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Oral meloxicam is labelled for reducing pain and inflammation associated with castration in cattle in Canada, however, subcutaneous meloxicam is only labelled for pain associated with dis-budding and abdominal surgery. The aim of this project was to determine the pharmacokinetic profile of oral (PO; 1.0 mg/kg BW) and subcutaneous meloxicam (SC; 0.5 mg/kg BW), and to assess the effect of meloxicam on physiological and behavioural indicators of pain associated with knife castration in 7–8 month old calves. Twenty-three Angus crossbred beef calves (328 ± 4.4 kg BW) were randomly assigned to two treatments: PO n = 12 or SC n = 11 administration of meloxicam immediately before knife castration. Physiological parameters included salivary and hair cortisol, substance P, haptoglobin, serum amyloid-A, weight, complete blood count, scrotal and rectal temperature. Behavioural parameters included standing and lying behaviour, pen behaviour and feeding behaviour. Data were analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX (SAS), with repeated measures using mixed procedures including treatment as a fixed effect and animal and pen as a random effect. The pharmacokinetic profile of the drug including area under the curve, volume of distribution and clearance was greater (P < 0.05) in PO than SC calves. After surgery, substance P concentrations, white blood cell counts (WBC), weight and lying duration were greater (P < 0.05) in PO than SC calves, while scrotal circumference was lower (P < 0.05) in PO calves than SC calves. Although statistical differences were observed for pharmacokinetic, physiological and behavioural parameters differences were small and may lack biological relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The welfare of stall-housed gestating sows is a point of public concern worldwide. In Canada, the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs (2014) proposed allowing the operation of existing stall barns after 2024, if bred female pigs are given opportunities for greater freedom of movement. Previous research demonstrated that sows are motivated to exit their stall, but when out of their stall, primarily perform exploration/feed searching behaviour. This suggests that having an opportunity to exercise per se may not be as important for sows, and rather, feeding motivation in these restrict fed sows may play a strong role to exit their stall to explore and seek feed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore whether the motivation of stall-housed gestating sows (n = 42) to leave their stall is influenced by satiety. Sows were assigned to one of three treatments: control (C), fed a standard ration (2.3 kg of feed/sow) only; moderately satiated (0.5 HF), standard ration and 50% of their ad-lib high fibre (HF) intake; fully satiated (ad-lib HF), standard ration and unlimited access to HF. Sows were trained to use an operant panel containing two buttons: i) active button (AB – push counts resulted in a reward of movement), ii) dummy button (push counts not rewarded). The required number of AB presses during a testing session increased by 50% each day. Animal behaviour once out of the stall was continuously video recorded. Control sows showed a greater highest price paid (HPP, maximum AB push counts in one session) than ad-lib HF sows, with 0.5 HF sows being intermediate (C: 94.43 ± 18.21, 0.5 HF: 66.43 ± 5.88, ad-lib HF: 59.14 ± 23.65; F 2,39 = 3.38, P = 0.044, mean HPP ± SEM). When out of the stall, sows from all treatments spent the greatest proportion of time performing exploratory behaviour (E) and an equal and lower proportion of time in locomotion (L) and in snout to snout contact (S) (L: 0.20 ± 0.02, E: 0.64 ± 0.03, S: 0.16 ± 0.02; F 3,162 = 279.00, P < 0.001, mean proportion of time ± SEM). Results suggest that stall-housed sows are motivated to exit their stalls, and the strength of motivation is influenced by satiety. Behavioural results indicate the importance of exploratory behaviour and suggest the presence of a strong motivation to exercise and also motivation for social contact. • Operant conditioning testing was used to measure sow motivation to exit the stall. • Stall-housed gestating sows are motivated to exit the stall. • Strength of sow motivation to exit the stall is influenced by satiety. • Sows from all treatments spent most of the time in exploration when out of the stall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Stall-housed gestating gilts and sows are similarly motivated to exit the stall. • Stall-housed gestating sows are more motivated for feed than for exercise. • Stall-housed pregnant gilts are equally motivated for movement and feed. • Female pigs spent the highest proportion of time seeking feed when out of the stall. Despite being phased out in the EU, several states in the USA and other select countries such as Australia, gestation stalls remains a common sow housing system worldwide. In Canada, the 2014 Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs permits the operation of existing stall barns, provided that bred female pigs are given opportunities for a greater freedom of movement, such as access to periodic exercise. How stall-housed sows perceive being confined and whether they are motivated for a greater freedom of movement has not been investigated. The objectives of this study were to determine the motivation of bred female pigs with different prior stall experience (PSE) to receive access to an alleyway for three minutes (Movement), and to compare this to their motivation for a feed reward (Food: 0.2 kg per reward). Stall-housed gilts (n = 12) and sows (n = 12, parity 2–4) were trained to use an operant panel with two buttons: an active button (AB – push counts resulted in a reward of feed or movement), and a dummy button (DB – push counts not rewarded). Animals were tested on an ascending fixed ratio (FR), with the required number of AB presses increasing by 50 % each consecutive day. Upon reaching their individual maximal FR for one reward, animals were retrained and tested on the opposite button and received the alternate reward. The maximum AB push count achieved during a testing session, the highest price paid: HPP, was used as a measure of sow motivation for the reward. Animal behaviour when out of the stall and the percentage of AB presses were also recorded. The HPP was influenced by PSE and reward type. Sows showed a greater HPP for feed than movement, but for gilts it did not differ. Sows had a greater motivation to access feed than gilts, however, gilts and sows did not differ in their motivation to access movement (mean HPP ± SEM, sows Food: 369.25 ± 56.47 vs Movement: 68.5 ± 13.61; gilts Food: 211.67 ± 47.73 vs Movement: 77.75 ± 19.47, F(1, 44) = 4.23, P ≤ 0.05). Results suggest that stall-housed gestating sows and gilts are similarly motivated to access time out of their stall. The presence of the motivation for movement is important for sows even though they had a greater motivation to access a feed reward, and the motivation for a feed reward increases with PSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brix refractometry can be used to assess colostral immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration, but studies identifying Brix percentages to detect high- and low-IgG colostrum are lacking for beef cows and interlaboratory agreement is unknown., Objectives: Evaluate Brix refractometer performance and interlaboratory agreement for assessing beef cow colostrum IgG concentration, including determination of thresholds to identify colostrum containing IgG concentrations <100 g/L and ≥150 g/L., Animals: Beef cows (n = 416) from 11 cow-calf operations in Alberta, Canada., Methods: Colostral IgG concentrations were measured using radial immunodiffusion (RID) and estimated by Brix refractometry for this retrospective study. Spearman correlation coefficients were assessed between RID and Brix refractometry. Likelihood ratios and misclassification cost-term analysis were used to determine optimal Brix percentages for detecting colostrum containing IgG concentrations <100 g/L and ≥150 g/L. Concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) and Bland-Altman analyses were performed for Brix percentages obtained at 3 different laboratories., Results: Brix percentages obtained at 3 laboratories were positively correlated with IgG results (r = 0.72, 0.68, and 0.76, respectively). Colostrum Brix percentages of <24% and ≥30% were optimal for indicating IgG concentrations of <100 g/L and ≥150 g/L, respectively. Interlaboratory agreement was substantial, with CCC ranging from 0.89 to 0.96 and Bland-Altman analysis showing small mean differences (-1.2% to 0.09% Brix) and narrow limits of agreements (-4.8% to 2.4% Brix) among laboratories., Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Brix refractometry shows good potential for reliably estimating IgG concentrations in beef cow colostrum across multiple laboratories and can be recommended to aid colostrum management decisions on farms., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.)