MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO EVALUATING WELFARE OF VEAL CALVES IN COMMERCIAL FACILITIES

Due to pending legislation and public concerns, a multidisciplinary ap proach was designed to investigate the welfare of special-fed veal cal ves in commercial veal facilities. Concerns included housing condition s, dietary regimens, management practices, and behavioral aspects impo sed on special-fed calves. Four categories of parameters including env ironment and housing, nutrition, health and stress, and behavior provi ded a broad base of evaluating veal systems. Observations and samples were collected on 550 Holstein bull calves located in 10 commercial ve al facilities. Each facility was visited to collect data during wk 0 ( week of arrival of the calves), 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16. Nine facilities u sed individual stalls 48 to 55 cm in width with tethers attached to th e front of the stalls. One facility housed 30 calves in group pens aft er obtaining calves at 8 wk of age. Ammonia, carbon monoxide, and hydr ogen sulfide gas did not exceed the permissible limit for humans in an y facility. All facilities exceeded the 2-foot-candle recommendation f or Lighting. The average daily gain of calves was .85 kg during wk 0 t o 8 and 1.18 kg during wk 8 to 16. Dietary iron levels decreased from 209 ppm at wk 0 to 32 ppm at wk 16. At 16 wk, 25% of calves were margi nally anemic and 10% clinically anemic. Overall mortality was 4.2%. St ress indices such as plasma cortisol concentrations or neutrophil to l ymphocyte ratios declined as calves approached market weight. In eithe r pens or stalls, calves spent approximately 25 and 75% of time in sta nding and lying positions, respectively. However, group-penned calves while recumbent extended one or more legs 13% of time; calves in stall s extended one or more legs 2% of time. The major factor adversely aff ecting the welfare of the veal calf was an inadequate immune system on its arrival to the facility. Quantification of immunoglobulin G level s indicated that 22% of all calves received adequate transfer of colos tral immunoglobulins, and 78% had not absorbed sufficient quantities f rom colostrum and, therefore, were more susceptible to infectious path ogens. The low mortality rate, rapid growth rate, and absence of stres s indicators demonstrated the ability of the producer and suitability of commercial facilities to effectively manage and care for these immu nologically deficient calves. By comprehensively describing current ma nagement practices and identifying multidisciplinary factors that infl uenced the health and welfare of special-fed veal calves in commercial facilities, the integrated approach provided objective data in respon se to pending legislation and societal concerns.