Ep. 184 - Effect of Maternal Bovine Appeasing Substance (MBAS) on Health and Performance of Preweaned Dairy Calves

Have You Herd? AABP PodCasts

AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Reinaldo Cooke, a professor at Texas A&M Animal Sciences Department. Cooke was one of the investigators on a paper published in the AABP Bovine Practitioner Volume 57 Number 2, “Effect of maternal bovine appeasing substance on health and performance of preweaned dairy calves”. Maternal appeasing pheromone is secreted by the mammary gland of all lactating animals and the MBAS is an analog of that pheromone for use in cattle. The substance has an appeasing or calming effect on calves. This study was done on a commercial dairy in the northeast U.S. to evaluate health outcomes in treated vs. untreated calves. Application of MBAS decreased the incidence of diarrhea (71% in controls and 59% in treated calves) and decreased mortality (7.8% in controls and 2.4% in treated calves). Cooke describes other publications for use of MBAS in bovine practice including calves at placement to feedyards, finished cattle before shipping to a packing plant, at weaning in cow-calf herds, and preweaning in dairy calves. He also discussed opportunities for future research in use of the product in adult animals, such as decreasing stress in fresh dairy cows. Cooke also discusses some of the economic analysis for use of the product at various stages of production with a return on investment found in various studies of 20:1 To 30:1.

Bringhenti, L., Colombo, E., Rodrigues, M. X., & Cooke, R. F. (2023). Effect of maternal bovine appeasing substance on health and performance of preweaned dairy calves. The Bovine Practitioner, 57(2), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol27no2p1-4

Kelsey M Schubach, Reinaldo F Cooke, Courtney L Daigle, Alice P Brandão, Bruna Rett, Vitor S M Ferreira, Giovanna N Scatolin, Eduardo A Colombo, Genevieve M D’Souza, Ky G Pohler, Bruno I Cappellozza, Administering an appeasing substance to beef calves at weaning to optimize productive and health responses during a 42-d preconditioning program, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 98, Issue 9, September 2020, skaa269, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaa269

Cappellozza, B.I.; Cooke, R.F. Administering an Appeasing Substance to Improve Performance, Neuroendocrine Stress Response, and Health of Ruminants. Animals 2022, 12, 2432. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12182432

Vieira, D.G.; Vedovatto, M.; Fernandes, H.J.; Lima, E.d.A.; D’Oliveira, M.C.; Curcio, U.d.A.; Ranches, J.; Ferreira, M.F.; Sousa, O.A.d.; Cappellozza, B.I.; et al. Effects of an Appeasing Substance Application at Weaning on Growth, Stress, Behavior, and Response to Vaccination of Bos indicus Calves. Animals 2023, 13, 3033. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13193033