Assessing pain following hot-iron disbudding using cold therapy

This project aimed at investigating whether cold therapy could be used to assess pain in the day following hot-iron disbudding. Hot-iron disbudding is a known painful procedure but for how long remains largely unknown. Here, we set up to explore whether calves would benefit from cold therapy in the days following disbudding (which would only be possible if they were still in pain) and if we could use this to our advantage to gain knowledge about for how long they experience pain. This pilot project funded by the Animal Welfare Research Network will help understanding the research potential of cold therapy to understand post-disbudding pain.