A cross-sectional study of associations between herd-level calf mortality rates, compliance with legislation on calf welfare, and milk feeding management in Norwegian dairy herds

A survey of pre-weaning calf management in Norwegian dairy herds

“…Most, but not all herds reported that 3 week old calves had free access to drinking water. For a subpopulation of the herds surveyed in this study, we recently found an association between the lack of free water access and greater herd calf mortality [5]. Although Norwegian legislation currently renders free access to water compulsory only in case of disease or high temperatures [7], studies show that calves are motivated to drink water [25].…”

“…From the 9400 Norwegian dairy herds, a random sample of 912 dairy producers received a short questionnaire on housing and milk feeding management in 2016 (Table 1). These producers were visited by veterinary inspectors from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA) with the aim to perform a welfare audit as described in [5]. Producers' input into the questionnaire was voluntary and was obtained either by interview or self-registration.…”

“…Only two herds reported that they had decreased their milk allowance. General descriptions of the surveyed herds can be found in [5].…”

“…Although Norwegian legislation currently renders free access to water compulsory only in case of disease or high temperatures [7], studies show that calves are motivated to drink water [25]. Providing free water access from birth is recognized as an important factor for calf growth and development, potentially by stimulating rumen development [5,25,26]. Further, too little fluid (milk or water) will limit the animal's intake of dry, solid feed such as concentrates [22].…”