Reduced space in outdoor feedlot impacts beef cattle welfare.

There is a trend to reduce the space allowance per animal in cattle feedlot, despite its potential negative impact on animal welfare. Aiming to evaluate the effects of space allowance per animal in outdoor feedlots on beef cattle welfare, a total of 1350 Nellore bulls (450 pure and 900 crossbred) were confined for 12 weeks using three space allowances: 6 (SA6), 12 (SA12) and 24 (SA24) m2/animal (n = 450 per treatment). Bulls were housed in three pens per treatment (n = 150 per pen).

Pharmacokinetics of oral and subcutaneous meloxicam: Effect on indicators of pain and inflammation after knife castration in weaned beef calves.

Oral meloxicam is labelled for reducing pain and inflammation associated with castration in cattle in Canada, however, subcutaneous meloxicam is only labelled for pain associated with dis-budding and abdominal surgery. The aim of this project was to determine the pharmacokinetic profile of oral (PO; 1.0 mg/kg BW) and subcutaneous meloxicam (SC; 0.

Effect of meloxicam and lidocaine administered alone or in combination on indicators of pain and distress during and after knife castration in weaned beef calves.

To assess the effect of meloxicam and lidocaine on indicators of pain associated with castration, forty-eight Angus crossbred beef calves (304 ± 40.5 kg of BW, 7-8 months of age) were used in a 28 day experiment. The experiment consisted of a 2 × 2 factorial design where main factors included provision of analgesia and local anaesthesia.

Effect of a single dose of subcutaneous meloxicam prior to band or knife castration in 1-wk-old beef calves: II. Inflammatory response and healing.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single dose of subcutaneous (s.c.) meloxicam administered at the time of knife and band castration on inflammatory response and wound healing over 56-d post-castration.

Effect of subcutaneous meloxicam on indicators of acute pain and distress after castration and branding in 2-mo-old beef calves1,2.

The aim of this study was to assess knife castration and knife castration + branding in 2-mo-old calves, and the effect of a single dose of s.c. meloxicam at mitigating pain indicators.

Effect of a single dose of meloxicam prior to band or knife castration in 1-wk-old beef calves: I. Acute pain.

In Western Canada, approximately half of the calves produced are castrated before 1 wk of age. Therefore, it is important to identify effective analgesic drugs to mitigate pain associated with castration and consequently improve animal welfare. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a single s.

Effect of timing of subcutaneous meloxicam administration on indicators of pain after knife castration of weaned calves.

The newly revised Canadian Codes of Practice for the management of beef cattle requires that as of 2018, calves older than 6 mo of age be castrated using pain control. Castration is a husbandry procedure commonly done without pain control, and there is a lack of agreement on an effective pain mitigation strategy specific to castration. The aim of this study was to identify the optimal time of administration of meloxicam prior to castration.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH SERVICE TAKES FLIGHT.

Heading out into the community to provide healthcare for older people in their homes keeps Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) Diane Gellatly on her toes.

Effect of band and knife castration of beef calves on welfare indicators of pain at three relevant industry ages: I. Acute pain.

Three experiments evaluated the effect of band and knife castration on acute pain for the first 7 d after the procedure on 1-wk-, 2-mo-, and 4-mo-old calves. All calves were blocked by age and weight and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: sham castration (control, CT), band castration (BA), and knife castration (KN). Experiment 1 evaluated 1-wk-old Angus bull calves ( = 34; 43.

Effect of band and knife castration of beef calves on welfare indicators of pain at three relevant industry ages: II. Chronic pain.

Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of band and knife castration on behavioral and physiological indicators of chronic pain in beef calves at 3 different ages (36 calves/age group): 1 wk of age (Exp. 1, 4 ± 1.1 d of age, 43 ± 1.

Use of topical healing agents on scrotal wounds after surgical castration in weaned beef calves.

Angus bulls ( = 48) were randomly assigned to control (castrated without the application of a postoperative healing agent) or surgical castration followed by either the application of a topical germicide, aluminum powder spray, or liquid bandage. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of commercial topical healing agents in improving wound healing and reducing inflammation and secondary infection after surgical castration. Indicators of wound healing included scrotal area temperature (determined by infrared thermography), scrotal circumference, clinical state of the scrotum score, and the wound healing score.

Structural and sequence integrity are essential for the replication of the viroid-like satellite RNA of lucerne transient streak virus.

Lucerne transient streak virus (LTSV, genus Sobemovirus) supports the replication and encapsidation of a 322 nt untranslated small-circular RNA (scLTSV). Since scLTSV does not code for any proteins or share sequence similarity with its helper virus (LTSV), it is presumed that it uses structural and sequence motifs to signal the helper virus (and host) machinery for its replication and encapsidation. Insertion and deletion mutations were introduced at various locations within the scLTSV molecule.

Self-cleaving circular RNA associated with rice yellow mottle virus is the smallest viroid-like RNA.

We report the sequence, structural features, and self-cleaving activity of the small circular RNA (sc-RNA) associated with rice yellow mottle sobemovirus (RYMV). At 220 nucleotides, the RYMV sc-RNA represents the smallest naturally occurring viroid-like RNA currently documented in the literature. It is similar to other circular satellite RNAs (sat-RNAs) and viroids in being G-C-rich with a high level of self-complementarity.

Replication and encapsidation of the viroid-like satellite RNA of lucerne transient streak virus are supported in divergent hosts by cocksfoot mottle virus and turnip rosette virus.

Cocksfoot mottle sobemovirus supports replication and encapsidation of the viroid-like satellite RNA (sat-RNA) of lucerne transient streak virus (LTSV) in two monocotyledonous species, Triticum aestivum and Dactylis glomerata. Additionally, LTSV sat-RNA replicates effectively in the presence of turnip rosette sobemovirus in Brassica rapa, Raphanus raphanistrum and Sinapsis arvensis, but not in Thlaspi arvense or Nicotiana bigelovii, indicating that host species markedly influence this interaction. Previous reports of the association between LTSV sat-RNA and helper sobemoviruses were limited to dicotyledonous hosts.

How to perform an agency break-even analysis.

Financial solutions are fine in theory, but when it comes to applying them to one's own business, the formulas somehow become murky and muddled. This case study demonstrates how to determine the volume an agency needs to maintain to break even and to make a profit.

Changes in sodium appetite in cattle induced by changes in CSF sodium concentration and osmolality.

Alteration of the sodium concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of sheep induces reciprocal changes in sodium appetite. Similar studies have now been performed in cattle. Heifers were prepared with a unilateral parotid fistula and guide tubes were implanted in the skull for the introduction of probes into the lateral ventricles in order to sample CSF and infuse artificial CSF solutions.

Water drinking caused by intracerebroventricular infusions of hypertonic solutions in cattle.

Infusions into the lateral cerebral ventricle of hypertonic solutions of NaCl, mannitol or sucrose all induced water drinking in cattle. However, infusion of hypertonic NaCl caused a significantly greater water drinking response than did the infusions of mannitol or sucrose, despite the fact that CSF osmolality increase was similar. In contrast, hypertonic solutions of NaCl or mannitol had similar dipsogenic effects when infused intravenously.