After a brief review of the legal framework of animal protection applicable to cattle--including Council of Europe and European Union legislation, as well as French law--the main features of husbandry systems used in the intensive husbandry of veal calves and young cattle are analysed. For veal calves, the standards proposed at the European level do not take into account major differences in th...

The study objective was to examine effect of age at castration on stress indicators and performance 40 crossbred suckler beef calves. Calves were assigned two groups treatments; calves 2.5- or 5.0-mo-old (mean body weight (SD) = 120.8 (29.3), 218.1 (30.8) kg, respectively) sham (control) Burdizzo castrated (n 10 per treatment) in a 2 × factorial design. Following castration, peak plasma cortiso...

Stillbirth and dystocia are major factors that negatively affect beef production. We sought to clarify serum selenium and liposoluble vitamin levels in Japanese Black cows that gave birth to stillborn calves (stillbirth cows). Blood samples were collected from 103 stillbirth cows and 95 cows that gave birth to healthy calves (control cows). Serum levels of selenium (45.8 ± 16.0 ng/ml) and vitam...

Histophilus somni is a fastidious Gram-negative opportunistic pathogenic Pasteurellaceae that affects multiple organ systems and is one of the principal bacterial species contributing to bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) in feed yard cattle. Here, we present seven closed genome sequences isolated from three beef calves showing sign of BRDC.

To evaluate different levels of energy for optimum growth in Iranian regional buffalo male calves, a completely randomized study was conducted, using 27 yearling buffalo male calves with initial live weight of 201 ± 14 kg. Three diets were formulated to provide 90%, 100%, and 110% energy level requirements equivalent to those of steers derived from NRC beef cattle recommendations and they were ...

FOR FULL BIO CLICK HERE Welcome to the seventh issue of Sheep and Beef Research Review. The content in this issue is split evenly between the ovines and bovines. Ovine highlights include clinical and sub-clinical mastitis and the nutritional management of lactating ewes while bovine highlights include sustained internal parasite control in beef heifers and the importance of colostrum for neonat...

Research has indicated it takes the net revenue from approximately 6 calves to cover the development and production costs of each replacement heifer (E. M. Mousel Unpublished data). In addition, any cow that misses a single calving is not likely to recover the lost revenue of that missed calf (Mathews and Short, 2001). Therefore, longevity of a beef female is important to the sustainability and...

BACKGROUND Both O157 and non-O157 Shiga toxin - producing Escherichia coli (STECs) cause serious human disease outbreaks through the consumption of contaminated foods. Cattle are considered the main reservoir but it is unclear how STECs affect mature animals. Neonatal calves are the susceptible age class for STEC infections causing severe enteritis. In an earlier study, we determined that mycot...

A cohort of spring-born beef calves demonstrated limited genetic and phenotypic diversity of Escherichia coli O157 when kept in a state of isolation. Despite this, there was a difference in the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and phage types of isolates shed by cattle at pasture compared with those shed by the same cattle when weaned and housed.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed at investigating bovine non-Staphylococcus aureus staphylococci for their role as a potential reservoir for methicillin resistance. METHODS Nasal swab samples were collected from 150 veal calves on 15 veal farms, 100 dairy cows on 10 dairy farms and 100 beef cows on 10 beef farms. Suspected staphylococcal isolates were investigated by PCR for the presence of the cl...