Influence of human assistance
at parturition on cow-calf bonding in beef cattle
J.M. Stookey, J.V. Bailey
and J.R. Campbell
University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, Canada
Information was collected
on 205 beef cattle dystocias, assisted by faculty and staff veterinarians
during two calving seasons (1993, 1994), to determine the impact of Caesarian
operations and assisted vaginal deliveries on subsequent cow/calf bonding.
The bulk of the cases were performed at the WCVM clinic (101 Casesarians,
63 vaginal deliveries) and required the producer to load and transport
the dam to and from the clinic, while the remainder of the cases (13 Caesarians,
28 vaginal deliveries) were attended on-farm by field service veterinarians.
For each case, the owner provided information on the age of female (cow
or heifer), breed, and duration of the dystocia from time of detection
to assistance. In addition, the attending veterinarian assigned a
subjective temperament score (scale 1-3) and condition score (scale 1-5)
to the female. Also noted was the type of delivery (Caesarian or
traction), the duration of surgery, and whether or not the calf was placed
in front of the female during closure of the incision. A subjective
vigor score (scale 1-3) was given for each calf delivered. Veterinarians
recorded whether or not they observed the female lick the calf prior to
their departure and were asked to give their opinion on whether they thought
the dam was accepting her calf. The owner was telephoned 5
- 10 days following the delivery of the calf to provide follow-up information.
The owner
was asked if the dam
had showed any signs of rejecting the calf following delivery, if the dam
had required physical restraint to allow the calf to suckle, and whether
the calf was being reared by the natural mother. Following the calving
season in 1994, each owner was again contacted to determine calving statistics
for the entire herd and to determine the total number of incidences of
cows and heifers rejecting their calves following parturition. A
total of 34 out of the 205 females assisted by WCVM staff were reported
by owners as having shown initial signs of rejecting their calf and
required some intervention
(eg. restraining cow to allow calf to suckle) to facilitate bonding and
acceptance. The incidence of rejection was not related to breed,
temperament of dam, condition score of the dam, presentation of the calf
during closure of the incision, vigor of the calf, nor year of study.
A higher percentage of dams showed signs of rejecting their calf following
a Caesarian operation (23%) compared to dams with assisted vaginal deliveries
(9%) (P<.01). Location of delivery (clinic vs field) was not significant.
Regardless of delivery type, assisted heifers were more likely than cows
to show initial signs of rejecting their calf (P< .05). Cows having
a Caesarian section were six times more likely to reject their calf than
cows with an assisted vaginal delivery (P<.01). The two types
of assistance on heifers were not significantly different at influencing
the high rate of calf rejections by heifers (5 out of 19 vaginal deliveries
rejected; 22 out of 63 C-sections rejected). Surprisingly,
the clinician's assessment that the female was accepting the calf or the
observation of the female licking the calf were not reliable predictors
of the dam's acceptance of the calf, as determined by the owner and relayed
to us in the follow-up survey. It is possible that other factors
or events which occured after the veterinarian judged acceptance (eg. transportation,
movement away from the birth site, level of post-delivery pain) influenced
maternal behaviour and bonding. The herd mates of our case subjects
in 1994 had a considerably lower level of rejections among the cows and
heifers (8 out of 1,919; 13 out of 564, respectively) compared to the cows
and heifers assisted by WCVM veterinarians at parturition (P<.0001).
Until more information is known about the human, animal and environmental
factors which may contribute to rejection of the calf following assistance
at parturition, additional attention may be required to facilitate cow/calf
bonding among assisted females.