The effects of social contact and milk allowance on responses to handling, play, and social behavior in young dairy calves

Duve, Linda Rosager; Weary, Daniel M.; Halekoh, Ulrich; Jensen, Margit Bak

doi:10.3168/jds.2011-5170

Cited by 107 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Early separation is often perceived to be unnatural and problematic for the welfare of the cow and calf (Ventura et al, 2013), and research has shown that nursing can provide health and welfare benefits (Krohn, 2001;Flower and Weary, 2003). For example, calves reared with the dam stand earlier after birth (Lidfors, 1996), gain more weight than calves reared artificially with restricted milk allowances (Flower and Weary, 2001) and show reduced signs of distress during an isolation test (Duve et al, 2012). Long-term positive effects of staying longer with the cow can be seen when heifers are introduced into the dairy herd (Wagner et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The effect of nursing on the cow–calf bond

Johnsen

Passillé

Mejdell

et al. 2015

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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a b s t r a c tDairy calves are often separated from the cow soon after birth and prevented from nursing, but little is known about the effects of nursing on the development of the cow-calf bond. This study evaluated the effect of nursing on affiliative behaviours between the dam and her calf including allogrooming, proximity and latency to reunite after a period of separation. Holstein cow-calf pairs were randomly allocated to three treatments differing only in nutritional dependency on the dam: milk feeder (n = 10 pairs), combined (n = 10 pairs) or nursing (n = 10 pairs). Milk feeder calves could feed ad libitum from an automated milk-feeder, combined calves could suckle from their dams at night and could feed ad libitum from an automated milk feeder and nursing calves could suckle from their dams at night. Cows and calves were kept together during the night (between 20:00 h and 08:00 h) and were housed adjacent to each other during the day (between 08:00 h and 20:00 h). Direct live observations were performed 2 h following the opening of the gate that allowed calves to mix with cows at night. All pairs spent more time (% of observations) allogrooming each other (i.e. own cow/calf) than they did grooming other cows and calves within the same group (10 ± 0.8% vs. 0.4 ± 0.7%, t 29 = 168.8, P < 0.001). The time cow-calf pairs spent allogrooming did not vary with treatment; 10.0 ± 0.8%, F 2, 27 = 0.4, P = 0.696). Similarly, time spent in close proximity without nursing did not differ among treatments; 31 ± 2.6%, F 2, 27 = 0.6, P = 0.543). The percentage of occasions a pair did not reunite (i.e. not observed within 1 m of each other within 3 min) was 23% for the milk feeder pairs, 38% for the combined pairs and 32% for the nursing pairs ( 2 = 3.9, P = 0.415). Nevertheless suckling from another cow than own dam was observed at least once by 19 of the 20 calves that were allowed to suckle. Latency to reunite (among pairs that did so within 180 s) was highest for the combined pairs and tended to be lower for milk feeder and nursing calves; 52.5 ± 16.0, 23.3 ± 8.3 and 12.9 ± 5.8; F 2, 24 = 3.1, P = 0.062). These results indicate that dam and calf form a bond independent of nursing.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The effect of nursing on the cow–calf bond

Johnsen

Passillé

Mejdell

et al. 2015

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…Spel manifesteert zich onder meer als springen, schoppen en rennen, schijnvechten (Reinhardt 1980), en manipulaties van objecten (Brownlee 1954). Spelgedrag is niet noodzakelijk om te overleven en in suboptimale omstandigheden wordt dit gedrag verminderd of zelfs achterwege gelaten; spelgedrag van kalveren neemt bijvoorbeeld af als het voeraanbod afneemt (Duve et al, 2012) of als de kalveren aan pijnlijke procedures onderworpen worden (Mintline et al, 2013). …”

Section: Spelgedragunclassified

Fysiologische en ethologische behoeften van niet gespeende kalveren in relatie tot transport langer dan 8 uur

Gerritzen

Kluivers-Poodt

Reenen

2016

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Fysiologische en ethologische behoeften van niet gespeende kalveren in relatie tot transport langer dan 8 uur Gerritzen, M., M. Kluivers-Poodt, K. van Reenen, 2016. Fysiologische en ethologische behoeften van niet gespeende kalveren in relatie tot transport langer dan 8 uur.  Spelgedrag: jonge dieren hebben een grote motivatie om spelgedrag te vertonen als tegemoet gekomen is aan hun primaire behoeftes. Spelgedrag is niet noodzakelijk om te overleven en in suboptimale omstandigheden wordt dit gedrag verminderd of zelfs achterwege gelaten. Het is aannemelijk dat het niet kunnen vertonen van spelgedrag tijdens transport niet direct leidt tot een aantasting van het welzijn. Het is echter niet bekend na welke periode van onthouding wel sprake is van verminderd welzijn. Daarnaast moet in de overweging meegenomen worden dat het bieden van voldoende ruimte tot spelen tijdens transport, aanleiding kan zijn tot het ontstaan van blessures of beschadigingen. Kan aan de behoefte van kalveren worden tegemoet gekomen tijdens lang transport:De opinie of aan de fysiologische behoefte van jonge kalveren kan worden voldaan tijdens lang transport is niet eenduidig. Er worden door verschillend experts sterke vraagtekens gesteld of aan de fysiologische behoeften van jonge kalveren kan worden voldaan tijdens transport. Belangrijkste motivaties hierin zijn: -Niet gespeende kalveren kunnen in een voertuig niet gevoerd worden. -Het is niet duidelijk of kalveren tijdens transport en bij rusten op de wagen voldoende water opnemen. -Elektrolyten oplossingen bevredigen niet de voedingsbehoefte van het dier en geven geen verzadiging. -Transport zoals toegestaan in de EU-wetgeving (2 x 9 uur) moet alleen toegestaan zijn bij een omgevingstemperatuur hoger dan 0ºC. Kunnen jonge kalveren omgaan met lang transport:Ondanks dat niet aan alle fysiologische en ethologische behoefte kan worden voldaan tijdens transport kan op basis van de beschikbare wetenschappelijk kennis over de effecten van transport op het jonge kalf gesteld worden dat lange afstandstransport conform de Europese Transportverordening vanuit het oogpunt van welzijn en aanpassingsvermogen van jonge kalveren aanvaardbaar lijkt. Het beschikbare onderzoek geeft grond aan de veronderstelling dat een goede gezondheid en een adequate nutritionele toestand van jonge kalveren voorafgaand aan het opladen op de vrachtauto belangrijke randvoorwaarden zijn voor het goed doorstaan van lange afstand transport. De beschikbare literatuur suggereert ook dat, naast een goede voorbereiding van kalveren op transport, de tussentijdse verstrekking van vocht voldoende zou kunnen zijn om kalveren in staat te stellen adequaat om te gaan met lange afstandstransport. Sommige onderzoekers adviseren echter om jonge kalveren pas over langere afstanden te transporteren als ze minimaal 4 weken oud zijn. Eisen aan transport van jonge kalveren:Livestock Research Rapport 957 | 7De eisen die aan het transport(middel) gesteld moeten worden om aan de fysiologische behoeften van niet gespeende kalveren te voldoen in r...

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“…Early social environment influences the development of social behaviour, impacting social hierarchy later in life (Warnick et al 1977) and response to competition (Duve et al 2012) or a novel environment (De Paula Vieira et al 2012). For example, Duve et al (2012) reported that calves reared with social contact (pair-housing) accessed feed more successfully in a competitive challenge than calves reared in individual pens.…”

Section: Social Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Duve et al (2012) reported that calves reared with social contact (pair-housing) accessed feed more successfully in a competitive challenge than calves reared in individual pens. There is also evidence that differences in meal patterns developed in response to early environment may persist when mediated by different social factors, such as degree of competition.…”

Section: Social Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invited review: Development and expression of dairy calf feeding behaviour

Miller-Cushon

DeVries

2015

Can. J. Anim. Sci.

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Miller-Cushon, E. K. and DeVries, T. J. 2015. Invited review: Development and expression of dairy calf feeding behaviour. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 341Á350. Feeding and housing practices for dairy calves impact performance and growth early in life, as well as feeding behaviour. There is also increasing evidence that early exposure to different feeding and housing strategies influence the development of feeding behaviour. The dairy calf needs access to milk in sufficient quantities to maintain health and high-levels of growth. In addition, intake of solid feed, such as grain concentrate, is necessary early in life to establish fermentation and develop the rumen. In dairy calves, feeding behaviour patterns can have direct impact on nutrient consumption and, consequently, growth. Further, recent research has provided evidence that behaviour patterns that develop in response to management factors early in life may persist once learned, potentially having longer-term implications for health and welfare. Thus, there is potential for various nutritional, housing, and management factors to impact the learning of feeding behaviour early in the life of dairy calves. This review provides several examples of early management factors that influence feeding behaviour of dairy calves and, in turn, impact calf growth and welfare. For example, providing continuous, ad libitum access to milk results not only in greater growth, but also in meal patterns that more closely resemble the natural behaviour of a calf suckling its dam. Housing management also has the potential to influence when, and how much, a calf eats. Whereas social facilitation promotes intake, particularly at weaning, competition for feed in group-housed calves restricts feeding patterns and degree of feeding synchrony. With regards to provision of solid feed, recent data suggest that providing physically effective hay, in addition to grain concentrate, may be beneficial for the rumen environment and consequent growth and efficiency. However, the physical form and presentation of forage may also influence feeding behaviour of calves, in particular feed sorting, which can impact both immediate nutrient intakes as well as the development and persistence of that behaviour. For example, calves provided hay and concentrate as a mixture begin to sort their feed early in life, with the pattern of sorting depending on hay particle size. Feed sorting in young calves may reflect a motivation to consume a proportion of hay in the diet. In general, it appears to be beneficial for early growth and welfare to support milk and solid feed intake through unrestricted allowances and less-competitive feeding environments. Continued research in this area is needed to assess the longevity of learned behaviour patterns, and what factors may influence their persistence. Key words: Behaviour, feeding, dairy calfMiller-Cushon, E. K. et DeVries, T. J. 2015. Article de synthe`se sollicite´: De´veloppement et expression du comportement alimentaire des veaux laitiers. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 95: 341Á3...

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The effects of social contact and milk allowance on responses to handling, play, and social behavior in young dairy calves

Cited by 107 publications

References 36 publications

The effect of nursing on the cow–calf bond

The effect of nursing on the cow–calf bond

Fysiologische en ethologische behoeften van niet gespeende kalveren in relatie tot transport langer dan 8 uur

Invited review: Development and expression of dairy calf feeding behaviour

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