07 February 2025

Pain relief during the calving season

As part of the series of on-farm CalfCare events, Natascha Meunier, Animal Health Ireland (AHI), discussed the importance of pain relief during the calving season.

At one of the events organised by Teagasc and AHI, and supported by Feed For Growth, Natascha Meunier highlighted the role local anaesthetic and pain relief play in management practices such as disbudding and castration. She noted that their use is good for animal welfare and promotes thrive, but farmers have to be aware of the age and health of the animal to which routine procedures are undertaken.

Natascha Meunier also offered tips on disbudding, explaining that hot-iron (cautery) is the only type of disbudding allowing in Ireland, with this procedure occurring before the animal is one month of age. After two weeks of age, however, she noted that the use of a local anaesthetic is required.

Natascha Meunier offers tips and advice on pain relief, disbudding and castration in the below video:

Also read: Dairy-beef breeding tools in brief

Also read: Pneumonia – minimising the risk

Also read: Achieving optimal ruminal development