Impact of early dam contact on veal calf welfare

Abstract

Dairy calves, including surplus calves, are typically separated from their dam within hours of birth. The aim of this study was to assess the welfare impacts of raising surplus calves destined for veal with their dam for 2 or 4 weeks until transport. Surplus calves from one dairy farm were separated from their dam at birth (n = 39) or kept with the dam (n = 37) until transport to the veal farm at either 2 (n = 50) or 4 (n = 26) weeks of age, with abrupt separation for dam-reared calves. Calf measures of body weight, health, immunity, haematology and behaviour were recorded at the dairy and veal farms. Dam-reared calves had higher body weights in weeks 3, 4 and 5 at the DF, as well as at arrival at the veal farm, but by slaughter this advantage was lost. More dam-reared calves had fever in week 3 and showed signs of disease in week 5 at the dairy farm. Dam-reared calves did not differ in IgG, IgA or IgM levels but had higher counts of white blood cells, which could reflect a higher pathogen exposure rather than improved immunity. Dam-reared calves displayed more fear towards humans in a human approach test at 5 and 7 weeks after arrival at the veal farm, and more frequent social behaviours at the veal farm at 9 and 16 weeks of age. In conclusion, it seems that there may be both advantages and disadvantages to keeping veal calves with the dam in terms of welfare in the current system.

The future of surplus dairy calves – an animal welfare perspective

“…In a recent study, cow-calf contact for 2 or 4 weeks led to heavier (veal) calves with a slightly better immune system, but no particular subsequent advantage in clinical health could be identified (Webb et al, 2022), which is concurrent with the review by Beaver et al (2019). Surprisingly, the weight advantage from being reared by the dam, likely stemming from a higher milk intake, was lost by the time the veal calves were slaughtered at 6 months (Webb et al, 2022), but also in dairy calves at 6 months of age (Wenker et al, 2022b).…”

“…Contact with the dam or peers leads to a more socially complex environment which has been linked to improved cognition (Costa et al, 2014;Gaillard et al, 2014;Meagher et al, 2015) and social skills (e.g. Santo et al, 2020;Webb et al, 2022). The latter may lead to more positive experiences in later life, which means that the impact of dam-rearing cannot be considered to be limited to the first weeks or months of life and may have important far reaching consequences for the entire life of the calf (Wagner et al, 2012).…”

“…The latter may lead to more positive experiences in later life, which means that the impact of dam-rearing cannot be considered to be limited to the first weeks or months of life and may have important far reaching consequences for the entire life of the calf (Wagner et al, 2012). In a recent study, cow-calf contact for 2 or 4 weeks led to heavier (veal) calves with a slightly better immune system, but no particular subsequent advantage in clinical health could be identified (Webb et al, 2022), which is concurrent with the review by Beaver et al (2019). Surprisingly, the weight advantage from being reared by the dam, likely stemming from a higher milk intake, was lost by the time the veal calves were slaughtered at 6 months (Webb et al, 2022), but also in dairy calves at 6 months of age (Wenker et al, 2022b).…”

Welfare of calves

“…However, the risk of handling stress depends on the amount of human contact provided (Waiblinger et al., 2020 ). Dam‐reared calves that experience less human contact may have higher levels of fear of humans than artificially reared calves (Waiblinger et al., 2020 ; Webb et al., 2022 ). Dam‐reared calves that experience less human contact may have higher levels of fear of humans than artificially reared calves (Waiblinger et al., 2020 ; Webb et al., 2022 ).…”

“…For instance, a survey from Austria indicated that approximately 90% of farms housed calves individually after birth and 23% of these did so for longer than 6 weeks (Klein-J öbstl et al, 2015), a survey from the Czechia indicated that 97% of farms housed calves individually for a median of 8 weeks (Stan ěk et al, 2014), and a study from the UK indicated that the most prevalent initial type of housing used for newborn calves is individual housing (83/216, 38.4%), with pair housing used by 23.1% (50/216), and group housing of greater than 2 calves used by 35.6% (77/216) of the holdings (Mahendran et al, 2022). Another characteristic of this type of system is that individually reared calves are more likely to make contact with stockpersons (Webb et al, 2022). Restriction of movement is defined as negative affective states such as pain, fear, discomfort and/or frustration experienced by the animal because it is unable to move freely or is unable to walk comfortably.…”