Animal Stewardship The Purpose of Acclimation

By: Dr. Tom Noffsinger and Dr. Kip Lukasiewicz, Production Animal Consultation, & Dr. LeeAnn Hyder, Robinson Hospital for Animals

Excerpt from “Feedlot Processing and Arrival Cattle Management,” Veterinary Clinics of North America: Food Animal Practice 31.3 (2015): 323-340.

Acclimation is the process and result of proper caregiver-cattle interaction that allows cattle to accept their new home environment. Caregivers demonstrate to cattle that they understand cattle instincts and sensory systems and can effectively communicate with the new arrivals.

The performance and health goals of acclimation efforts with newly arrived cattle in feedlots are to provide rehydration, nourishment, and rest and to improve immune function.

Water is the most important nutrient for any animal. Yet often times, cattle have been without food and water for 24 to 48 hours before arrival at a feedlot, leading to dehydration. Richeson and colleagues(1) evaluated the hematocrit of cattle arriving at a feedlot and found the range to be 23.5% to 46.9%, with a mean hematocrit of 36.9 ± 3.7%.

The tendency for cattle to exhibit an elevated hematocrit at arrival is consistent with dehydration. Caregivers must make rehydration a priority for new arrivals because cattle depend on water to carry out basic metabolic functions. Dehydrated cattle are also reluctant to eat.

Inadequate consumption of safe water can negatively affect feed intake, health, and production.(2–4) Brew and colleagues(5) found increased water intake was correlated with increased average daily gain (ADG) and increased feed intake in growing beef cattle. Preston(6) concluded that providing water to calves shortly after arrival increases feed intake to appropriate levels (greater than 1% of body weight) more quickly than providing feed alone.

The requirements for timely rehydration include access to fresh clean water, complete confidence in the new environment, and confidence in the new caregivers. Cattle that are not confident in their new space are reluctant to be confident in the water supply.

Caregivers need to be aware that proper caregiver-cattle interactions can have a positive impact on pen distribution and willingness to aggressively drink. There is huge potential within the industry to install tank flowmeters that would allow the monitoring of daily water intake.

Average water intake can vary from 25 to 35 L/head/d. (5) Systems such as GrowSafe (GrowSafe Systems Ltd, Airdrie, AB, Canada) enable producers to measure individual animals’ food and water intake, even when they are housed in a group pen, through use of radiofrequency identification technology.(5) Efforts to document water intake levels as a predictor of future health and performance could help identify priority pens and validate caregiver acclimation progress.

In addition to being without water, cattle typically do not have access to feed during transport to the feedlot. The combination of transport and lack of food and water leads to decreased body weight beyond that associated with lack of food and water alone. Falkenberg and colleagues(7) found relocated cattle that had food and water withheld up to 12 hours had up to a 6% decrease in body weight compared with cattle that were starved but were not relocated that had a 2% decrease in body weight.

Historically, intake expectations have been accepted less than 1% of body weight for multiple days after arrival to a feedlot, especially in high-risk, stressed arrivals. Yet dry matter intake levels to meet daily requirements are usually between 1.1% and 1.7% of body weight, varying with ration formulation.

Caregivers and nutritionists should jointly elevate expectations for calves to have proper intakes from day 1. Total intake levels expressed as an average for the pen are important, but more important is the observation that all herd members are participating equally.

Trained caregivers can facilitate uniform bunk activity via pen acclimation procedures within herds of new arrivals. Starter diets should be formulated to provide appropriate levels of protein, energy, trace minerals, and vitamins from commodities friendly to the ruminant digestive system. Donovan and colleagues(8) found that “lymphocytes from calves that were ketotic or acidotic exhibited a generally decreased responsiveness to superantigen stimulus.” Acidotic and ketotic states can result from an improperly formulated diet with energy excess and improper intakes that lead to energy deficits, respectively. Handler promotion of proper intake can prevent these detrimental energy imbalances.

Transport prevents lying down and resting behavior in cattle, which can lead to increased stress levels and an increased risk for lameness. Although normal resting behavior has not been well documented, Calderon and Cook(9) found that, in dairy cattle, it is “influenced by calving month, temperature humidity index, body condition, parity, and lameness.” Other studies have shown a variation in average lying time in dairy cattle between 9.6 and 13 h/d.(9,10) Several studies have shown when dairy cattle are deprived of lying for long or repeated periods they can have a decrease in growth hormone concentrations and an increase in levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH),(10) a measure of cortisol that is increased in stressed animals.

Cooper and colleagues(10) showed that after deprivation of time to lie down, dairy cattle spent more time standing without ruminating. Another study showed very low lying times have been associated with higher incidences of lameness in dairy cattle.(11) It is evident from these studies that deprivation of rest has harmful effects on the health and well-being of cattle. Caregivers should recognize that the amount of rest cattle have received is affected by the distance shipped. It is the responsibility of caregivers to encourage new arrivals to rest through caregiver-cattle interaction, bedding, and pen surface management.

Relocating to a new home is a major stressor in the life of an animal, and it has been well documented that such stress causes a decrease in immune function. Griffin and colleagues(12) note that the nasal passages of stressed ani- mals often have higher densities of bacteria that cause bovine respiratory disease (BRD).(13,14)

In addition, the temporary increase in plasma cortisol levels caused by transportation stress may be associated with increased risk for BRD.(12,15) A decrease in the circulating levels of acute phase proteins haptoglobin and fibrinogen found by Buckham Sporer and colleagues(16) provides further evidence of immunosuppression in transported cattle. Buckham Sporer and colleagues(17) evaluated the effects of elevated cortisol levels on neutrophil expression genes Fas, MMP-9, BPI, and L-selectin. Fas, a proapoptotic gene, was downregulated in response to elevated cortisol levels during transport, whereas MMP-9 (involved in tissue remodeling) and BPI (responsible for bacterial killing) were upregulated. L-Selectin is responsible for the vascular margination of neutrophils, and levels of L-selectin were decreased during transport, leading to an increase in the number of circulating neutrophils.

Neutrophils that express L-selectin have preferential migration into the respiratory tract.(17) According to Buckham Sporer and colleagues,(17) “the elevated expression of MMP-9 may imply an increased potential for neutrophils to cause excessive inflammatory damage in infected lungs during transportation stress, which may be augmented further by the cells’ reprogramming for longer lifespan (depressed Fas expression).”

Increased migration of neutrophils with increased bactericidal activity into the respiratory system can result in the “‘neutrophil paradox’... whereby these normally beneficial leukocytes can also contribute to the pathogenesis of infectious diseases if their proinflammatory activities are not properly regulated.”(17) Thus, stressed cattle entering a feedlot are at higher risk of BRD and other diseases. Acclimation of cattle to their new environment can reduce anxiety and help to relieve some of the stress they experience, improving immune function and health.

References

1. Richeson JT, Pinedo PJ, Kegley EB, et al. Association of hematologic variables and castration status at the time of arrival at a research facility with the risk of bovine respiratory disease in beef calves. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2013;243(7):1035-41.

2. Morgan SE. Water quality for cattle. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract 2011;27(2):285-95.

3. Brew MN, Carter J, Maddox MK. The impact of water quality on beef cattle health and performance. University of Florida: IFAS Extension; 2009. Publication #AN187. Available at: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/an187. Accessed April 19, 2015.

4. Faries FC Jr, Sweeten JM, Reagor JC. Water quality: its relationship to livestock. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension; 1998. Publication L-2374. Available at: https://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/87665/pdf_370. pdf?sequence51&isAllowed5y. Accessed April 19, 2015.

5. Brew MN, Myer RO, Hersom MJ, et al. Water intake and factors affecting water intake of growing beef cattle. Livest Sci 2011;140:297-300.

6. Preston RL. Receiving cattle nutrition. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract 2007;23:193-205.

7. Falkenberg SM, Carroll JA, Keisler DH, et al. Evaluation of the endocrine response of cattle during the relocation process. Livest Sci 2013;151:203-12.

8. Donovan DC, Hippen AR, Hurley DJ, et al. The role of acidogenic diets and ß-hydroxybutyate on lymphocyte proliferation and serum antibody response against bovine respiratory viruses in Holstein steers. J Anim Sci 2003;81:3088-94.

9. Calderon DF, Cook NB. The effect of lameness on the resting behavior and metabolic status of dairy cattle during the transition period in a freestall-housed dairy herd. J Dairy Sci 2011;94:2883-94.

10. Cooper MD, Arney DR, Phillips CJ. Two- or fourhour lying deprivation on the behavior of lactating dairy cows. J Dairy Sci 2007;90:1149-58.

11. Leonard FC, O’Connell JM, O’Farrell KJ. Effect of overcrowding on claw health in first-calved Friesian heifers.