Epi. 290 – Disbudding Dairy Calves – How does the Method Influence Pain and Wound Healing

Epi. 290 – Disbudding Dairy Calves – How does the Method Influence Pain and Wound Healing

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Cassandra Tucker, professor at the University of California-Davis.    Tucker discusses that there have been changes over the past decade with how disbudding is done with caustic paste becoming more common vs. cautery methods that were previously more common. There is also the belief that caustic paste does not cause pain. The AABP guideline [https://aabp.org/resources/AABP_Guidelines/2025AABPDehorningFINAL.x1a.pdf] on disbudding and dehorning calves states that all methods of disbudding and dehorning cause pain, and providing analgesia is the standard of care. The misperception is that caustic paste causes less pain because the onset of pain is delayed vs. the immediate reaction of the burn from a cautery iron.    Veterinarians should provide protocols and training for providing analgesia for disbudding that includes both local anesthesia and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID). Tucker discusses the failure rate of a cornual nerve block and methods to decrease failure rate and check the block before applying the iron or paste. The block provides loss of sensation for 1-2 hours, and therefore, an NSAID should be provided. We also discuss providing more than one dose of an NSAID.   Wound healing is also a critical part of evaluating a disbudding method. Tucker discusses a research trial where it showed that cautery iron wounds heal in 6-7 weeks while paste wounds take 14-18 weeks. Wound size and healing for paste was dependent on dose of the paste and shaving or not shaving the horn bud prior to application. Tucker walks through a summary of comparing cautery iron vs. caustic paste method of dehorning on the ability to control pain, wound healing, regrowth rates, damage to non-target tissue, and applicability to social or group housing. Veterinarians should consider these variables when developing a method of disbudding and an analgesic protocol for farms. Veterinarians should also provide training for caregivers to perform these procedures under proper local anesthesia and NSAIDs.    Tucker also mentions an organization she co-founded that focuses on research, grants and training for elevating the welfare of animals in food production. Find more information about Kinder Ground at this link [https://kinderground.org/].    The history and future of the cornual nerve block for calf disbudding David B. Sheedy, Sharif S. Aly, Cassandra B. Tucker, Terry W. Lehenbauer JDS Comm, July 2024, https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2023-0506 [https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2023-0506]   Wound characteristics after disbudding: Part I - Effects of caustic paste dose and presence of hair Alycia M. Drwencke, Sarah J.J. Adcock, Cassandra B. Tucker J Dairy Sci , October 2025, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-26688 [https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-26688]   Wound characteristics after disbudding: Part II – Comparing cautery and caustic paste methods Alycia M. Drwencke, Sarah J.J. Adcock, Cassandra B. Tucker J Dairy Sci, October 2025, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-26687

Epi. 289 – Beef Heifer Development Strategies for Reproductive Success and Lifetime Productivity – Sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Nicky Oothuizen, Reproductive Specialist and District Sales Manager for ABS Global, and Dr. Lee Jones, Cattle Professional Services Veterinarian for Boehringer Ingelheim. Heifer retention and reproductive longevity are increasingly top-of-mind for beef producers; veterinarians play a central role in shaping development programs that set heifers up for long-term success. This episode will explore how early-life management decisions, disease prevention and parasite control influence reproductive timelines, calving distribution and lifetime herd performance.   Our guests discuss important factors to evaluate to ensure heifers are ready for the first breeding season. This can include an adequate body weight and body condition score, appropriate vaccination programs, managing parasites with a sustainable parasite management program, and ensuring heifers are cycling prior to the first breeding season. Delayed puberty and low reproductive tract scores can result in later breeding and first calving which will put heifers behind for future breeding seasons. It is not only important that retained heifers get pregnant, but that they conceive at the start of the breeding season to allow for growth during the first lactation cycle and success for the second breeding season.    Preventing reproductive diseases is an important part of a reproduction program. Veterinarians should discuss biosecurity, especially if purchasing pregnant heifers, and also review the vaccine program to determine where a modified live or a killed virus vaccine should be incorporated.    For more information about the Boehringer-Ingelheim portfolio of products, including vaccines and anthelmintics, visit www.cattlefirst.com [http://www.cattlefirst.com]

Epi. 288 – ICR Change Ruler

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Monika McConkey who is a counselor in Minnesota providing mental health services with a focus on rural agricultural communities. McConkey grew up on a 5th generation farm in Minnesota. This podcast was developed by the AABP Mental Health and Well-Being Committee. If you are interested in the work of this committee, please consider joining to provide resources on this topic to AABP members. Find the committee page at this link [https://aabp.org/committees/Mental_Health.asp].    McConkey discusses some of the unique challenges with mental health services in rural communities including access to care, access to a virtual mental health counselor, financial barriers, and the barrier of the stigma especially in small rural areas where anonymity is lacking. The AABP Mental Health and Well-Being Committee strives to remove the stigma associated with mental health by bringing the conversation to the forefront and providing resources to our members.   The ICR Change Ruler comes out of motivational interviewing techniques as a behavioral health tool to help clients make change happen and identify why change is not happening. ICR stands for importance, confidence and readiness. McConkey discusses how veterinarians can use this tool to help clients accept change based on veterinarian recommendations. McConkey reviews some of the reasons change is difficult for many people and how we can help them accept change.    McConkey reviews some questions that veterinarians can ask clients to help them through a change. This can include asking them what they are looking forward to, how they think change could work for them and what do they need to do to make change happen. Asking questions that target the disadvantages of not changing and maintaining the status quo is another method to encourage change based on your recommendations. McConkey also recommends prioritizing a list of stages and steps vs. overwhelming clients with many suggestions can result in small positive changes steps to help clients achieve a goal.   We close the podcast with a discussion about how veterinarians can apply the ICR Change Ruler to take steps to apply change to our own life. Identifying the change needed, understanding its importance, being confident you can be successful with change and being ready for the change can have a positive impact on our own mental and physical health.

Epi. 287 – The Veterinarian’s Role in Special Needs Pens for Feedlots

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Brian Warr, veterinarian with Telus Cattle Professional Services in the Animal Health Module based in Alberta, Canada. The discussion for today is the role of the veterinarian in overseeing and providing guidance for feedlot cattle in special needs pens.   Warr begins by describing the routine health care provided on feedlots to ensure that each individual animal is observed daily and interventions based on the treatment protocol provided by the veterinarian are administered. After an animal is treated, options may include moving back to the home pen or moving to a special needs pen.    Warr reviews the care that should be provided by the caregivers for each special needs pen. This can include the treatment or hospital pen, where animals are given daily treatments before returning to the home pen. The hospital pen may also include animals that need daily close observation or that may need separated from the home pen while recovering. Warr also provides some guidelines for managing the chronic pen and railer pen to ensure that welfare is not compromised for animals that may not be able to return to the home pen or achieve the finishing weight goal. He suggests moving these animals through the treatment area once a week to assess their condition and record a weight with a general goal of 1 pound of gain per day for 30 days before returning to the home pen.    Warr also cautions that veterinarians should be realistic when assessing the welfare needs of special needs animals. Veterinarians should provide humane euthanasia protocols and provide the oversight to ensure that animals that do not meet the guidelines for continuing in the feedlot are humanely euthanized. We also discuss some of the general needs for biocontainment of infectious diseases on feedlots and nutritional and pen requirements for special needs animals.    Watch Warr's presentation from the 2026 Recent Graduate conference by going to this link [https://aabp.org/members/cont_ed.asp].    TAYLOR L, BOOKER C, JIM G, GUICHON, P. Epidemiological investigation of the buller steer syndrome (riding behaviour) in a western Canadian feedlot. Aus Vet J. 1997;75: 45-51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-0813.1997.tb13830.x [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-0813.1997.tb13830.x]   Pollock CM, Campbell JR, Janzen ED, West K. Descriptive epidemiology of chronic disease of calves in a Western Canadian feedlot. Proceedings of the 33rd AABP Annual Conference. 2000. https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20005394 [https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20005394]   Sundman E, Millman S, Erickson S, Silva G, Thomson D, Johnson A, Schwartzkopf-Genswein K, Dewell R, Dewell G. Are there opportunities to strengthen animal welfare through improved management of feedlot chronic pens? Proceedings of the 56th AABP Annual Conference. 2023. https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20238907 [https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20238907]

Epi. 286 – The Veterinarian’s Role in Calf Consultation Programs

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Jon Richardson, associate veterinarian overseeing the professional services team at CalfCare in Manchester, Ind. He graduated from Purdue University in 2021. His professional work is focused on dairy-sourced calves and providing services to these operations.   We start by discussing the differences between an audit and a calf progress evaluation program to improve client satisfaction and compliance with these services. Richardson walks through each part of his progress evaluation and what he provides to his clients. Steps of the evaluation can include housing, bedding, ventilation, weaning, flies, body condition scoring, feeding, water, sanitation, inventory and health records.   Each step of the progress evaluation can include the use of tools to make quantitative assessments as well as general observations that can assist the client and management team with improving calf health and performance. Richardson also discusses the importance of utilizing veterinary technicians for making the collection of data for the assessment to improve practice efficiency.    Richardson gave a presentation at the 2026 AABP Recent Grad Conference and the recording of this presentation is available on the AABP Online CE Portal [https://aabp.org/members/cont_ed.asp]. Gingrich discusses the AABP Guidelines for Credentialed Veterinary Technicians in Bovine Practice [https://aabp.org/resources/AABP_Guidelines/VetTech2024.pdf]which are now open for member comment period through April 17.    References: A.R. Wolfe, P. Rezamand, B.C. Agustinho, D.E. Konetchy, A.H. Laarman, Effects of weaning strategies on health, hematology, and productivity in Holstein dairy calves, Journal of Dairy Science, Volume 106, Issue 10, 2023, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2022-22738 [https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2022-22738]    Recommendations for Calf and Heifer Housing Dimensions for Holsteins [https://extension.psu.edu/recommendations-for-calf-and-heifer-housing-dimensions-for-holsteins] Summary of design suggestions for planning calf and heifer housing systems for Holstein dairy cattle; a starting point for the design process.