Calf Talk

May, 2009

Volume 15, No. 5

CALF PSYCHOLOGY AND STRESS

By: Russ Schnepper, DVM

My definition of stress, for this discussion, is anything that causes adrenalin to flow. Adrenalin is the “run or fight” hormone that prepares the animal’s body to do battle with its enemy. Adrenalin causes the heart rate to increase, the blood vessels in the digestive tract to close down to divert blood to the muscles, and the body is prepared to run from its enemy or fight it. All other non-essential functions are put on hold so the body can deal with its attacker, perceived or real. I do not believe there are degrees of stress. The animal is either under the influence of adrenaline or it is not. The variable is how long the stress lasts and how often it occurs. I like my college professor’s explanation. He says that if you are parked on a country road with your girl friend and the action is moving in your favor, and a police car pulls up along beside you and flashes a spot light on the situation, you might as well take her home because it is going to take a few hours for the adrenalin effect to wear off. Adrenalin hormone takes precedence over all the other hormones and easily overrides the sex hormones.

Adrenalin suppresses the immune system. This is very important in the baby calf. Pasteurella multocida is a normal inhabitant of the respiratory tract. Stress suppresses the immune system and allows the Pasteurella to multiply at a rapid pace. In 14 days there are large numbers of the organism and they move down into the lung, resulting in pneumonia. This is why respiratory problems usually begin after the second week.

The baby calf hates change, so immediately get it from the maternity area to the place it is going to be for the next month. Do all the stressful things you are going to do the first week, and then become friends with the calf. I believe the calf will not produce adrenalin due to routine procedures, if carefully handled after the first week. A few calf programs have been designed to prevent too much stress at one time, so they give the calf one shot per day for the first week. Do you think the calf will believe it is going to be a pleasant experience when it sees you coming? I give all the shots on day one and then become friends with the calf. The day of arrival into your barn the adrenalin is already flowing, and I do not believe it flows more if you do the processing at this time.

Calves use the “buddy system”, if given the opportunity. They pair up and the relationship can be lifelong, so put even numbers of calves together. No calf likes to be “odd calf out.” Avoid mixing calves as often as possible, and never more often than once a month. Each time they are commingled a new “peck order” is established and this is quite stressful. Even though the calf does not appear to fight, like pigs do, they go through the stress mentally and the adrenaline flows. A calf can worry itself to death.

Work done at the University of Wisconsin shows mixing adult cows costs several pounds of milk per cow per day for the first week. Do your mixing with larger groups and no more frequently than absolutely necessary. Calves that went from a single hutch to a group of 100 performed better than calves that were multiple staged as groups of 8, 16, and then 32, etc. They only had to establish the peck order one time. Group fed veal calves need to be grouped properly at the first mixing and not redone, as it will cost you by stressing the calf.

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