Maternal offspring behaviour in Curraleiro Pé Duro naturalized cattle in Brazil

Abstract

-The objective of the present study consisted of describing dam and calf suckling behaviour of Curraleiro Pé Duro cattle. In this study, 38 mother-offspring pairs and one mother-offspring-orphan trio were observed for 10 hours daily during three consecutive days spaced every four months over a period of one year. After identification, the animals were observed under field conditions where calf posture and the number of suckling episodes (NS), mean suckling duration (MSD), total suckling duration per day (TSD) as well as natural weaning of these animals were recorded. The model assessed the effects of calf sex and age as well as feeding time. Suckling episodes (70.6%) had a duration of one to five minutes and the calf that suckled in the inverted parallel position had greater chances of success during suckling (99.5%); the younger animals had a shorter mean suckling duration (4.0±0.6 minutes) than the older ones (7.5±1.2 minutes) but they showed a higher number of suckling episodes (6.29±1.00 vs. 1.33±0.04 feeds in 10 hours for young and older calves). Only the factor age in the first three months was significant for NS, MSD, and TSD; males and females had similar suckling episode length and distribution. While these animals show some traits similar to other cattle breeds such as feeding their calves early in the morning and late in the afternoon, the dams spend large periods of the day away from their calves and suckling is more frequent but for shorter periods of time compared with other breeds. Other unique features such as allo-suckling and formation of day-long crèches are observed in this breed.

Soroepidemiologia da leucemia bovina (LB) em bovinos curraleiros dos estados de Goiás e Tocantins, Brasil

“…A introdução das práticas de vacinação e vermifugação no momento da desmama pode ter contribuído para o aumento de sororreatividade na faixa C (16,1%), pois nessas propriedades a desmama ocorre naturalmente em torno de 9 e 11 meses de idade para fêmeas e machos, respectivamente 23 . A distribuição dos animais sororreagentes ampliou-se a partir dos 36 meses de idade, sugerindo que alguns fatores envolvidos na disseminação do agente não puderam ser determinados e apontando para a necessidade de uma investigação aprofundada sobre a epidemiologia da LB.…”

Heat Tolerance in Curraleiro Pe-Duro, Pantaneiro and Nelore Cattle Using Thermographic Images

“…This breed was reared under diverse farming conditions, with minimum health care and nutrition, resulting in animals resistant to endoparasites and ectoparasites, and low production costs [ 11 ]. In common, these two breeds show rusticity, regional disease resistance, ability to tolerate long periods of dietary restriction and rapid recovery of body weight after periods of feed restriction [ 12 ]. Due to natural selection in adverse conditions, especially nutritional aspects, these animals are generally smaller compared to commercial breeds [ 13 , 14 ] and can take up to four years to be slaughtered in diverse farming systems [ 11 ].…”

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

“…In addition, some breeds display more maternal behavior than others, establishing the mother-young bond more strongly. For example, Curraleiro Raza Pé Duro cows frequently abandon their offspring to look for water and food, which could disrupt the development of the mother-calf bond during the sensitive period [120], while Dorset horned ewes and some hybrid mothers (Border Leicester X Merino) show greater maternal capacity, staying with their lambs even during human handling. On the contrary, it has been reported that there is a high frequency of abandonment of the offspring by Merino or Romney sheep [111].…”