Effects of yard weaning and human contact compared to paddock weaning on the liveweight gain and stress reactivity of beef cattle
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Date
2023-09-03
Open Access Location
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
Rights
(c) 2023 The Author/s
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Abstract
In New Zealand beef herds, calves undergo ‘paddock weaning’ by separating calves and cows into different paddocks. Anecdotal evidence indicates ‘yard weaning’ whereby calves are yarded and receive regular human contact during weaning may improve long-term stress reactivity and growth rates. Calves were allocated to one of three treatments for seven days post-separation from dams: paddock weaned with minimal human interaction (PN), paddock weaned with daily human interaction (PV), yard weaned with daily human interaction (YV). Calf liveweight, behavioural and physiological measures of stress reactivity and faecal corticosterone concentration were measured. Until day seven, YV calves lost less liveweight than PV or PN calves (0.5 kg vs. 3.5 and 4.8 kg P < 0.05). On day seven, PN calves had a 23% greater heart rate compared to YV calves and a greater faecal corticosterone concentration than PV and YV calves (in cohort 2 only) (P < 0.05). This indicates, regular non-aversive human contact during weaning may reduce stress associated with the weaning process itself and reduced stress reactivity to subsequent handling and restraint. However, this effect was transient with no consistent longer-term benefits over traditional paddock weaning, in terms of growth or stress reactivity to human handling.
Description
Keywords
Beef calves, weaning, temperament, flight score, human contact, heart rate, corticosterone
Citation
Cranston LM, Ramsay BA, Schoorl JAAJ, Stayton KM, Greaves A, Shanks RD, van Kampen CJ, Cockrem JF, Beausoleil NJ, Morris ST, Sneddon NW, Hickson RE. (2023). Effects of yard weaning and human contact compared to paddock weaning on the liveweight gain and stress reactivity of beef cattle. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research. Latest Articles. (pp. 1-14).