<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Introduction:</bold> This article presents the analysis of the correlation between the category and health status of calves and the results of their rearing and levels of selected blood parameters.<bold>Material and Methods:</bold> The study included 105 Polish Holstein-Friesian and beef (Limousine, Charolaise and Hereford) crossbred calves. Young bulls were purchased at the age of two to four weeks. The animals underwent quarantine, were dehorned, and 46 young bulls were castrated. The germ horns were removed by burning out. Castration was carried out with a bloodless method using a rubber band. The calves were kept in groups and fed a milk replacer administered <italic>via</italic> teats from automated milk-feeding stations. After the period of milk feeding, the calves were fed grass silage <italic>ad libitum</italic> and a concentrate at 2.5 kg/animal/day. The calves were weighed every two weeks. Blood for analyses was sampled at 43 d of age.<bold>Results:</bold> After the rearing period finished at the age of six months, young bulls and steers had similar body weights (176.17 and 176.55 kg) and approximate average daily weight gains from birth (0.756 and 0.767 g/day). The healthy calves at six months of age weighed 180.47 kg, whereas the animals which at least once suffered from some diseases during rearing were lighter by approx. 30 kg (P ≤ 0.01). A statistically significant (P ≤ 0.01) difference was found for the count of red blood cells and white blood cells. In comparison with healthy individuals, the diseased animals had less RBC (8.33 and 9.42 1012/L respectively) and more WBC (27.03 and 12.26 109/L respectively).<bold>Conclusion:</bold> Castration of young bulls did not have any impact on the results of rearing and health status of the calves. The magnitude of the analysed parameters depended on the health status of the calves. Thus RBC and WBC parameters may be used to predict the health status of calves during rearing.</abstract>

Introduction: This article presents the analysis of the correlation between the category and health status of calves and the results of their rearing and levels of selected blood parameters.Material and Methods: The study included 105 Polish Holstein-Friesian and beef (Limousine, Charolaise and Hereford) crossbred calves. Young bulls were purchased at the age of two to four weeks. The animals underwent quarantine, were dehorned, and 46 young bulls were castrated. The germ horns were removed by burning out. Castration was carried out with a bloodless method using a rubber band. The calves were kept in groups and fed a milk replacer administered via teats from automated milk-feeding stations. After the period of milk feeding, the calves were fed grass silage ad libitum and a concentrate at 2.5 kg/animal/day. The calves were weighed every two weeks. Blood for analyses was sampled at 43 d of age.Results: After the rearing period finished at the age of six months, young bulls and steers had similar body weights (176.17 and 176.55 kg) and approximate average daily weight gains from birth (0.756 and 0.767 g/day). The healthy calves at six months of age weighed 180.47 kg, whereas the animals which at least once suffered from some diseases during rearing were lighter by approx. 30 kg (P ≤ 0.01). A statistically significant (P ≤ 0.01) difference was found for the count of red blood cells and white blood cells. In comparison with healthy individuals, the diseased animals had less RBC (8.33 and 9.42 1012/L respectively) and more WBC (27.03 and 12.26 109/L respectively).Conclusion: Castration of young bulls did not have any impact on the results of rearing and health status of the calves. The magnitude of the analysed parameters depended on the health status of the calves. Thus RBC and WBC parameters may be used to predict the health status of calves during rearing.

Impact of early castration and health status on the performance of Holstein-Friesian and beef crossbred calves

Department of Cattle Breeding and Milk Evaluation, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-958 Olsztyn-Kortowo, Poland

Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-958 Olsztyn-Kortowo, Poland

Department of Commodity Science and Animal Raw Material Processing, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-958 Olsztyn-Kortowo, Poland

Journal of Veterinary Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Introduction: This article presents the analysis of the correlation between the category and health status of calves and the results of their rearing and...

Impact of early castration and health status on the performance of Holstein-Friesian and beef crossbred calves

Published Online: May 28, 2016

Page range: 207 - 212

Received: Aug 05, 2015

Accepted: May 10, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jvetres-2016-0030

Keywords
calves, gender, rearing, blood parameters, performance

© 2016 Zofia Wielgosz-Groth et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Impact of early castration and health status on the performance of Holstein-Friesian and beef crossbred calves

Published Online: May 28, 2016

Page range: 207 - 212

Received: Aug 05, 2015

Accepted: May 10, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jvetres-2016-0030

Keywordscalves, gender, rearing, blood parameters, performance

© 2016 Zofia Wielgosz-Groth et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
calves, gender, rearing, blood parameters, performance