Evaluation of Cortisol and Acute-Phase Proteins as Welfare Indicators in Cattle During Routine Dehorning Practices in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria

Dehorning is a routine management procedure in cattle enterprises that causes pain and physiological stress, with welfare implications that require objective biochemical quantification. This study evaluated serum cortisol and acute-phase protein responses as welfare indicators in cattle subjected to dehorning under three conditions in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria. Sixty Zebu cattle aged six to twelve months were divided into three groups of twenty: no analgesia (control), local anaesthesia with lidocaine, and local anaesthesia combined with meloxicam analgesia. Dehorning was performed using a dehorning iron. Blood samples were collected pre-procedure, immediately post-procedure, and at one, two, four, and twenty-four hours post-procedure for cortisol, haptoglobin, and fibrinogen quantification. Peak cortisol concentrations were significantly lower in both treatment groups compared to the control at immediate post-procedure and one-hour timepoints. Animals receiving combined local anaesthesia and meloxicam showed the most attenuated cortisol and haptoglobin responses. Cortisol returned to baseline by twelve hours in the combined analgesia group versus more than twenty-four hours in the control group. Behavioural pain scores corroborated the biochemical findings. These results provide objective biochemical evidence supporting the adoption of multi-modal pain management as a welfare-based standard for dehorning procedures at cattle management facilities in North Central Nigeria. Keywords: dehorning, cortisol, welfare, acute-phase proteins, cattle.