Effects of alternative housing and feeding systems on the behavior and performance of dairy heifer calves

Abstract

Dedicated to my wonderful parents, Stanley and Leigh Pempek, for their unconditional love and support and for always encouraging me to reach for the stars. They are forever in my heart, my mind, and my determination to succeed. v Acknowledgements Many people have contributed to the success of this project and to the writing of this thesis; I am indebted to them all. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Eastridge, for recognizing my abilities and being such a wonderful mentor. I am extremely grateful for the many opportunities that he has provided and for his patience, support, and guidance throughout my academic career. Without his encouragement, I would not have been able to accomplish what I have thus far. I would also like to thank the other talented members of my graduate committee, Drs. Naomi Botheras and Candace Croney. To Dr. Botheras, I am so thankful for her professional wisdom, as well as her guidance and friendship. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to work with her throughout my educational career. I also offer thanks to Dr. Croney, for whom I have great respect both personally and professionally, for serving on my committee and for her assistance throughout this process. I have truly been in the company of greatness! I could not have accomplished such a great task without the cooperation of Twin Oak Dairy, especially to Teun and Anja Verhoeven for allowing the use of their calves and facility. I also give many thanks to Chris Stoughton and Nathan Morrison for their dedication and the many hours of labor they invested into this project. I really enjoyed working with you! I extend my gratitude to the faculty, staff, and graduate students of the vi Department of Animal Sciences for making my time at The Ohio State University so enjoyable. First, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Whitney Bowen, who not only guided me with her friendship and support, but also devoted herself to this project as if it were her own. I will cherish the many memories made and the laughs we shared while working together on this project. I also give many thanks to Stephanie Neal and Danni Ye for assistance with the collection of the data for this study. They did an exemplary job and without their help, this project would not have been remotely possible. I must also express gratitude to my fellow graduate students: Sara Crawford, Josie Plank, and Julie Serr. I am eternally grateful for all of their scientific advice, moral support, and newfound friendships. I also wish to thank my parents, Leigh and Stanley Pempek, who have been unwavering in their support and unconditional love. By example, they instilled in me a sense of integrity, a strong work ethic, and impressed on me the values of knowledge and wisdom. Also, my devoted sister, Angalena Zucco, deserves much gratitude for supporting me through this endeavor. She has always listened and offered advice through the difficult times and helped me celebrate my successes. Thank you for being my voice of reason and number one fan. Lastly,...

The effect of pair housing on dairy calf health, performance, and behavior

“…We failed to find a significant difference in solid feed intake in the INDI and PH calves. This result is in accordance with some studies (Chua et al, 2002;Pempek et al, 2013;Bolt et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2019), but in contrast with others (De Paula Vieira et al, 2010;Costa et al, 2015;Jensen et al, 2015;Pempek et al, 2016;Whalin et al, 2018) that found increased solid feed intake in pair-housed calves. We also failed to find a significant difference in growth of INDI and PH calves.…”

“…Second, current knowledge on the effect of individual versus pair housing on feed intake and growth is inconclusive. Some studies have found improved solid feed or milk intake in pair-housed calves (De Paula Vieira et al, 2010;Costa et al, 2015;Jensen et al, 2015;Pempek et al, 2016;Whalin et al, 2018), but others have found no improvement (Chua et al, 2002;De Paula Vieira et al, 2010;Pempek et al, 2013;Bolt et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2019). Several investigations have documented improved growth in pair-housed calves (Costa et al, 2015;Jensen et al, 2015;Pempek et al, 2016), but many others were unable to find a positive effect (Chua et al, 2002;Hänninen et al, 2005;De Paula Vieira et al, 2010;Bolt et al, 2017;Whalin et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2019).…”

Impacts of self- and cross-sucking on cattle health and performance

“…The artificial rearing of animals represents a combination of emotional (separation from the dam) and nutritional (transition from maternal milk to a commercial milk substitute) stressors in different species [ 3 , 4 ]. It has been suggested that rearing in contact with the mother during the first 12 weeks, even if very limited, may have a positive effect on behavior of heifer when introduced into the dairy herd, as various non-nutritive abnormal oral activities, including self-grooming and tongue playing and cross-sucking have been found to occur in calves fed with a bucket or reared in individual pen [ 5 - 7 ].…”

A method of outdoor housing dairy calves in pairs using individual calf hutches

“…It was noted that when paired calves were lying inside the hutch, they were more often seen lying together in the same hutch (approximately 80% of the time lying inside the hutch), which was also documented in Pempek et al (2013). Calves may have been motivated to maintain physical contact with each other, as shown previously by Holm et al (2002), or to keep warm in the winter (Boe and Havrevoll, 1993).…”