Table 3.
Vigour assessment and colostrum management for 225 beef calves by medication group
| Variable | Placebo (n=114) |
Meloxicam (n=111) |
Total (n=225) |
|||
| Count | Percentage | Count | Percentage | Count | Percentage | |
| Tongue pinch withdrawal | ||||||
| Complete | 76 | 71.0 | 78 | 75.7 | 154 | 73.3 |
| Incomplete | 31 | 29.0 | 25 | 24.3 | 56 | 26.7 |
| Suckle reflex | ||||||
| Strong | 59 | 57.3 | 56 | 55.4 | 115 | 56.4 |
| Weak | 44 | 42.7 | 45 | 44.6 | 89 | 43.6 |
| Mucous membrane colour | ||||||
| Normal | 70 | 65.4 | 64 | 62.1 | 134 | 63.8 |
| Abnormal | 37 | 34.6 | 39 | 37.9 | 76 | 36.2 |
| Time to stand | ||||||
| 0–30 minutes | 20 | 22.7 | 20 | 24.1 | 40 | 23.5 |
| 30–60 minutes | 36 | 40.9 | 27 | 32.6 | 63 | 36.8 |
| 1–6 hours | 28 | 31.8 | 30 | 36.1 | 58 | 33.9 |
| Required assistance | 4 | 4.6 | 6 | 7.2 | 10 | 5.8 |
| Method of colostrum consumption | ||||||
| Nursed from dam | 79 | 78.2 | 73 | 78.5 | 152 | 78.4 |
| Bottle-fed or tube-fed | 22 | 21.8 | 20 | 21.5 | 42 | 21.6 |
| Type of colostrum consumed | ||||||
| Dam’s colostrum | 88 | 83.8 | 82 | 86.3 | 170 | 85.0 |
| Replacer product | 17 | 16.2 | 13 | 13.7 | 30 | 15.0 |
| Calf nursed from the dam | ||||||
| Yes | 80 | 83.3 | 79 | 88.8 | 159 | 86.4 |
| No | 15 | 16.7 | 10 | 11.2 | 25 | 13.6 |
| Time to consume colostrum (hours) | ||||||
| <1 | 20 | 19.8 | 19 | 19.6 | 39 | 19.7 |
| 1–2 | 22 | 21.8 | 21 | 21.6 | 43 | 21.7 |
| 2–3 | 27 | 26.7 | 28 | 28.9 | 55 | 27.8 |
| 3–4 | 19 | 18.8 | 22 | 22.7 | 41 | 20.7 |
| 4+ | 13 | 12.9 | 7 | 7.2 | 20 | 10.1 |
Calves were administered a dose of either subcutaneous meloxicam (Metacam, 20 mg/ml, 0.5 mg/kg bodyweight, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ingelheim, Germany) or placebo (0.025 ml/kg) at birth. All variables are presented as counts and percentages.