Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether pain-related stress caused by disbudding could be detected using nonlinear measures of heart rate variability (HRV). Twenty-five female Holstein calves (4–7 wk of age) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: (1) sham disbud (SHAM; n = 9), (2) disbud with lidocaine–meloxicam pain mitigation (MED; n = 8), or (3) disbud without pain mitigation (NoMED; n = 8). Heart rate variability (sample entropy, percentage determinism, percentage recurrence, or mean length of diagonal lines in a recurrence plot) was recorded on d −1, 0, 1, 3, and 5 relative to the experimental procedure, with disbudding taking place on d 0. The short-term detrended fluctuation analysis scaling exponent was greater in MED calves than in SHAM calves, indicating a greater stress response to the disbudding procedure regardless of pain mitigation. These results indicate that calves in the MED group may have experienced pain-related stress as a result of the disbudding procedure. The remaining nonlinear HRV measures did not differ by treatment. Future research on this topic should address additional potential confounding factors, such as the effect of pain-mitigating drugs on autonomic function or the influence of the autonomic nervous system on wound healing, that may prohibit HRV measurement as an indicator of disbudding pain severity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 8410-8416 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Dairy Science |
| Volume | 102 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 American Dairy Science Association
Funding
The authors thank John Townsend (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN); Mike Grott, Gary Wernert, and the Purdue Dairy Farm staff (Purdue University); and Victoria Raber, Stacey Enneking, Ryan Kilgore, Nichole Chapel, Kouassi Kpodo, Jaquelyn Jacobs, Alexis Weldon, Amelia Laub, and Kelsey Clark (USDA-Agricultural Research Service Livestock Behavior Research Unit, West Lafayette, IN) for their help on this project. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the USDA. No conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the authors.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Gary Wernert | |
| Kelsey Clark | |
| Mike Grott | |
| Purdue Dairy Farm staff | |
| USDA-Agricultural Research Service | |
| U.S. Department of Agriculture | |
| Purdue Climate Change Research Center, Purdue University |
Keywords
- dairy calf
- disbudding
- heart rate variability
- pain
- stress
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Food Science
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Genetics