Callens, Jozefien

De Bleecker, Koen

Deprez, Piet

Pardon, Bart

Van Immerseel, Filip

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Mortality due to nutrition associated diseases in veal calvesB. Pardon1, J. Callens3, K. De Bleecker3, F. Van Immerseel2, P. Deprez11 Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, 2 Department of Bacteriology, Pathology and Avian diseasesFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium3 Animal Health Service-Flanders (DGZ-Vlaanderen), Belgium Bart.Pardon@UGent.beIntroductionThe Belgian white veal calf industry is specialized in raising Holstein Friesian (HF), Belgian Blue (BB) orcrossbreed calves (HFxBB) on a milk powder diet until a body weight of ±250 kg. Nutrition associateddiseases such as enterotoxaemia (Figure 1), ruminal disorders (acidosis or putrefaction) and perforatingabomasal ulcers (type 3 or 4) 2 (Figure 2) are regarded as important causes of mortality, but very fewobjective data exist1. Therefore a study was performed to gather more precise information on theoccurrence (incidence and relation with feeding regime) of these disorders.Materials and methodsA longitudinal observational study on 3877 veal calves on 10 veal farms (5 HF, 3 BB, 2 HFxBB) wasperformed. Mortality, feeding regime, housing and treatments were recorded. Diagnosis was based onnecropsy.Results• Feeding regime highly differed between BB and HF calves:• Belgian Blue: mainly skimmed milk powder (Figure 6).• Holstein Friesian: switched to cheaper nill products (no casein, replaced by vegetable proteins)as soon as possible (Figure 5).• Mortality:• Global mortality= 5.5%; acute ruminitis, enterotoxaemia and perforating abomasal ulcerationsaccounted for 12,3%, 10,4% and 3.8% of the losses respectively.• Mortality due to enterotoxaemia was higher in the BB (19.5%) than in HF (3.7%) or crossbreeds(6.3%)(P<0.05)(Figure 3). In BB calves, large outbreaks occurred, while only sporadic cases in HF.• Mortality due to perforating abomasal ulceration was higher in HF (6.4%) than in BB (1.15%) orcrossbreeds (0%).• Risk periods for enterotoxaemia and acute ruminitis: week 4-9 (start group housing + dietarychanges) and week 26-30 (highly concentrated milk) (Figure 4).Conclusions• Nutrition associated diseases account for 11 to 55% of the losses in veal calves.• Sudden dietary changes and high quantities of feed predispose the veal sector for ruminal disordersand enterotoxaemia.• Whether the higher incidence of enterotoxaemia in Belgian Blue veal calves is due to a differentdiet or to a breed predisposition remains to be determined.References:1 Sargeant et al. (1994). Production practices, calf health and mortality on six white veal farms in Ontario, Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research 58, 189-195.2 Marchall T.S. (2009). Abomasal ulceration and tympany of calves. Veterinary Clinics of North America Food Animal Practice 25, 209-220.00,050,10,150,20,250,30,350,40,45week 1week 2week 3week 4week 5week 6week 7week 8week 9week 10week 11week 12week 13week 14week 15week 16week 17week 18week 19week 20week 21week 22week 23week 24week 25week 26week 27week 28week 29week 30week 31week 32Mortality (%)Weeks after arrivalEnterotoxaemia Ruminitis/acidosisPerforating abomasal ulcer Global mortalityFigure 1: Necropsy view of enterotoxaemia in a 5month old veal calf.Figure 2: Perforating (1; type 4) and non perforating(2; type 1) abomasal ulceration in a veal calf.0102030405060Holstein Friesian Crossbreeds Belgian Blue All breedsSpecific mortality (% of dead calves)enterotoxaemia acute ruminitisperforating abomasal ulceration1205001000150020002500300035001 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31Quantity (g/calf/day)Weeks after arrival50% skimmed milk powder  nill product starter concentrates concentrates fiber replacer 05001000150020002500300035001 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23Quantity (g/calf/day)Weeks after arrivalskimmed milk powder nill product concentrates barley maizeFigure 3: Specific mortality (%) of enterotoxaemia, acuteruminitis and perforating abomasal ulceration accordingto breed.Figure 5: Feeding regime and occurence of enterotoxaemia cases ( ) in a Holstein Friesian veal calf farm (farm 9).Figure 6: Feeding regime and occurence of enterotoxaemia cases ( ) in a Belgian Blue veal calf farm (farm 6).Figure 4: Mortality (%) by week in 3877 veal calves.

Mortality due to nutrition associated diseases in veal calves

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Mortality due to nutrition associated diseases in veal calves

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