April/May 2025 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN 15 following weaning and being given a MBAS product. Their results showed growth performance improved by nearly a half-pound per day. “The calves just handled the stress of weaning better,” Cooke explains. For producers already using a VAC-45 program or any kind of preconditioning program, Cooke recommends that they also use FerAppease. “Youʼre going to get the return on investment when you sell those calves later; theyʼre going to be heavier.” The second study Cooke completed with MBAS was on receiving 400- to 500-pound high-risk cattle. “With high-risk cattle that received FerAppease, we did not see a decrease in BRD, but we did see those calves that later got sick responded better to antibiotics, and there was less mortality,” Cooke says. The most recent study from Texas A&M University published in the Journal of Animal Science confirmed that FerAppease has several benefits for high-risk cattle during a 60-day feedlot-receiving period. Results indicated that administering FerAppease reduced physiological stress markers in cattle. Compared to the control group, cattle given FerAppease showed lower serum cortisol levels after castration and reduced hair cortisol levels during the first 28 days on feed. “An increase in cortisol levels is the key negative physiological driver resulting from stress that impacts cattle appetite, health and weight gain,” Cooke says. Mortality rates due to BRD were 83 percent lower in cattle treated with FerAppease compared to the control group, according to Cooke. “At 900 pounds, however, we donʼt see a whole lot of morbidity in that kind of cattle as they are placed on feedyards,” Cooke explains. “They still go through the stress of transport, feedlot arrival, new diet, mingling. And even though the stress is less compared to high-risk cattle, thereʼs still stress, and using FerAppease at that initial processing promoted better animal performance.” In this most recent study applying FerAppease to yearlings at initial processing and reimplant, harvest data showed that carcasses were 15 pounds heavier with increased marbling in animals given FerAppease. When the carcasses were graded, 95 percent of the FerAppease carcasses were Choice or Prime, and 88 percent of controls were Choice or Prime. The return on the producerʼs investment was almost 1,541 percent because of heavier carcasses and the increase in quality grade. Cooke reinforced that the types of cattle in the studies ranged from Bos indicus-influenced cattle from central Texas to Angus and Hereford-influenced cattle procured from north of Texas. Because this type of treatment for stress mitigation is such a new approach, Cooke was naturally a little skeptical at first. “But thatʼs why we have to do research,” Cooke says. “Itʼs very substantial, and the results translated to better cattle health and performance.” Using FerAppease on Nebraska Ca le With many research studies focused on southern-raised, higher risk cattle, Jessica Sperber, Ph.D., Nebraska Extension assistant professor and feedlot specialist, wanted to do a study with FerAppease on cattle typical to Nebraska – native, high-quality cattle – with a larger population size to identify if the product had a positive performance impact. “I was getting a lot of questions on FerAppease as a product, and all of the data that I had seen was utilizing the product at receiving or at shipping from the cow-calf or the backgrounder to the feedlot on very high-risk cattle – cattle not typical to Nebraska,” Sperber attests. FerAppease is a synthetic analogue of the natural pheromone that female cattle produce when they are lactating, or maternal bovine appeasing substance. This topical product alleviates stress in cattle and causes a calming effect. Photo credit to FERA Diagnostics and Biologicals. A calf receives a dose of FerAppease to the skin above the muzzle with a pour-on gun. Photo credit to FERA Diagnostics and Biologicals. CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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