Validation of serum gamma-glutamyl transferase activity and body weight information for identifying dairy calves that are too young to be transported to auction markets in Canada

Dairy calves are at risk of being stressed when transported during the first week of life. A new Canadian federal rule will forbid transportation of calves younger than 9 d old to auction market. However, in the absence of reliable information to determine birth date, other indirect methods would be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of dairy science 2020-03, Vol.103 (3), p.2567-2577
Main Authors: Buczinski, S., Dubuc, J., Bourgeois, V., Baillargeon, P., Côté, N., Fecteau, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
well-being
young calf
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Summary:Dairy calves are at risk of being stressed when transported during the first week of life. A new Canadian federal rule will forbid transportation of calves younger than 9 d old to auction market. However, in the absence of reliable information to determine birth date, other indirect methods would be of interest. This study aimed to determine the prediction accuracy of body weight, Brix refractometry, and serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity for determining if a calf was not fit to be transported (i.e.,
ISSN:0022-0302
1525-3198
DOI:10.3168/jds.2019-17601