Imprinting, Sucking and Allosucking Behaviors in Buffalo Calves

Abstract

This paper provides a short review of the scientific literature, focusing on recent advances on the most representative events from birth to weaning, with special emphasis on the behavior and welfare of buffalo calves during the phases of imprinting, suckling and allosucking, based on the differences and similarities reported with dairy and beef cattle. The similarities include the facts that all 3 are gregarious animals whose dams separate from the herd prior to parturition to facilitate dam-calf bonding, and that maternal care fosters the ingestion of colostrum by the young. These species are also precocial and rely on mother – young mutual recognition for calf survival. In particular, mothers develop a selective bonding with their young soon after parturition, although buffalo cows seem to be tolerant to alien claves and are often engaged in communal nursing. In buffaloes and cattle negative emotions are induced by the stress brought on by early maternal separation. However, buffalo calves are more prone to express cross-sucking and contract neonatal diseases with higher mortality rates in intensive systems as compared to cattle. The review concludes that all three exhibit similar behaviors from parturition to weaning although the knowledge about the specific needs of buffalo calves should be increased and appropriate management practices implemented to improve their welfare state.

Neurophysiological Mechanisms of Cow–Calf Bonding in Buffalo and Other Farm Animals

“…Furthermore, they also found that calves that took more time to stand also took more time to make the first suckling attempt, results that could be related to the calf's vitality. During this period, the offspring can perceive olfactory, acoustic, visual, and tactile signals from their mothers and the environment [35,36], and develop a lasting mother-young relationship supported by the learning capacity of the newborns [37].…”

“…These calves then drink surplus milk [41] and receive potential immunological benefits [42]. This behavior does not appear to have any negative effect on the progeny of the allo-nursing dams, possibly because they devoted to alien calves only the milk not ingested by their own calf [37]. The sex of the calves can influence this behavior, and therefore, their weight gain.…”

River Buffalo Meat Production and Quality: Sustainability, Productivity, Nutritional and Sensory Properties

“…However, grazing should be properly streamlined to avoid excessive ecological damage caused by over-grazing, trampling, soil compaction, and excessive exploitation of water sources [39]. The causes of these impacts can be ascribed to buffalo thermoregulation habits, including wallowing in the mud, especially in periods and areas characterized by hot climates [14,15,40,41]. Future studies should be verified how climate change and the use of shade and swampy areas in hot climates may affect the growth rate, the quality of meat, and the body fat distribution in the river buffalo.…”

“…As buffaloes often replace cattle in intensive farms, they are handled following the same or similar management routines. However, these conditions expose the animals to new stressors generated by modern technologies (e.g., artificial rearing of calves, reduced space allowances, slatted flooring), widely applied to beef and dairy cattle but unknown to this species [14,15,41,43,44]. For this reason, ensuring the welfare of buffaloes in different production systems must be considered a key goal.…”

“…The present study focuses on river buffalo, unless differently specified. Some of the positive aspects of buffaloes are their resistance to disease, adaptation to different climatic conditions, ability to digest poor quality grasses, and still express a satisfactory growth rate, which makes these animals versatile [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Thus, although buffaloes are already raised for meat production in several countries, they could potentially be farmed much more widely to provide more meat products for human consumption [4].…”