Effects of abrupt vs.
gradual weaning on behaviour, liveweight gain and neutrophile/lymphocyte
ratios of beef calves
J.S. Church1, R.J. Hudson2,
A.L. Schaefer3, M.A. Price2 and L.A. Goonewardene1
1Alberta Agriculture,
Food and Rural Development, Edmonton, Canada, 2University of Alberta, Edmonton,
Canada, 3Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe, Canada
One hundred calves (55 females and 45 males) were used to study the effectiveness of gradual weaning compared with abrupt weaning in reducing stress. Behaviour, liveweight gain and neutrophile/lymphocyte (N/L) ratios were investigated. The experimental cattle were synthetic hybrids composed of Angus, Charolais, Galloway, Hereford and other breeds born and raised at the University of Alberta Ranch. Half of the calves were abruptly weaned, whereas the other half were weaned gradually over a 5 day period by removing a few dams daily. Following weaning, all calves were allocated to one of 6 pens. Pen groups were observed from a blind for 24 min, during morning (08:30-10:00 h), noon (12:00-13:30 h) and evening (16:00-17:30 h) sessions over two weeks following weaning. The number of calves engaged in each of the following activities was recorded: standing, walking, pacing (walking parallel to, and within 0.5 m of the perimeter), lying, eating, or drinking. Calves were weighed, and blood samples were obtained on day 1 (day of weaning), day 7 and day 14. Gradually weaned calves spent less time pacing and more time eating than abruptly weaned calves (P < 0.05), but this difference was not sufficient to affect liveweight. Higher neutrophile/lymphocyte ratios in the abruptly weaned calves compared to the gradually weaned calves (P< 0.05) suggest that gradual weaning reduced weaning stress. Gradual weaning is recommended on welfare grounds.