Table 2.

Least square means (± SEM) of VAS, leg movement and vocalizations during castration and behavioral observations assessed 2 to 4 h after procedure for a 2-h period of noncastrated (CT, n = 23), knife (KN, n = 24), and branded and knife (BK, n = 24) castrated 2-mo-old Angus crossbred calves with (M, n = 36) or without (NM, n = 35) a single s.c. meloxicam administration¹

	Treatment2
	CT	KN		BK			P-value
Item		NM	M	NM	M	SEM3	PRD	MED	PRD × MED
VAS, cm	0.4	2.2	2.9	5.1	5.8	0.08	<0.01	0.08	0.37
Leg movement, n	2.3d	5.2c	7.5b	9.1ab	10.8a	0.13	<0.01	0.03	0.04
Vocalization, n	2.3	2.2	1.5	6.8	9.9	0.17	<0.01	0.29	0.10
Behavioral observation
Walking, min	2.5b	5.2a	2.5b	7.0a	3.3b	0.16	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
Standing, min	28.5	66.1	43.7	75.3	40.8	0.70	0.01	0.07	0.14
Lying, min	98.0	53.4	82.1	43.4	85.0	0.77	0.03	0.04	0.12
Foot stamping, n	1.6	12.9	5.4	28.3	31.7	0.75	<0.01	0.37	0.64

^a–dLeast square means within a row with differing superscripts differ (P ≤ 0.05).

¹Values in the table represent the means of visual analog scale (VAS), leg movement, and vocalizations and behavioral observations.

²CT = sham noncastrated calves; KN = knife-castrated calves; BK = branded and knife-castrated calves; NM = single s.c. injection of lactated ringer’s immediately before procedure; M = single injection of s.c. meloxicam (0.5 mg/kg) immediately before procedure; PRD = procedure effect; MED = medication effect.

³The values correspond to nontransformed means; however, the SEM and the P-values correspond to ANOVA analysis using square root + 1 transformation.