Welfare implications on management strategies for rearing dairy calves: A systematic review. Part 1–feeding management

Carulla, Patricia; Villagrá, Arantxa; Estellés, F.; Blanco‐Penedo, Isabel

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1148823

Cited by 3 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…The systematic review protocol is described in detail in the first part of this systematic review ( 2 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The aim of this search was to identify social management strategies and analyze their effect on the welfare of preweaned calves. The search terms and strategy are available elsewhere ( 2 ). In addition, relevant references found during the update and review process have been included in the manuscript.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A data extraction form and screening process was developed for this systematic review, which is available elsewhere ( 2 ). As mentioned in the first part, the publications were clustered according to: colostrum, milk replacer, started feed, weaning, separation from mother, animal-human interaction and interaction with congeners.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case of calves, welfare in the early stages of life is one of the most challenging tasks on a dairy farm. Ensuring the best welfare from all three spheres (biological functioning and animal health, affective states or cognitive judgement, and natural living) during the rearing period has a direct influence on calf development and maybe a possible preventive solution to future problems ( 2 ). Furthermore, there are also regulations that set minimum standards for the protection of calves, which can be used as a guideline for rearing animals ( 3 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the second part of this systematic review ( 2 ) aims to provide a detailed overview of the different social management practices and their impact on the welfare of preweaned calves. In addition, this review aimed to identify gaps in knowledge for further research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Welfare implications on management strategies for rearing dairy calves: A systematic review. Part 2 – Social management

et al. 2023

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IntroductionRaising a healthy calf up to puberty is essential for optimal farm performance. It is therefore, it is necessary to promote animal welfare from the three spheres during this short period. Social management has been postulated as essential in lowering stress and consequently improving calf welfare during this period. Only the health sphere has been studied for a long time, but more recent studies have recently promoted positive experiences and emotional states from affective states or cognitive judgment and natural living spheres. A systematic review of different management strategies in rearing dairy calves according to the three spheres of animal welfare has been conducted using an electronic search strategy.MethodsThe analysis and extraction of information from the studies were performed according to a protocol. From 1,783 publications screened, only 351 met the inclusion criteria.ResultsThe publications identified in the search can be divided into two main groups, feeding and social management, based on the main topic of the publication. This review provides an overview of social management, understood as the calf’s interaction with others around it.DiscussionPrimary social management issues that emerged were social housing with congeners, separation from the mother and human-animal interaction, distributed in the three broad spheres of animal welfare. The review highlights unresolved questions about how social management practices affect the three spheres of animal welfare at this life stage and the need to standardize good socialization practices for this stage. In conclusion, all the information shows that social housing has improved animal welfare from affective states, cognitive judgment, and natural living spheres. However, gaps in research were identified in relation to the optimal time to separate the calf from the mother, the optimal time to group with conspecifics after birth and group size. Further research on positive welfare through socialization are needed.

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“…The systematic review protocol is described in detail in the first part of this systematic review ( 2 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Welfare implications on management strategies for rearing dairy calves: A systematic review. Part 2 – Social management

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The age at first consumption of forage in calves and its effect on growth and rumination in the short- and long-term

Xiao

Chen

Peng

et al. 2023

J Animal Sci Biotechnol

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Background Previous investigations into the effect of dietary forage on calf performance have been inconsistent, and there is a paucity of information exploring the effect of age on the growth performance and rumination of calves. Eighty-four female Holstein calves (41.5 ± 4.2 kg) were enrolled at birth, a subset of the calves were fed calf starter only (CON, n = 21) while the rest (n = 63) were classified into three treatment groups: the early (EHAY, n = 26, 5.1 ± 0.8 d), the middle (MHAY, n = 21, 7.9 ± 0.8 d) and the late (LHAY, n = 16, 12.1 ± 1.4 d) hay consumers. The short-term effect of the age at first forage consumption (AFF) on calves’ feed intake was monitored until d 84. In addition, the long-term effects of AFF on body weight, structural growth and rumination behavior were recorded until d 196. Rumen samples were collected on d 1, 7, 35, 84 and 196 to analyze the rumen fermentation, while fecal samples were collected from d 78 to 84 to estimate digestibility parameters. Results Treatment had no effect on feed intake. While, the EHAY calves tended to have lower BW and ADG compared to LHAY and CON calves. Several total-tract apparent digestibility parameters and digestible nutrients intake were significantly lower in EHAY calves compared with CON and LHAY calves. Calves in the EHAY group tended to begin ruminating ealier, while CON calves were the latest (12.3 vs. 15.5 days of age). A treatment and time interaction was present for rumination time due to greater rumination in calves consuming hay compared to CON calves in week 10 to 12, the differences in rumination disappeared afterwards, no long-lasting significant differences in the rumination and rumen fermentation parameters were found between treatments. Conclusions In conclusion, this study showed that hay consumption earlier in life (in the first week, around 5 days of life) could negatively affect the growth of the calf in the short and long term. Compared to consuming hay from the second week (around 12 days of life) or feeding concentrate only without hay, starting to consume hay from the first week could compromise nutrient digestibility and digestible nutrient intake independent of developing rumination behaviour and rumen fermentation.

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Effect of Milk-Feeding Frequency and Calcium Gluconate Supplementation on Growth, Health, and Reproductive and Metabolic Features of Holstein Heifers at a Rearing Farm

Revilla-Ruiz,

Carulla,

Fernandez-Novo

et al. 2024

Animals

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We compared the effects of milk-feeding in 288 Holstein calves (72 per group) which were fed twice (2F) or thrice (3F) daily, with or without the addition of hydrogenated fat-embedded calcium gluconate (G) supplemented in the starter food and in the daily diet up to the age of 9 months, on the calves’ metabolism, growth, health, and reproductive efficiency up to first pregnancy. The calves received 6 L of milk replacer (130 g/L) and had ad libitum access to water and textured calf starter with or without gluconate. Gluconate supplementation promoted a “catch-up” in growth in supplemented calves compared to their counterparts that did not receive gluconate. Gluconate appeared to reduce animal metabolic stress during key events, such as weaning and transfer into open-door pens, reducing fructosamine (352.61 vs. 303.06 in 3FG and 3F, respectively; p = 0.028) and urea (3F revealed the highest values compared with the other three groups: 19.06 for 3F vs. 13.9 (2F), 13.7 (2FG), and 14.3 (3FG), respectively, p = 0.002) from weaning onwards. The feeding of dairy calves with milk replacer three rather than two times per day tended to be associated with better health from weaning to 4 months old; parameters such as ultrasound lung score and calf health score improved over time (p < 0.001). Thrice-daily feeding with milk replacer tended to reduce the number of artificial inseminations per pregnancy in heifers by 0.2 points (p = 0.092). We confirmed significant correlations between early health and growth parameters and reproductive efficiency and a positive correlation between body weight and average daily weight gain and the thickness of the back fat layer in young heifers (r = 0.245; p < 0.0001; r = 0.214; p < 0.0001 respectively). Our study was conducted on a commercial farm with reasonably effective animal management, so baseline welfare was likely satisfactory.

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Welfare implications on management strategies for rearing dairy calves: A systematic review. Part 1–feeding management

Cited by 3 publications

References 106 publications

Welfare implications on management strategies for rearing dairy calves: A systematic review. Part 2 – Social management

Welfare implications on management strategies for rearing dairy calves: A systematic review. Part 2 – Social management

The age at first consumption of forage in calves and its effect on growth and rumination in the short- and long-term

Effect of Milk-Feeding Frequency and Calcium Gluconate Supplementation on Growth, Health, and Reproductive and Metabolic Features of Holstein Heifers at a Rearing Farm

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