TROY Animal Healthcare on March 10 announced the launch of proven long-lasting lamb and calf pain relief product^1,2 BUTEC, developed in collaboration with the CSIRO, Meat & Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation.

BUTEC is suitable for all calf and lamb marking procedures, targeting chronic pain that lasts well after anaesthetics wear off.

Chronic pain delays animals returning to normal behaviours, such as mothering up and grazing, causes stress, reduces immune system function, and can ultimately lead to death in severe circumstances.

The launch of BUTEC represents a new standard in pain relief for production animals and comes at a time when animal welfare is top of mind for regulators, the public and producers.

Troy chief executive officer, Nicolas Shortis, said BUTEC’s launch was also a game-changer for farming productivity.

“BUTEC provides simple, safe, and sustained pain relief.”

“It gets lambs and calves mothering up more quickly allowing them to express normal behaviours such as feeding. The reduced expression of abnormal behaviours post-procedure demonstrates animals feel better and therefore the effectiveness of BUTEC.”

CSIRO principal research scientist, Dr Alison Small, said the product is backed by rigorous scientific development and testing.

“The product has actually been available via vet channels for some time, so it has been proven over many years on the ground in farms right around Australia.”

“The CSIRO also conducted numerous tests during development that repeatedly showed lambs and calves given BUTEC were able to maintain normal behaviours after anaesthetics wore off while those not receiving it were unhappy and acted abnormally.”

“One study showed a seven-fold reduction in pain related behaviours in Merino lambs in the first eight hours post knife castration and hot iron-tail docking.”

“The use of BUTEC really is a new benchmark in pain management for production animals.”

Merino wool grower, Chris Croker, from Ayrston in Golspie also confirmed the positive outcomes from using BUTEC.

“Lamb marking is essential for the health and wellbeing of our sheep and BUTEC destresses the process for our workers and the flock.

“BUTEC is an easy, simple to use product that is effective in helping lambs through the important lamb marking procedures,” he said.

BUTEC is now available to producers over the counter at all major stockists.  Click here for a list of stockists.

About Troy:

• Established 65 years ago in collaboration with veterinarians, Troy is Australia’s leading local producer of animal healthcare products, providing Australian farmers with Australian solutions for Australian conditions.
• Troy invests significantly in R&D and has a focus on developing solutions that are science and evidence-based.

Troy is a significant investor in the animal healthcare industry and employs 78 staff across a wide range of areas including R&D, manufacturing, quality control, warehousing, administration, sales and marketing.

References:

1. Colvin, A. October 2002. Trends in mulesing, tail docking and castration practices of Australian woolgrowers: Results of the 2021 AWI Merino Husbandry Practices Survey. AWI Project No.: ON-00829.
2. Van der Saag, D; Lomax, S; Windsor, P. A.; Taylor, C; Thomson, P; Hall, E; and Whit, P.J. 2018. Effects of topical anaesthetic and buccal meloxicam on average daily gain, behaviour and inflammation of unweaned beef calves following surgical castration. Animal 2018 Nov;12(11):2373-2381.