PAIN FOR YOUR ANIMALS CAN ALSO MEAN PAIN FOR YOUR POCKET

Courtesy of Troy.

Pain for calves and lambs – long associated with marking procedures – should be a thing of the past, as animal welfare continues to remain top of mind with regulators, producers and the public.

However, in the current economic climate, some producers may see providing pain relief for livestock as cost prohibitive. This can in turn have a negative impact on the animal’s health and wellbeing.

In early 2023, Troy Animal Healthcare launched BUTEC, an oral transmucosal pain relief treatment for use at marking.  Developed in collaboration with CSIRO, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), BUTEC is suitable for all calf and lamb marking procedures, and targets the chronic pain that causes stress, reduces immune system function and can ultimately lead to death in severe circumstances.

BUTEC is safe, simple to use and provides sustained relief from pain,^1,2 with treated animals expressing normal behaviours, such as mothering up and grazing, more quickly than their untreated counterparts³.

CSIRO has conducted numerous studies using BUTEC, with one study showing a seven-fold reduction in pain-related behaviours in merino sheep in the first 8 hours post castration and tail docking³. And, as the MLA have stated, ‘The provision of pain relief with routine husbandry practice is now an expectation’.

Likewise, farmers have seen positive results from BUTEC. There is anecdotal evidence from one farmer that lambs have been sold off approximately 3 weeks earlier than untreated stock, while another producer reported “The results were pleasantly surprising and at weaning time I saw an increased weaning percentage of 4% – visually the lambs were bigger and stronger than the lambs where BUTEC was not used. The lambs post lamb marking had mothered up well and were straight back feeding on pasture showing no effects of the lamb marking process”.

When considering the cost of delays in the return to normal behaviour and the stress put on farm workers, as well as the obvious costs in loss of animals, the use of BUTEC could pay for itself.

BUTEC is currently Troy’s fastest growing brand and is expected to grow further as lamb and calf marking season rolls around again.

For more information about BUTEC, visit butec.com.au.

References: 1. Colvin, A. October 2002. Trends in mulesing, tail docking and castration practices of Australian woolgrowers: Results of the 2021 AWI Merino Husbandry Practices Survey. AWI Project No.: ON-00829.  2. Van der Saag, D; Lomax, S; Windsor, P. A.; Taylor, C; Thomson, P; Hall, E; and Whit, P.J. 2018. Effects of topical anaesthetic and buccal meloxicam on average daily gain, behaviour and inflammation of unweaned beef calves following surgical castration. Animal 2018 Nov;12(11):2373-2381. 3. Small, A; Belson, S; Holm, M and Colditz, I 2014. Efficacy of a buccal meloxicam formulation for pain relief in Merino lambs undergoing knife castration and tail docking in a randomised field trial. Australian Veterinary Journal 2014 Oct;92(10):381-8.