Effect of cow-calf contact on cow motivation to reunite with their calf

Abstract

Early cow-calf separation prevents much of cows' natural maternal behaviour. Early separation is thought to prevent the development of a cow-calf bond. To assess this bond, we measured motivation of dairy cows to reunite with their calf. To vary the degree of bonding, some cows were allowed continued contact with their calf and others were separated from their calf soon after birth, following standard practice on most farms. Among cows allowed continued contact, some were able to suckle their calf and others were prevented from suckling (by covering the cow's udder with an udder net). Cows were habituated to the weighted-gate apparatus before calving by daily training with the (un-weighted) gate. After calving, cow willingness to use the gate was assessed by determining if she would push open the gate to access to her own calf. Testing occurred once daily, with weight on the gate gradually increased. After passing through the gate, the dam's calf-directed behaviour was recorded. Suckled cows pushed a greater maximum weight (45.8 ± 7.8 kg) than separated cows (21.6 ± 6.7 kg) and non-suckled cows (24.3 ± 4.5 kg), with no differences between separated and non-suckled cows. Once reunited, latency to make nose contact and duration of licking did not differ between treatments. We conclude that motivation for calf contact is greater for cows that are suckled. Maternal behaviour of cows can be expressed through licking, nursing, attentiveness and proximity towards the young, and protecting it from potential threats 1,2. On most dairy farms the cow's ability to express maternal behaviour is limited, as standard practice is to remove the calf within a few hours after birth 3 , but cows still perform maternal behaviour when given the opportunity 2,4,5. To date no work has assessed to what extent dairy cows are still motivated to reunite and interact with their young. An essential component of maternal behaviour is nursing the calf 1 , but there is some evidence that the mother-young bond may establish in the absence of suckling: cow-calf pairs spent similar time in proximity regardless of the cows' ability to suckle her calf 6. It is unknown to what extent the maternal motivation to reunite with the calf is affected by suckling. Motivation tests can be used to evaluate the value animals attribute to an experience or resource 7. Once an animal has learned to perform a task, the effort (price) for each access can be increased 8,9. Pushing a weighted door to gain access to a reward is one method to assess motivation 10,11. This technique has been used to assess the importance of a nest box in chickens 12 , a water bath in farmed mink 13 , pasture access 14 and access to an automated brush 15 in dairy cattle. The more weight an animal pushes, the stronger the motivation to access that particular resource 16. The aim of this study was to assess the motivation of dairy cows with different levels of cow-calf contact to reunite with their calf. We hypothesised that cows routinely kept with their calf would be more motivated than co...

Differences in the fecal microbiota of dairy calves reared with differing sources of milk and levels of maternal contact

“…Calves were provided ad libitum access to the cow's hay and TMR during the night, and these rations were also provided in the calf creep and refreshed daily. Because this experiment was part of a larger study aimed at assessing dairy cow motivation (Wenker et al, 2020), the dams of 11 calves in this group wore udder nets to prevent suckling; however, calves could perform all other affiliative behaviors with their dams and could suckle from all other dams in the pen. Where possible, calves were randomly allocated to groups; however, some calves were born overnight, and the possibility that they had nursed could not be ruled out.…”

Investigating cow−calf contact in cow-driven systems: behaviour of the dairy cow and calf

“…The results indicate that cows are motivated to access their calves through a smart gate. As also shown by Wenker et al (2020), the motivation of a cow to visit her calf is high, and indicate that this motivation exists independently of resources such as feed and lying spaces.…”

“…As also shown by Wenker et al . (2020), the motivation of a cow to visit her calf is high, and indicate that this motivation exists independently of resources such as feed and lying spaces.…”

“…We performed a study investigating a novel cow-driven CCC system using computer controlled access gates (smart gates) to allow the cow to visit her calf. It is not known how cows will use a smart gate to access their calves, but previous studies have shown that the cow will push up to 90 kg to access her calf (Wenker et al ., 2020). Compromises may be necessary in a production system and, therefore, both free and restricted cow access to the calves may be relevant.…”

Calves are socially motivated

“…Push gates have been used to assess motivation in older cattle, allowing an assessment of effort to access feed rewards (Franchi et al, 2019), roughage (Van Os et al, 2018), a mechanical brush (McConnachie et al, 2018), pasture (von Keyserlingk et al, 2017, a deep-bedded area (Tucker et al, 2018), and contact with their calf (Wenker et al, 2020). To our knowledge, push gates have not been used to assess motivation in calves.…”