also drafting protocols for behavior for when these calves with horns and disbudded calves enter the milking herd in Spring 2023. Abstracts and further peer-reviewed publications will be drafted in the next year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Effects of oral white willow bark (Salix alba) and intravenous flunixin meglumine on prostaglandin E2 in healthy dairy calves. White willow bark (WWB) is commonly used in combination with other medicinal herbs and analgesics to alleviate inflammatory pain in disbudded calves under organic management, but there is no evidence to confirm an effect of WWB on inflammatory biomarkers in calves. The objective of this study was to determine whether WWB affects the inflammatory biomarker prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in healthy dairy calves. A randomized crossover trial with 2 periods and 5 treatments was used for this experiment. A 7-d washout period was used to minimize carryover effects. The treatments were (1) 57.6 mg/kg oral WWB (low dose; L-WWB), (2) 115.1 mg/kg oral WWB (medium dose; M-WWB), (3) 230.3 mg/kg oral WWB (high dose; H-WWB), (4) 2.2 mg/kg i.v. flunixin meglumine (FM), or (5) no treatment (NT). Calves (n = 25) were randomly assigned to receive 1 of the 25 treatment sequences. Blood samples were collected at 1, 2, and 4 h after administration to determine PGE2 and salicylic acid plasma concentrations. The WWB had 2,171 μg/g (± 4.3% relative standard error) salicin (0.22%). On average, calves in the FM (721 ± 274 pg/mL) treatment had lower PGE2 than calves in all other treatments. Calves in the NT (2,606 ± 271 pg/mL), L-WWB (2,509 ± 276 pg/mL), M-WWB (2,343 ± 270 pg/mL), and H-WWB (3,039 ± 270 pg/mL) treatments had similar PGE2 averaged across sampling times. Calves in the L-WWB (23.4 ± 1.9 ng/mL), M-WWB (21.5 ± 1.9 ng/mL), and H-WWB (23.3 ± 1.9 ng/mL) treatments had similar maximum salicylic acid plasma concentrations. Results from this study indicate that the WWB doses used in this experiment were ineffective at achieving dose-dependent PGE2 and salicylic acid plasma concentration responses. Effects of multimodal pain relief on stress in disbudded dairy calves under organic management.Disbudding is a standard procedure on most dairy farms, but organic options to alleviate pain are limited. White willow bark (WB) is commonly used to reduce pain in dairy calves under organic management. Dull It (DU) is a tincture of organic alcohol, apple cider vinegar, WB, St. John's Wort, chamomile, arnica, and fennel. The objective of this study was to assess the analgesic effects of oral WB and DU on the heart rates, salivary cortisol concentration, and lying behavior of disbudded Holstein and crossbred dairy calves. Calves were disbudded with a hot iron between 5 to 7 weeks of age (Mean = 44 d) and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: Lidocaine only (LID; n = 18), Lidocaine and DU (n = 18), or Lidocaine and WB (n = 17). Polar H10 monitors recorded heart rates continuously during the 5-h study period; readings were averaged in 5-min intervals. HOBO loggers recorded lying behavior during the study and the following 3 d in 1-min intervals. Saliva samples were collected from 30 randomly selected "minimally-invasive" (MIN) calves 1 h before disbudding, at the time of disbudding, 5 min, 10 min, and every 30 min until 240 min after disbudding; the remaining 23 calves served as a "non-invasive" (NI) group to control for stress from repeated sampling. Results were analyzed with the fixed effects of treatment, group (NI or MIN), time, and the interactions of treatment, group, and time, with calf as a random effect. There was no main effect of treatment on heart rate or cortisol concentrations. The heart rates of MIN WB calves were above baseline in 30 (of 48) 5-min intervals post-disbudding; by comparison, heart rates of NI WB calves were above baseline in only 2 intervals post-disbudding, MIN LID calves were above baseline in 3 intervalsand MIN DU calves were above baseline in 1 interval. Cortisol concentrations of DU calves (100.40 pg/mL) were higherthan WB calves (88.37 pg/mL); neither DU nor WB differed from LID. There was no difference in lyingbehavior between treatments. These findings indicate that DU and WB offer little to no analgesic effect. Effects of willow bark (Salix) on pain and stress in recently disbudded organic dairy calves.White Willow Bark (Salix) is commonly used to alleviate pain in disbudded calves under organic management, but there is no scientific evidence that willow bark (WB) has an analgesic effect in cattle. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an oral WB bolus on heart rate, salivary cortisol, ocular temperature, and lying behavior of 42 Holstein and crossbred heifer calves disbudded between 4 to 7 weeks of age (Mean = 42 d). Calves (n = 14 calves per treatment) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: hot-iron disbudding with lidocaine (5 mL per horn bud), hot-iron disbudding with oral WB (200 mg/kg), or a cold iron "sham" disbudding. Thermal images of the eye and saliva sampleswere collected 1 h before disbudding, at the time of disbudding, 5 min, 10 min, and every 30 min until 240 min after disbudding. Polar H10 heart rate monitors recorded heartrates continuously throughout the 5-h study period; readings were analyzed in 5-min intervals. HOBO loggers recorded lying behavior during the study period and the following 2 d in 1-min intervals. Results were analyzed with the fixed effects of treatment, time within the study, and the interactions of treatment and time, with calf as a random effect. The mean heart rate of sham calves was lower than both lidocaine (P < 0.05) and WB calves (P < 0.001) by 11.44 ± 4.13 bpm and 14.71 ± 4.21 bpm, respectively. The WB calves' heart rates were 11.64 ± 5.78 bpm higher than lidocaine calves during the 5 min immediately following disbudding and 17.00 ± 5.72 bpm higher during the next 5 min. Salivary cortisol concentrations were higher in lidocaine calves (98.93 pg/mL) and WB calves (108.03 pg/mL) than sham calves (87.44 pg/ mL). Cortisol peaked 90 min after disbudding in WB calves (146.161 pg/mL) and 120 min after disbudding in lidocaine calves (121.98 pg/mL). No differences were observed for ocular temperature or lying time or bouts. These results indicate that neither WB nor lidocaine alone are sufficient for relieving disbudding-related pain in dairy calves.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Effects of oral white willow bark (Salix alba) and intravenous flunixin meglumine on prostaglandin E2 in healthy dairy calves Phillips, H.N. et al. JDS Communications, Volume 3, Issue 1, 49 - 54 https://www.jdscommun.org/article/S2666-9102(21)00164-2/fulltext
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2022 Citation: Phillips, H.N.; Heins, B.J. Alternative Practices in Organic Dairy Production and Effects on Animal Behavior, Health, and Welfare. Animals 2022, 12, 1785. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12141785
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Bacon, M, M. Endres, and B.J. Heins. 2022. Effects?of?multimodal?pain?relief?on?stress?in?disbudded dairy calves under organic management. Abstract #1324. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 105, Suppl. 1. Page 128.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Bacon, M, M. Endres, and B.J. Heins. 2022. Effects?of?willow?bark?(Salix) on pain and stress in recently disbudded organic dairy calves. Abstract #1326. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 105, Suppl. 1. Page 128-129.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Heins, Brad. 2022. Organic Dairy Research News. University of Minnesota. July 2022. 8 pages
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: The MOOS Room Podcast. Brad Heins and Extension colleagues are the hosts of a dairy and beef podcast where we discuss dairy issues and organic dairy production are a focus of some of the podcasts. Find on Google Podcasts, IheartRadio, and Apple Podcasts.


Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:We have reached organic dairy farmers across Minnesota. We have also provided information from the project to veterinarians, organic dairy industry representatives, and other faculty at universities across the United States on the disbudding project.A field day was offered fororganic dairy producers, extension educators, and organic industry personnel. We have also trained 3 undergraduate and a graduate student in experimental design and collection of research data. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has trained organic dairy producers on the alternatives for pain mitigation strategies in organic dairy calves. Many extension educators and organic industry representatives were informed on dairy calf disbuddingpractices at the University of Minnesota organic dairy field day. We have trained 3undergraduate students on how to conduct research and outreach. We have also trained 2 graduate students in proper experiemental design, data collection, and analysis of data. Graduate stduents from Minnesota presented research on white willow bark at the 2021 Virtual American Dairy Science Association meeting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We continue to offer an organic dairy day at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center to provide farmers and other industry personnel tools that they can take back to their farm when implementing a disbudding program.During the last year, over 50 people have attended the field days at the WCROC.Over 100 people have attended presentations related to the objective research in the project.Results were disseminated to academic and audiences through peer-reviewed publications and abstracts presented at conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The investigators on the project continue to review objectives and accomplishments of the project. We have completed a disbudding trial during the spring of 2021, and cortisol and behavioral data is being analyzed by a graduate student. Abstracts and further peer-reviewed publications will be drafted in the next year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? White willow bark (WWB) is commonly used in combination with other medicinal herbs and analgesics to alleviate inflammatory pain in disbudded calves under organic management, but there is no evidence on whether WWB has any effects on inflammatory biomarkers in calves. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine if WWB affects the inflammatory biomarker prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in healthy dairy calves. A randomized crossover trial with 2 periods and 5 treatments was used for this experiment. A 7-d washout period was used to minimize carry-over effects. The treatments were: 1) 57.6 mg/kg oral WWB (LOW), 2) 115.1 mg/kg oral WWB (MED), 3) 230.3 mg/kg oral WWB (HIGH), 4) 2.2 mg/kg i.v. flunixin meglumine (FM) or 5) no treatment (NT). Calves (N = 25) were randomly assigned to receive one of the 25 treatment sequences. Blood samples were collected at 1, 2 and 4 h after administration to determine PGE2 and salicylic acid plasma concentrations. The WWB had 2,171 μg/g ± 4.3% relative standard error (0.22%) salicin. On average, calves in the FM (721 ± 274 pg/mL) treatment had lower PGE2 compared to calves in all other treatments. Calves in the NT (2,606 ± 271 pg/mL), LOW (2,509 ± 276 pg/mL), MED (2,343 ± 270 pg/mL) and HIGH (3,039 ± 270 pg/mL) treatments had similar PGE2 averaged across sampling times. Calves in the LOW (23.4 ± 1.9 ng/mL), MED (21.5 ± 1.9 ng/mL) and HIGH (23.3 ± 1.9 ng/mL) treatments had similar maximum salicylic acid plasma concentrations. Results from this study indicate that the WWB doses used in this experiment were ineffective at achieving dose-dependent PGE2 and salicylic acid plasma concentration responses.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2021 Citation: Phillips, H. N., K. T. Sharpe, B. J. Heins, M. I. Endres. 2021. Effects of oral white willow bark (Salix alba) and intravenous flunixin meglumine on inflammation in dairy calves. JDS Communications.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2021 Citation: Heins, Brad. 2021. Organic Dairy Research News. University of Minnesota. June 2021. 8 pages
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Sharpe, K. B. Heins, M. Endres, H Phillips. 2021. Salix extract and flunixin meglumine dosage to minimize inflammation after disbudding in dairy calves. J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 104, Suppl. 1, p.36
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Brad Heins and Hannah Phillips. Alternatives for Disbudding of Dairy Calves. 2021. August 28, 2021 Dairy Star, Page 28. https://issuu.com/dairystar/docs/8-28-21-zone1