​B.AWW.0263-Extended Commercial Trials of NUMNUTS

Summary

Many husbandry procedures routinely carried out to improve animal wellbeing and productivity can be painful, and evolving community expectations and market access requirements are driving improvements in pain and procedure management. One such product is the NUMNUTS device, which facilitates targeted delivery of local anaesthetic when applying an elastrator ring to the tail for tail docking and/or scrotum for castration. This project collected evidence on the pain mitigating impacts, animal safety implications, and efficacy of NUMNUTS, particularly for castration.

Objectives

The objectives of this project were to:

• Collect additional quantifiable evidence of the pain mitigating impacts that may result from the commercial use of the NUMNUTS® device.
• Improve understanding of the animal safety implications of using the NUMNUTS® device in a commercial setting.
• Gather robust evidence of the efficacy of the NUMNUTS® device under controlled conditions, specifically for castration.

Key findings

• Despite challenges associated with measuring pain-related behaviours, benefits of delivering lignocaine using the NUMNUTS device were observed for the first 40-60 minutes post marking.
• Results of a survey of producers indicated that there was overall a positive attitude towards both the provision of pain relief at marking, and towards NUMNUTS, and those with more positive attitudes were more likely to state that they would continue to use NUMNUTS and recommend it to others.
• Identified barriers to adoption include issues related to practicality, low perceived effectiveness, and the costs associated with implementation. The second trial demonstrated that a single central injection of local anaesthetic, using the NUMNUTS® tool can alleviate the behavioural responses to ring castration in the immediate post-procedure period.
• However, the duration of effect was limited, which may be a result of the agent used (lignocaine 20 mg/mL).

Benefits to industry

• Pain caused by routine husbandry procedures is an increasing concern for producers and consumers.
• By validating the commercial application and animal safety of the NUMNUTS device, and confirming its efficacy for castration, this project allowed producers to have evidence to build trust in the product and confidence in its use.
• This project identified areas for improvement, allowing for an accelerated path to adoption of improved pain relief for lambs at marking.

MLA action

MLA continues to invest in research, development and adoption of pain management options and alternatives to painful husbandry procedures.

Future research

Recommendations for further research were suggested to understand the hidden costs of pain in lambs and develop a bio-economic model to demonstrate cost/benefit rations to producers, and to develop a longer lasting local anaesthetic agent or formulation.