The pain and effect of disbudding and castrating in young calves

Disbudding and castrating are painful procedures for calves, for some time after calves show behavioural responses such as - 

• Ear flicking
• Head shaking
• Kicking 

Recent research shows that calves experience a negative emotional response for up to 22 hours after and these behavioural and physiological responses can be reduced greatly or avoided. 

Keeping stress to a minimum is vital when disbudding calves, removing horn buds from a calf is much easier and less painful than removing the horn after it attaches to the skull. The main technique used is a hot iron, disbudding paste can also be used.  

• Develop protocols - work with your vet to develop the best practice for disbudding calves 
• Appropriate restraint - animal welfare is a big one, make sure the animal is correctly restrained to reduce any injuries or further distress 
• Local anaesthetic - you must use anaesthetic to disbud, unless using chemical cauterisation
• Pain relief - reduce the pain for the calf, who wants to be in pain!?
• Prevent infection - the last thing you need is an infection from disbudding 
• Polled genetics - this will save any of the above stress on the calf 

Many trials have been carried out to monitor the behaviour effect of the calf when being sedated and given a painkiller prior to disbudding; results show that when a calf is given a painkiller the after effects are reduced; less head shaking, head rubs etc. in the short-term, however, the pain persists for weeks after the numbness has worn off. 

Castration is not essential, however, steers are much easier and safer to handle than entire bulls, and it can also improve the carcase quality. The methods used are: 

• Rubber rings (first week of life)
• Bloodless castration (Burdizzo) - crushing of the spermatic cord
• Surgical castration 

One trial I have seen take place, compares the pain and healing between surgical castration and a rubber ring. Surgical wounds heal after a four-week period, compared to rubber ring calves taking a minimum of eight weeks to heal. The rubber ring calves gained less weight, lay down less frequently and had a lower intake of starter feed. This trial concluded that the rubber ring castrated calves experienced a lot more pain in the weeks after the procedure than the surgical method. 

Disbudding and castration can be a major stress factor for calves and can affect: 

Thinking about this, this will result in: 

So, when carrying out these procedures it is vital to be organised, have protocols in place, speak with your vet to get the best possible practice. These are best carried out younger rather than older; smaller animals are a lot easier to handle as well.