U of G master's student research featured in The Western Producer

A recent Alliance-funded study found that young calves show more pain responses when not treated with pain control at castration. However, the study also showed that there was no impact on average daily gain by mitigating the pain at castration.

Mariah Crevier, who completed the research while working on her master’s degree at U of G, worked with 85 calves at the Ontario Beef Research Centre in Elora. They were assigned to one of five research groups. The calves were castrated using elastration, other than the group that was left intact.

The study investigated different dosing regimens of meloxicam, varying the number of doses and routes of administration.

The control group showed the highest rate of gain, but Crevier attributes that to the fact that based on the groups of calves available, the control group was the youngest in the trial.

“As we know, castration is painful and this research showed that meloxicam can alleviate this pain,” said Crevier.

This research was funded by the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance and took place at the Ontario Beef Research Centre in Elora, which is owned by the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario and managed by U of G through the Alliance.

Read the story in The Western Producer: Pain control aids calves at castration.

See a photo essay of Crevier's research here: Mariah Crevier | Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies.