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The effect of physical contact between dairy cows and calves during separation on their post-separation behavioural response
... The calf is considered weaned when it no longer depends on its dam's milk, and when its suckling attempts are rejected by the dam (reviewed by suckling defined as the calf obtaining milk from a cow's udder, Sirovnik et al., 2020). The natural weaning age is unclear but estimated to be between 6 and 11 mo (Flower and Weary, 2001;Johnsen et al., 2015). However, in conventional dairy production systems, cow and calf are separated shortly after calving to ease the management of both (Flower and Weary, 2003). ...
... Recent studies (Bertelsen and Jensen, 2023b;Neave et al., 2023a) did not find part-time contact to reduce calves' response to weaning and separation from their dam compared with full-time contact. Because the reaction of both cow and calf to separation after prolonged contact is a welfare concern (Johnsen et al., 2015), research on how to best mitigate the stress of separation is called for. Some studies have found that the calf's reaction to separation may be reduced by de-coupling the loss of milk and the loss of the dam. ...
... Natural weaning is estimated to take place much later than in our experiment (6 to 11 mo after calving; Weary and Chua, 2000;Johnsen et al., 2015), and the reduction in suckling time is not expected to decrease much from approximately 3 to 6 mo of age (Waltl et al., 1995). That we did see some effect of reduced contact on time spent suckling could then be a sign of the calves relying less on milk for their energy intake, as their time together with the cows should allow them to suckle as much as calves with unchanged contact. ...
... Definition: Every single open mouthed 'muh' vocalisation with inhalation between two occurrences (Johnsen et al., 2015). ...
... The response of bonded young dairy calves to abrupt separation is characterised by restlessness and attempts to reestablish contact. In CCC dairy production systems where the dam/foster cow and calf were kept together for 8-12 weeks, abrupt separation resulted in increased activity and high pitch calls by the calves (Veissier et al., 2013;Johnsen et al., 2015). Stress-related behaviours were lowered if permanent separation from the cow and weaning off milk were disconnected (Johnsen et al., 2015;Johnsen et al., 2018). ...
... In CCC dairy production systems where the dam/foster cow and calf were kept together for 8-12 weeks, abrupt separation resulted in increased activity and high pitch calls by the calves (Veissier et al., 2013;Johnsen et al., 2015). Stress-related behaviours were lowered if permanent separation from the cow and weaning off milk were disconnected (Johnsen et al., 2015;Johnsen et al., 2018). For a more detailed description of welfare aspects of cow-calf separation, please refer to Section 3.18 (Specific Scenario 3 -Risks of cow-calf separation). ...
Abstract This Scientific Opinion addresses a European Commission request on the welfare of calves as part of the Farm to Fork strategy. EFSA was asked to provide a description of common husbandry systems and related welfare consequences, as well as measures to prevent or mitigate the hazards leading to them. In addition, recommendations on three specific issues were requested: welfare of calves reared for white veal (space, group housing, requirements of iron and fibre); risk of limited cow–calf contact; and animal‐based measures (ABMs) to monitor on‐farm welfare in slaughterhouses. The methodology developed by EFSA to address similar requests was followed. Fifteen highly relevant welfare consequences were identified, with respiratory disorders, inability to perform exploratory or foraging behaviour, gastroenteric disorders and group stress being the most frequent across husbandry systems. Recommendations to improve the welfare of calves include increasing space allowance, keeping calves in stable groups from an early age, ensuring good colostrum management and increasing the amounts of milk fed to dairy calves. In addition, calves should be provided with deformable lying surfaces, water via an open surface and long‐cut roughage in racks. Regarding specific recommendations for veal systems, calves should be kept in small groups (2–7 animals) within the first week of life, provided with ~ 20 m2/calf and fed on average 1 kg neutral detergent fibre (NDF) per day, preferably using long‐cut hay. Recommendations on cow–calf contact include keeping the calf with the dam for a minimum of 1 day post‐partum. Longer contact should progressively be implemented, but research is needed to guide this implementation in practice. The ABMs body condition, carcass condemnations, abomasal lesions, lung lesions, carcass colour and bursa swelling may be collected in slaughterhouses to monitor on‐farm welfare but should be complemented with behavioural ABMs collected on farm.
... Behavioral parameters Exploration all [20,28,29] cattle [43][44][45] buffalo [46] Feeding behavior, access to pasture and rumination all [28] cattle [47][48][49][50][51] sheep [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] buffalo [46] camel [55,56] Comfort, lying, and resting behaviors cattle [57][58][59] goat [60,61] sheep [62,63] buffalo [64] camel [55] Social affiliative behaviors and brushes all [28][29][30] cattle [34,[65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73] camel [56] Play behavior all [28][29][30][31][32] cattle [74][75][76][77] sheep [26,78] [79] Behavioral synchronization all [28,29] cattle [27,58,80] sheep [63,81,82] Maternal behavior all [28] cattle [44,[83][84][85][86] Wallowing buffalo [46,87] Mating behavior all [28] Pro-social behaviors all [34] Anticipatory behavior cattle [88,89] sheep [78,90] goat [91] Postures, expressions, and vocalizations ...
... Allogrooming is also a strongly motivated behavior of the mother to the calf that enhances the mother-calf bond. Johnsen et al. [65,84] observed that mothers that were separated from their calves and then reunited in a mixing group of animals preferred to lick, sniff, and rub their own calf. Furthermore, in the same study, calves that were kept and raised without their mother spent more time allogrooming each other when reunited in the mixing group. ...
... The cow and calf bond can be developed regardless of whether nursing is prohibited, a fact that proves that the bond should generate positive states in the animals. Johnsen et al. [65,84] studied the affiliative behaviors and the latency to reunite between dairy cows and their claves. Three groups were studied: calves reared exclusively on milk feeders, calves exclusively nursed, and calves reared both on milk feeders and their mothers. ...
Nowadays, there is growing interest in positive animal welfare not only from the view of scientists but also from that of society. The consumer demands more sustainable livestock production, and animal welfare is an essential part of sustainability, so there is interest in incorporating positive welfare indicators into welfare assessment schemes and legislation. The aim of this review is to cite all the positive welfare indicators that have been proposed for dairy animals in theory or practice. In total, twenty-four indicators were retrieved. The most promising are exploration, access to pasture, comfort and resting, feeding, and behavioral synchronicity. Qualitative behavioral assessment (QBA), social affiliative behaviors, play, maternal care, ear postures, vocalizations, visible eye white, nasal temperature, anticipation, cognitive bias, laterality, and oxytocin have been also studied in dairy ruminants. QBA is the indicator that is most often used for the on-farm welfare assessment. Among all dairy animals, studies have been performed mostly on cattle, followed by sheep and goats, and finally buffaloes. The research on camel welfare is limited. Therefore, there is a need for further research and official assessment protocols for buffaloes and especially camels.
... first a reduction of the amount of daily contact between cows and calves prior to permanent separation) . Examples of stepwise separation methods applied in CCC practices are placing the calf behind a fence-line to reduce the amount of contact (Johnsen et al., 2015a) or fitting calves with nose-flaps to prevent suckling prior to permanent separation (Loberg et al., 2008). Despite weaning at a relatively young age which is known to still induce stress in both cow and calf (Lambertz et al., 2015;Stěhulová et al., 2017), those methods are thought to mimic a key feature of the natural weaning process, namely the phase when the calf can no longer suckle milk although other forms of physical contact still occur (Špinka, 2006). ...
... nose-flap that abruptly prevents suckling but allows all other forms of social interaction (Loberg et al., 2008)) or fence-lines (i.e. reduces physical contact and suckling across a fence and is generally applied for a certain period prior to complete separation (Johnsen et al., 2015a). These two-step debonding methods seem to reduce stress-responses around weaning in beef cattle at 6 to 7 months of age (Haley et al., 2005;Price et al., 2014) and in dairy cattle at 8 to 10 weeks of age (e.g. ...
... age for calves, days in milk for cows). The behavioural responses after debonding interventions took place were based on the average proportion of time spent on all behaviours between days 0 to 4 after reducing contact, weaning, and regrouping (Johnsen et al., 2015a). Additionally, the average proportion of time spent on all behaviours after all interventions took place (i.e. between days 7 to 11 after regrouping) was calculated. ...
... All videos were analyzed in a random order, by a single observer who was blind to the parity of the focal cow. Behaviors that had previously been linked with dairy cow maternal (Lidfors, 1996) or stress responses (Weary and Chua, 2000;Johnsen et al., 2015) were measured (Table 1). Vocalizations were additionally quantified due to their previous link with emotional arousal (Briefer, 2012) and welfare assessment in cattle (Green et al., 2018). ...
... Sequences containing only an individual call with more than 1 s of silence preceding or following the call were deemed "single isolated calls," whereas sequences containing 2 or more successive vocalizations (Kershenbaum et al., 2016) that were less than 1 s apart were deemed "call sequences." Various temporal and quantitative vocal Green et (Johnsen et al., 2015) Close to fence line Animal is within 2 m of the calf separation fence line Calf separation (Johnsen et al., 2015) Fence interaction Animal is pressing nose on the separation fence line or has their head extended over it Calf separation (Weary and Chua, 2000;Johnsen et al., 2015) parameters were then measured for the cows during calf interactions and separation. For all recordings, we quantified (1) the number of closed, mixed, and openmouth call types. ...
... Sequences containing only an individual call with more than 1 s of silence preceding or following the call were deemed "single isolated calls," whereas sequences containing 2 or more successive vocalizations (Kershenbaum et al., 2016) that were less than 1 s apart were deemed "call sequences." Various temporal and quantitative vocal Green et (Johnsen et al., 2015) Close to fence line Animal is within 2 m of the calf separation fence line Calf separation (Johnsen et al., 2015) Fence interaction Animal is pressing nose on the separation fence line or has their head extended over it Calf separation (Weary and Chua, 2000;Johnsen et al., 2015) parameters were then measured for the cows during calf interactions and separation. For all recordings, we quantified (1) the number of closed, mixed, and openmouth call types. ...
Mammalian vocalizations can encode contextual information in both the spectrographic components of their individual vocal units and in their temporal organization. Here we observed 23 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows immediately after birth during interactions with their calf and when their calf was separated to the other side of a fence line. We investigated whether the vocalizations emitted in these postpartum contexts would vary temporally. We also described the maternal and stress behaviors preceding and following postpartum vocal production using kinematic diagrams and characterized call sequence structure. The kinematic diagrams highlight the disruption of maternal responses caused by calf separation and show that behavioral and vocal patterns varied according to the cows' emotional states and proximity to the calf in both contexts. During calf interactions, cows mainly produced closed-mouth calls simultaneous to licking their calf, whereas an escalation of stress responses was observed during calf separation, with the cows approaching the fence line, becoming alert to the calf, and emitting more mixed and open-mouth calls. Call sequences were similarly structured across contexts, mostly containing repetitions of a single call type, with a mean interval of 0.57 s between calls and a greater cumulative vocalization duration, attributed to an increased number of vocal units per sequence. Overall, calf separation was associated with a greater proportion of calls emitted as a sequence (inverse of single isolated calls), a shorter interval between separate call sequences, and a greater number of vocal units per sequence, compared with calf interactions. These temporal vocal features varied predictably with the high-stress expression from cows during calf separation and may represent temporal modulations of emotional expression. Despite the noisy farm soundscape, empirical call type and temporal vocal features were easy to measure; thus, findings could be applied to future cattle studies wishing to analyze vocalizations for on-farm welfare assessments.
... Received 13 January 2020; Received in revised form 11 July 2020; Accepted 20 July 2020 1999), and with differing methods of calf separation (Ikeda and Ishii, 2008;Weary and Chua, 2000). While some acoustic analyses have been undertaken to assess context-related variation (Weary and Chua, 2000;Yeon et al., 2006), cattle vocal research has traditionally focused on conspicuous vocal measures such as calling rate (Flower and Weary, 2001;Lidfors, 1996;Stěhulová et al., 2008) and the quantification of high-frequency call types (Johnsen et al., 2015), rather than the spectrographic features for a more comprehensive analysis of welfare state. ...
... Parturient vocalisations were typically coupled with an open mouth configuration, and this was observed more frequently in the primiparous than multiparous cows. Mouth configuration has been used to empirically classify call types in cattle (Johnsen et al., 2015;Padilla de la Torre et al., 2015) and other ungulates (Briefer et al., , 2015b, with evidence to suggest that the expression of different call types relates to different underlying motivational or emotional states (Maigrot et al., 2018;Morton, 1977;Tallet et al., 2013). A greater production of open mouth calls also seems to correlate with increasing distress during calf separation (Johnsen et al., 2015), which could reflect greater urgency during parturition compared to calf separation, especially for the primiparous cows. ...
... Mouth configuration has been used to empirically classify call types in cattle (Johnsen et al., 2015;Padilla de la Torre et al., 2015) and other ungulates (Briefer et al., , 2015b, with evidence to suggest that the expression of different call types relates to different underlying motivational or emotional states (Maigrot et al., 2018;Morton, 1977;Tallet et al., 2013). A greater production of open mouth calls also seems to correlate with increasing distress during calf separation (Johnsen et al., 2015), which could reflect greater urgency during parturition compared to calf separation, especially for the primiparous cows. ...
Context-related information can be reflected within mammalian vocalisations and could in turn be studied to benefit production animals. Whilst previous research has revealed the contextual, and even emotional content of goat, pig and horse vocalisations, cattle vocalisations remain relatively less explored. In this study we recorded the vocalisations and accompanying phonatory behaviours of 19 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows (n = 10 primiparous, n = 9 multiparous) during the peri-partum contexts of parturition with dystocia and fence-line calf separation. Findings revealed that vocal structure was context dependent, with parturition calls longer in duration, higher in fundamental frequency (F0) min and F0 start, containing more nonlinear phenomena and more minor F0 modulations. By contrast, calls during calf separation were distinguishable by their F0 contour, having a higher F0 mean and F0 max, and greater F0 var, F0 cv and F0 absolute slope. During parturition, primiparous cows emitted calls longer in duration, lower in F0 mean, and containing more F0 modulations than their multiparous conspecifics. Parturient cows expressed a greater number of open mouth calls, whereas mixed calls were more common in the calf separation context. Additionally, 82% of the primiparous and 10% of the multiparous cow vocalisations involved tongue exposure from the mouth during parturition, which may represent a visual indicator of compromised welfare. Overall, our results show that the context-related variation is conveyed through an integration of vocal and visual sensory modalities, with the combination of an open mouth configuration, tongue protrusion, and spectral properties such as an overall lower F0 and longer duration during parturition likely enhancing vocal transmission over longer distances to inform more receivers about the urgency of this context. Knowledge of these vocal and behavioural cues could be adopted on farm to determine the welfare of peri-partum cattle and are instrumental for future cattle bioacoustics research.
... Housing pairs from all treatments in the same pen(s) will improve the statistical power, useful when studying the effect of suckling on affiliative interactions, for instance. However, if different treatment groups are housed together in the same pen, effects may be diluted due to mutual influences such as disease transmission or social learning (Johnsen et al., 2015a(Johnsen et al., , 2015b(Johnsen et al., , 2015c. ...
... To avoid injuries, we recommend that calves meet cows only on slatted floors designed for calves, solid floors or on pasture. Younger calves prefer to rest close to their dam (Johnsen et al., 2015a(Johnsen et al., , 2015b(Johnsen et al., , 2015c. To avoid competition for cubicles and consequential agonistic interactions caused by it with potential further negative consequences, cubicle-cow-ratio should be increased further when calves have access to the cows' lying area. ...
... The type of separation should be described in detail (Sirovnik et al., 2020) as well as how and where the animals are kept after separation. Useful behavioural indicators in both cow and calves are frequency and type of vocalizations; high pitched (open mouth) is an especially valuable indicator of separation stress (Johnsen et al., 2015c) or low pitched (closed mouth); pacing along barrier, time spent standing and gazing in the direction of the calf (cow) (Johnsen et al., 2015a), with the head out of pen (Jensen et al., 2019), resting in recumbent position or calf restlessness. Other measures, such as faecal cortisol metabolites or salivary cortisol may be relevant. ...
In this Research Reflection we describe a common standpoint on suitable methodology for controlled and observational studies in cow-calf contact systems in dairy production. Different methods to assess behaviour, health and production in cow-calf contact systems are outlined. Knowledge and experience from researchers working in this field supplement scientific literature whenever relevant. Specific methods including study design, early behaviour of cow and calf, social behaviour relevant to cow-calf contact systems, human-animal relationships and aspects related to management (milking, weaning and separation, health) are reviewed, and recommendations formed. We expect that this paper can contribute to a better understanding of the complexity of cow-calf contact systems and help to advance research in this area of dairy production.
... After calving, maternal behaviors exhibited by the dam include licking, specific vocalizations, and allowing the calf to suckle . It has been theorized that the cow-calf relationship is only partially nutritionally dependent (Johnsen et al. 2015). Research has shown that calves permitted to access their dam only at night, and allowed to drink from automatic milk feeders, resulted in most cow-calf pairs rejoining within 3 min, with allogrooming exchanges among cow-calf pairs (Johnsen et al. 2015(Johnsen et al. , 2018. ...
... It has been theorized that the cow-calf relationship is only partially nutritionally dependent (Johnsen et al. 2015). Research has shown that calves permitted to access their dam only at night, and allowed to drink from automatic milk feeders, resulted in most cow-calf pairs rejoining within 3 min, with allogrooming exchanges among cow-calf pairs (Johnsen et al. 2015(Johnsen et al. , 2018. Therefore, the bond between cow and calf is likely a combination of olfactory cues, grooming, and suckling. ...
... Free-ranged calves will begin to interact with older cows, including adolescents and adults without newborn calves (e.g., Sato et al. 1987;Murphey et al. 1990). Indeed, calves that have nightly access to the dam will exchange allogrooming, and even nurse other dams in a commercial dairy setting (Johnsen et al. 2015). Calves learn appropriate social dynamics from other peers, and engage in social play such as fighting, galloping, bucking, and kicking as early as 2 wk of age (Reinhardt and Viktor 1982). ...
Dairy calf welfare concerns are growing and new evidence suggests that the early life environment influences appropriate physical, behavioral, and cognitive development lasting into adulthood. This review highlights key evidence for the impacts of housing, diets, and painful procedures on calf welfare. We argue that these topics are currently critical welfare concerns, but are not the only points of concern. In addition to environmental requirements to maintain optimal health, dairy calves experience other challenges including social and nutritional restrictions. Individual housing is associated with impaired behavioral development and cognitive ability. Pair and group housing can mitigate some of these negative effects and should be encouraged. Restrictive milk allowances (<15% of body weight) lead to poor growth and hunger; these welfare concerns can be addressed with proper enhanced milk allowances and gradual weaning programs. Finally, dehorning is a critical animal welfare issue when pain control is withheld; calves show negative behavioral, physiological, and emotional responses during and after dehorning. The combined use of local anaesthetics and analgesics can mitigate these effects. An industry shift toward providing social companionship, enhanced milk allowances, and pain control during painful procedures would help to improve the welfare of dairy calves in intensive commercial rearing facilities.
... Of the behaviour reviewed in this paper, the following results appear to be reliable or consistent: There appears to be no effect on head movement, play, ear flicking or licking related to sex of the calf (Stehulova et al., 2017) Vocalisation of the mother is greater when there is a solid wall, but audio contact, between calf and mother at weaning/separation. Vocalisation behaviour increases with further contact with the mother from birth (Stehulova et al., 2017;Johnsen et al., 2015) Vocalisation of calves to mothers is higher when there is a solid wall, but audio contact, between calf and mother at weaning/separation. This also increases with further contact with the mother from ...
... birth (Stehulova et al., 2017;Johnsen et al., 2015) Vocalisation behaviour is specific to the mother's own calf (Marchant-Forde, 2002) Vocalisation of calf to mother at separation increases with more time with the mother (Weary & Chua, 2000) When calves are separated from their mothers for short periods of time, they appear to lick and move their heads towards their mothers on returning. This behaviour increases with increasing length of contact time (in days) between mother and calf. ...
... When studying behavioural outcomes, such as vocalisation, movements and lying times, it is preferable to have comparable conditions for both intervention groups. However, in many articles, the groups were either kept in different barns (Perez et al., 1985;Jensen, 2011;Johnsen et al., 2015;Wagner et al., 2012) or management routines have not been discussed sufficiently to explain the effect of background noise. Feeding and labour management can affect movements and vocalisation as cattle respond to people or machinery/feeding times. ...
strong>PICO question
In Dairy Cows and Calves separated at birth vs. suckled with the mother, are there any behavioural and performance effects on both cow and/or calf?
Clinical bottom line
Calves allowed to suckle from their mothers show stronger behavioural bonds at weaning and appear to gain more weight (at weaning) than separated and automatically fed calves. However, due to the milk yield loss and subsequent favourable weight gains after weaning from ad lib suckling, automatically fed groups make separation at birth a preferable economic decision.
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... The behavioural response to separation can last several days (Enriquez et al., 2010), during which cows and calves vocalize, show increased activity, reduced play behaviour, and spend more time close to the separation barrier (Johnsen et al., 2015c;Lidfors, 1996;Rushen et al., 2016;Stěhulová et al., 2008). Behavioural responses increase if cow and calf are kept together for a longer period before separation (Flower and Weary, 2001;Weary and Chua, 2000). ...
... Different procedures can help reduce the response to separation. For example, allowing the cow-calf pair some continued physical contact (Johnsen et al., 2015c), separating cow and calf more gradually (Loberg et al., 2007;Loberg et al., 2008), or feeding calves more milk after separation (Thomas et al., 2001). Johnsen et al. (2015a) found that calves experience less growth check after separation if they had been taught to drink from a supplemental milk feeder during the nursing period. ...
... Vocalization rates were generally low compared to those reported in other studies (Johnsen et al., 2015c;Stěhulová et al., 2008;Weary and Chua, 2000). The observation period used in the current study was relatively short (3 min/animal), but our pilot work indicated that rotating, short periods of observation were most effective for the live scoring we performed. ...
There is increasing interest in keeping dairy cows with their calves during the milk feeding period, and in reducing distress associated with separation. The aim of this study was to investigate how nutritional dependence upon the cow's milk affects behavioural responses to separation by both the cow and calf. For the first six weeks of life, dependent (n = 10) and semi-dependent (n = 10) calves could suckle from their mother at night, but semi-dependent calves also had ad libitum access to an automated milk feeder (AMF). Independent (n = 10) calves had ad libitum access to an AMF, and their dams wore udder nets to prevent nursing. Once cow and calf were separated, (first a 4 d period of partial separation with fence-line contact followed by total separation when the dam was removed), all calves had ad libitum access to the AMF. We used live, focal-animal observations and classified vocalizations either as high pitched (open mouth) or low pitched (closed mouth). We found that during partial and total separation, independent calves produced fewer high-pitched vocalizations/d than did dependent and semi-dependent calves combined (median: 0.00 vs. 7.2; U = 12.0, z = -3.21, P = 0.001 and 0.00 vs. 0.00; U = 40.5, z = -2.25, P = 0.024 for the two phases respectively) and also tended to produce fewer low-pitched vocalizations during partial separation (0.00 vs. 1.17; U = 29.5, z = -1.90, P = 0.057). Similarly, independent cows tended to produce fewer high-pitched calls during partial separation (0.00 vs. 1.08; U = 31.5, -1.74, P = 0.083) as compared to semi-dependent and dependent cows combined. During the separation phases, 23 calves (four, nine and ten calves) of dependent, semi-dependent and independent treatments, respectively, consumed at least 1.5 L/d from the AMF; these calves spent more time playing (s) (total separation; 3.67 vs. 0.00; U = 28, z = -1.99, P = 0.047) and less time close to the separation barrier (partial separation; 51.31-81.01-124.44 vs. 134.03-147.23-280.10), produced fewer high-pitched vocalizations during partial separation (0.00 vs. 8.33; U = 16, z = -2.22, P = 0.027), and tended to produce fewer low-pitched vocalizations (0.00 vs. 0.83; U = 21.5, z = -1.73, P = 0.083), than did calves consuming less milk from the AMF. The number of high-pitched vocalizations produced was negatively correlated with the calf's milk intake (partial separation; Spearman's r = -0.770, P < 0.001). The results indicate that nutritional independence from the dam reduces behavioural responses to separation.
... In line with this framework studies have begun examining the emotional information encoded in the vocalisations of livestock, in relation to specific source and filter parameters (Briefer, 2012). Although cattle vocal studies have traditionally analysed easily collectable measures such as vocalisation rate (Lidfors, 1996;Flower and Weary, 2001), classified animals as vocal or not to detect changes in welfare (Grandin, 1998 and2001) and classified calls as either high-frequency open-mouth, or low-frequency closed-mouth to provide some meaning behind call production (Johnsen et al., 2015), this framework could provide more detailed information about why vocal parameters differ, and thus deduce how animals are coping in response to various farming practices. ...
... The intent being to determine the association between age of separation and behavioural impacts from separating the calf from the mother immediately (Lidfors, 1996;Flower and Weary, 2001), 6 h postpartum (Weary and Chua, 2000), 1 day postpartum (Weary and Chua, 2000;Stěhulová et al., 2008), 4 days postpartum (Lidfors, 1996;Flower and Weary, 2001;Stěhulová et al., 2008), 1 week postpartum (Stěhulová et al., 2008), 2 weeks postpartum (Flower and and finally 5 weeks postpartum (Thomas et al., 2001). In addition, the latest studies have involved spectrographically examining cow-calf contact calls in a herd of free ranging, mixed-age beef cattle upon temporary separation (Padilla de la Torre et al., 2015) as well as comparing fence-line and solid-wall separation in dairy cattle (Johnsen et al., 2015). ...
... A variety of call types have been reported in both dairy cattle and calves in response to separation, including those with a high F0 and amplitude (Weary and Chua, 2000;Johnsen et al., 2015) and those with a short duration, low amplitude and F0 (Hopster et al., 1995;Johnsen et al., 2015). This may relate to calls being produced on a graded continuum of low to high frequency (Kiley, 1972). ...
Vocalisations are commonly expressed by gregarious animals, including cattle, as a form of short- and long-distance communication. They can provide conspecifics with meaningful information about the physiology, affective state and physical attributes of the caller. In cattle, calls are individually distinct meaning they assist animals to identify specific individuals in the herd. Consequently, there is potential for these vocalisations to be acoustically analysed to make inferences about how individual animals or herds are coping with their external surroundings, and then act on these signals to improve feed conversion efficiency, reproductive efficiency and welfare. In the case of dairy farming, where herd sizes are expanding and farmers are becoming more reliant on technologies to assist in the monitoring of cattle, the study of vocal behaviour could provide an objective, cost effective and non-invasive alternative to traditional measures of welfare. The vocalisations of cattle in response to calf separation, social isolation and painful husbandry procedures, alongside changes to feeding and oestrous activity are here reviewed. For future application of sound technology, research is first necessary to analyse the acoustic structure of cattle vocalisations and determine the specific information they encode. This review draws together the latest research in field of cattle bioacoustics highlighting how the source–filter theory and affective state dimensional approach can be adopted to decode this information and improve on-farm management.
... As expected, the initiation of gradual weaning induced a vocal response (primarily low-pitched) in both cows and calves, and gradual-wean cows responded over the next 24 h by spending more time close to and with their head over the calf creep fence, resulting in less time spent lying during the observation period. These behavioral responses are indicators of separation stress, interpreted as attempts to reunite with the calf (Flower and Weary, 2001a;Loberg et al., 2007;Stěhulová et al., 2008), and have been reported in previous studies using gradual weaning methods such as fence-line (Price et al., 2003;Enríquez et al., 2010;Johnsen et al., 2015b), and insertion of nose-flap to prevent the calf from suckling (Loberg et al., 2007;Ungerfeld et al., 2016). The increased frequency of these behaviors and low-pitched vocalizations were relatively short-lived, showing no differences by 48 h after weaning initiation, which were comparable to cows that experienced no change in calf contact (i.e., abrupt-wean treatment). ...
... When animals perceive a mis-match of expectations with reality this can lead to negative emotional states (Eldar et al., 2016;Raoult et al., 2017), expressed in the form of vocalizations which may be exaggerated in the context of cow-calf separation (Green et al., 2021;Schnaider et al., 2022). This result should not be taken that abrupt weaning methods are the way forward; there is other evidence to the contrary that stepwise or 2-step methods are beneficial in dairy calves (Bertelsen and Jensen, 2023;Johnsen et al., 2015b; and beef calves (Price et al., 2003;Haley et al., 2005;Taylor et al., 2020). Rather it brings to light that the prior expectations of cow and calf are likely important mediating factors affecting how animals respond to unexpected situations; these should be considered when evaluating new cow-calf management and weaning strategies ...
... age for calves, days in milk for cows). The behavioural responses after debonding interventions took place were based on the average proportion of time spent on all behaviours between days 0-4 after reducing contact, weaning, and regrouping (Johnsen et al., 2015b). Additionally, the average proportion of time spent on all behaviours after all interventions took place (i.e. between days 7-11 after regrouping) was calculated. ...
... Recent work reported, however, that machine-harvested milk yields were negatively impacted throughout the whole lactation period, perhaps because the frequency of milk removal went down from several times per day to twice daily machine milking after the calves were weaned (Barth, 2020). Other studies found that cow performance recovers in full CCC systems once calves were weaned (de Passillé et al., 2008;Johnsen et al., 2015b). ...
We assessed effects of two-step debonding strategies in calf rearing systems with different types of prolonged cow-calf contact (CCC) on stress responses, health and performance of dairy cows and calves. Forty-eight Holstein Friesian cow-calf pairs had either: 1) full contact including suckling, where contact was reduced before weaning via fence-line separation at day 49 (FC-FS) (n=10); 2) full contact, where contact was reduced at day 56 by fitting calves with a nose-flap (FC-NF) (n=10); 3) partial contact (calves were housed in a pen adjacent to the cow area allowing physical contact on initiative of the dam but no suckling), where contact was reduced before weaning by moving the calf box from the wall to prevent physical contact at day 49 (PC-BW) (n=6); 4) partial contact, where contact was reduced the week after weaning by moving the calf box away from the wall at day 63 (PC-AW) (n=12); 5) no contact (calves were removed from dam directly after birth and housed in a calf barn), calves were weaned at day 56 (NC) (n=10). Between weeks 7-10, we assessed physiological stress parameters, weight gain, and the health status of calves, plus general activity patterns based on accelerometer sensor data of cow-calf pairs before, during and after the debonding interventions. Additionally, calves were subjected to four consecutive behavioural tests (i.e. open field, novel object, voluntary human approach and involuntary human approach test) prior to permanent separation at day 70 and their behavioural responses were assessed via video recordings to assess fearfulness. Machine-harvested milk yields of cows were evaluated during weeks 6-12. Data were analyzed with (generalized) linear mixed models. Throughout the debonding period, FC-NF calves had an impaired growth rate (P=0.02). In weeks 6-9, FC-FS and FC-NF cows had lower machine-harvested milk yields than PC-BW, PC-AW, and NC cows (P≤0.01). We found no differences in responsiveness of calves to behavioural tests, except that NC calves exhibited more solitary play events compared to PC and FC calves in the novel object test (P=0.002). Overall, our results imply that calves with partial CCC showed low stress responses to debonding, whereas abrupt weaning with a nose-flap during full contact seemed most stressful. Machine-harvested milk yield of FC cows seemed to recover once calves were weaned. More research into strategies to improve the process of debonding is warranted.
... Extended suckling also benefits dam welfare by improving postpartum recovery (Krohn 2001;Flower and Weary 2003), udder health (reviewed by Beaver et al. 2019) and allowing the expression of highly motivated maternal behaviour . Generally, both dairy farmers that employ an extended suckling period (Grøndahl et al. 2007) and animal welfare researchers (Flower and Weary 2003;Johnsen et al. 2015b) consider the positive effects of an extended suckling period to outweigh the distress associated with separation from the cow at an older age. ...
... Allowing the calf to achieve nutritional independence before breaking the emotional bond with the dam reduces the behavioural re sponse to separation following an extended suckling period Johnsen et al. 2018). Gradually reducing the duration of contact with the cow (Johnsen et al. 2015b(Johnsen et al. , 2018 or preventing nursing by covering the udder or using an anti-suck device (von Keyserlingk and Weary 2007;Newberry and Swanson 2008), are the most effective at reducing distress. In terms of managing the later separation per se, maintaining restricted fenceline or audio and visual contact following abrupt weaning from the dam increases distress compared with complete audio, visual and tactile separation (Solano et al. 2007;Stěhulová et al. 2008). ...
Current research on factors affecting the welfare of dairy calves is predominantly based on indoor, year-round calving systems. Calf rearing in these systems differs from that in more seasonal, pasture-based dairy production, meaning that risks to the welfare of dairy calves may not always be comparable between the two systems. The aim of this review was to consolidate the scientific literature relating to calf welfare in pasture-based dairy systems from birth until weaning, allowing for (1) the identification of current and emerging risks to calf welfare and (2) the formation of recommendations to mitigate these risks. Many of the risks to calf welfare discussed in this review are not exclusive to pasture-based dairies. This includes a global trend for increasing perinatal mortalities, a significant number of calves failing to achieve effective passive transfer of immunity, the low uptake of best practice pain relief when calves are disbudded, and the feeding of restricted milk volumes. In addition to these persisting welfare risks, two factors discussed in this review pose an immediate threat to the social license of dairy farming; the separation of cow and calf soon after birth and the management of surplus calves (i.e. calves not needed by the dairy industry). Several recommendations are made to improve the uptake of best-practice calf rearing and progress the development of alternative pasture-based rearing systems that accommodate changing community expectations. These include communication strategies that strengthen farmer beliefs regarding the welfare and productivity benefits achieved by best practice calf rearing and challenge beliefs regarding the associated costs. Farmers should also be encouraged to benchmark their rearing practices through improved record keeping of key rearing inputs and outcomes. Biological research is needed to advise the development of new calf rearing recommendations and the evolution of existing recommendations. Research priorities identified by this review include the effects of dystocia on the neonate and strategies to mitigate these effects, relationships between features of pen design and calf health and welfare, feasibility of dam rearing in large pasture-based dairy systems, and strategies that increase the value of the surplus calf.
... Cow−calf pairs housed in a free-suckling system spend between 10 and 60 min per 24 h on each of the behaviours suckling and allogrooming the calf (Lidfors, 1996;Paranhos da Costa et al., 2006) and it is evident that maternal contact influences the emotional development of the calf (Santo et al., 2020) and, in the short term only, their response to human contact . Further, cows and calves respond vocally to separation, and high-pitched vocalizations can be used as an indicator of stress at separation (Johnsen et al., 2015). Behavioural responses to separation should be mitigated in new CCC-systems. ...
... Vocal responses during the first days of gradual separation were not documented, but after separation (ie during the first two days without contact), cows and calves vocalized more, both using low pitched (4 (0-15) and 4 (0-9) vocalizations/h for cows and calves, respectively) and high-pitched vocalization (0 (0-4) and 11 (0-26) vocalizations/h for cows and calves, respectively). Similar behaviours have been shown in other studies (Johnsen et al., 2015), but at higher rates. Measures to mitigate behavioural stress at separation that have been described are daytime/night-time CCC (rather than whole-day contact), and gradual separation allowing physical contact (Johnsen et al., 2016). ...
Research is needed on how technology can facilitate cow-calf contact (CCC). This research communication describes the behaviour of dairy cow-calf pairs in two cow-driven CCC-systems differing in cows' access to the calves through computer-controlled access gates (smart gates, SG). Specifically, cow traffic through SG when visiting their calves, allogrooming, suckling and cross-suckling, cows' eating and resting behaviour and finally vocal response to separation were assessed. After 3 d in an individual calving pen, pairs (n = 8) were moved to the CCC compartment with a cow area, a calf creep and a meeting area. During the next 31 d calves could suckle the cows whenever they visited the meeting area (suckling phase). Cows had free (group 1, n = 4 pairs) or restricted access to the calves based on previous activity in the automatic milking system (group 2, n = 4 pairs). SG's controlled cow traffic between the meeting area and the cow area, in which the cows could access resources such as feed, cubicles, and the automatic milking system. Following the suckling phase cow access into the meeting area was gradually decreased over 9 d (separation phase). During the suckling phase, cows paid frequent and short visits to their calves. Pairs spent in total approximately one h/d suckling and allogrooming. However, the duration and frequencies of these events varied among pairs and groups, as did the vocal response to separation. Restricted access - cows performed more (unrewarded) attempts to visit the calves who cross-suckled more. Collectively, free access to the calves may have been more intuitive and welfare friendly. Although a low sample size limits interpretation beyond description and enabling hypothesis formulation for future research, the results indicate that the cow is motivated to visit her calf, albeit through a SG, thus facilitating particular behaviours for which cow-calf pairs are highly motivated.
... The weaning process includes handling, a more or less abrupt cow-calf separation and, sometimes simultaneously, transportation, sudden changes in the diet, and social reorganisation due to regrouping. All of the events taking place around this phase are sources of stress and potential health problems for both beef and dairy calves (27,28). Cows also experience stress due to separation from their calves at weaning (28)(29)(30). ...
... All of the events taking place around this phase are sources of stress and potential health problems for both beef and dairy calves (27,28). Cows also experience stress due to separation from their calves at weaning (28)(29)(30). Studies assessing methods to reduce stress around weaning typically rely on a mixture of behavioural and physiological indicators to compare the relative benefits of different separation strategies (e.g., two-step weaning; (27,31,32). ...
Beef cattle are the third most numerous terrestrial farmed animals worldwide. Factors such as geographical region, animal category, breed, and rearing system pose specific animal welfare challenges that can have an impact on animal and public health. This article uses text mining (TM) and topic analysis (TA) to explore the scientific literature on beef cattle welfare published in English from 1990 to 2019. Our aim was to reveal the main research topics and their evolution over time. Our analysis showed that the three most relevant themes in research since 1990 have to do with calf behaviour and management, efficiency, and environmental sustainability, and the effects of transport and slaughter on meat quality. Topics showing the most marked increase in the number of papers published deal with stakeholders' perceptions and market opportunities for added-value beef products and risk factors for morbidity and mortality, especially in relation to calf health, antimicrobial use, and antimicrobial resistance. The results indicate a particular focus on the welfare of calves, especially in the veal industry. Pain relief during the castration of calves and bulls also featured prominently. Research is also increasingly assessing aspects of beef cattle welfare that are interlinked to meat quality, the social and environmental sustainability of the sector in relation to market opportunities, and public health. The identified topics represent a basic source of information that can be used for further and more detailed analyses (e.g., systematic reviews) focussed on specific research themes or geographical areas.
... For the rest of the day, the cow and calf are separated. Another type of part-time contact system allows contact either during the night or during the day, usually between the milking sessions (Veissier et al., 2013;Johnsen et al., 2015aJohnsen et al., , 2015bJohnsen et al., , 2015c. Since dairy cattle have a distinct diurnal activity rhythm (Haley et al., 2000), it is necessary to report if day-time or night-time cow-calf contact is allowed. ...
... While in some cow-calf contact systems, cows and calves share resources, such as feeding or resting areas, in other systems these resources are in physically separated locations (Roth et al., 2009;Johnsen et al., 2015aJohnsen et al., , 2015bJohnsen et al., , 2015c. The possibility to share resources may influence the total amount of physical contact between the cow and calf as well as the calf's ability to learn to use the resources from cows (Fröberg et al., 2011). ...
Due to increasing public concern regarding separation of the dairy cow and calf within the first days after birth, alternative systems, where cows and calves stay in contact for an extended period, are receiving increasing interest from a broad array of researchers and other stakeholders. With more research in the area, there is a risk of inconsistencies emerging in the use of terminology. To create a better consensus in further discussions, the aim of this Research Reflection is to provide definitions and propose a common terminology for cow-calf contact in dairy production. We also suggest definitions for various systems allowing cow-calf contact and describe the distinct phases of cow-calf contact systems.
... This, in turn, enables the secretion of dopamine, which initiates the sensitive period during which the dam identifies her own calf [4,32]. In dairy cows, the first five minutes of contact with the calf immediately after birth are sufficient to form a strong dam-young bond specifically with her neonate [33][34][35]. Observations of this event in the Murrah and Surti breeds of water buffaloes have documented the development of epimeletic behavior (i.e., the care and attention that the dam provides to her calf). After giving birth, the dam stands up [36] and begins to lick and smell her neonate [37]. ...
... In artificially reared dairy calves, handling practices like the physical separation of mother and young, interruption of suckling and changes in the living environment, stress the animals, induce abnormal behaviours and deprives calves from learning speciesspecific behaviors [39]. Some of the most common abnormal behaviours include: cross-sucking, licking or tongue-playing [34,35,43]. In the specific case of sheep, another precocial species where bonding is important for survival and behavioral development, artificially reared lambs (i.e. in absence of their mothers) develop an attachment to humans providing positive social interactions including feeding. ...
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.
... Some management practices have been shown to minimize separation stress at least in calves. They include fence line separation (dairy cattle: Johnsen et al., 2015b;Verwer and Kok, 2012;beef cattle: Price et al., 2003) and the use of nose flaps (dairy cattle: Barth et al., 2015a;Verwer and Kok, 2012;beef cattle: Burke et al., 2009;Haley et al., 2005;Lambertz et al., 2015;Loberg et al., 2008). It is further possible to use udder nets. ...
... All three methods allow physical contact of dam and calf without suckling. Beside these, giving the calf a different source (bottle, bucket, automatic milk feeder) to ingest milk after separation from the dam (Johnsen et al., 2014(Johnsen et al., , 2015bLidfors et al., 2017;Rushen et al., 2016), and gradual reduction of the amounts of milk or milk replacer had beneficial effects (Johnsen et al., 2014). Less information on the impact of two-step weaning on cow welfare is available. ...
In dam rearing, where dairy cows nurse their calves for several weeks while being milked, the farmer may loose considerable amounts of harvested milk, partly due to disturbed alveolar milk ejection. Therefore the objective of this thesis was to improve the machine gained milk yield in dam rearing. The influence of acoustic, olfactory and manual stimulation in the parlour on cows with free or no calf-contact were investigated. Beside parameters of milk let-down, agitation behaviour, heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were assessed to analyse if dams are stressed during milking. This could be a reason for impaired alveolar milk ejection. The second approach was to reduce mother-calf-contact: free, half-day and no cow-calf-contact were compared.
In a preliminary study (Chapter 2), it was investigated whether cows behaviourally respond to calf hair presented in a tandem milking parlour, and whether this is affected by suckling the own calf or not. Discrimination between hair of the own calf in a thin cloth bag (‘own’), hair of an alien calf (‘alien’) and a control cloth bag without calf hair (‘no’) was tested among 17 multiparous and 6 primiparous cows with free calf-contact (‘contact’) and
13 multiparous and 4 primiparous cows separated within 12 h after parturition from their calves (‘control’). Both groups were milked twice daily in a tandem milking parlour, where they were individually tested in six consecutive milkings (trials) starting between the 12th and 20th day of lactation. Two of three olfactory stimuli were presented simultaneously. Sniffing or licking of the stimuli during the first minutes of milking (response duration in % of total observation time) and number of trials with any response (frequency of responses) were recorded. Data were analysed using non-parametric tests. Calf hair (‘own’ or ’alien’) elicited responses in 60% of the animals at least once, but altogether there were only overt responses in 23% of trials. Significant differences in responsiveness towards the different stimuli were found in terms of frequency of responses for all cows (n = 28 without missing data, p = 0.003). Response duration differed significantly for all responsive multiparous cows (n = 12, p = 0.049) and in tendency for all responsive heifers (n = 8, p = 0.061) and for responsive ‘contact’ cows and heifers (n = 11, p = 0.034). In all these cases, responses were highest for ‘own’, intermediate for ‘alien’ and lowest for ‘no’. In the post hoc tests, no significant differences between ‘own’ and ‘alien’ could be detected. Despite low response rates to the presented olfactory stimuli in general, it can be concluded that the responsive multiparous cows and ‘contact’ heifers were able to perceive the presented calf odour and preferred to sniff/lick those stimuli compared to a stimulus with ‘no’ odour.
Out of the cows of the pilot study 15 dams and 22 ‘control’ animals took part in the next experiment (Chapter 3). Both were conducted at the research farm of the Thünen Institute, Trenthorst, where cows were loose housed in two similar cubicle pens with one calf creep available each. In this study, dams and ‘control’ cows were compared during milking concerning machine collected milk yield, machine-on time, milk flow characteristics, milk fat content, somatic cell score (SCS), agitation behaviour, HR and HRV. During three consecutive weeks (26th to 50th d in milk) in each week one of three treatments were conducted during milking in the parlour and results were compared with those from routine milking with vibration stimulation in the same week: played-back calls of calves before milk feeding (acoustic), hair of the own calf in a thin cloth bag (olfactory), teat massage following pre-milking and udder cleaning (in total 60 sec, manual). Mixed models were applied. Over all treatments machine collected milk yield (-9.9 kg per milking), fat content (-0.66%) and milk flow characteristics of dams were lower than in ‘control’ animals (all tests: p < 0.0001, effect size r > 0.70). SCS as indicator of udder health did not differ between groups (p = 0.4111, r = 0.13). There was no impact of ‘contact’ on rumination, stepping, kicking, HR and some parameters of HRV (RMSSD, SDNN, HF%) in the parlour. Dams showed a tense head position (p = 0.0007, r = 0.56) and defecated (p = 0.0125, r = 0.50) at more milkings than cows without calf contact. On the other hand, some characteristics of HRV differed between ‘contact’ animals and the ‘control’ (LF%, LF/HF; p < 0.05, r > 0.30), indicating a higher vagal activity in dams. Reason for this may be a generally higher vagal activity due to suckling, which could also result in higher gut motility and therefore a higher defecation frequency. None of the treatments had great impact on the animals. Manual stimulation increased the mean milk flow during the main milking phase. However, this is possibly due to technical differences compared to vibration stimulation without effects on harvested milk. Acoustic stimulation led to lower SCS compared to routine milking, but only in dams (interaction: p = 0.0023). This result is hard to interpret. In conclusion, it was not possible to enhance milk let-down in dams with free calf-contact through acoustic, olfactory and manual stimulation.
As the applied stimuli did not enhance milk let-down in dams, in a third experiment at the research farm of the University of Kassel the influence of different durations of cow-calf-contact during the day was assessed (Chapter 4). After full-day cow-calf-contact for three days post partum in a calving pen, 11 cows had half-day calf-contact between morning and afternoon milking (ca. 10 h 45 min, ‘half-day’) and 13 cows had free calf-contact
(24 h, ‘free’). Both groups were housed each in a deep litter pen with a calf creep. Cows of the ‘no contact’ group were separated from their calf half a day post partum and were moved into a third deep litter area one day after birth. Control calves were moved to individual calf igloos and were group-housed after the first week of life in a deep litter system. They were fed a maximum of 2x3 L heated whole milk d-1 from teat buckets. All cows were milked twice daily. After nine weeks of ‘nursing’, calves with dam-contact were moved to a pen, were they could see, but not suckle or touch the mother, and were trained to drink whole milk from a teat bucket (2x3 L d-1, ‘in sight+milk feeding’). In the 11th - 12th week of life these calves were housed with the ‘no contact’ calves, where they no longer could see their mothers, and gradual weaning started (4 - 2 L d-1, ‘out of sight+weaning’). Data assessment ended two weeks after weaning (13th - 14th week of life, ‘post weaning’). The influence of contact-treatment and experimental phase on machine milk yield, milk content, SCS and percentage of milkings with SCC >100,000 cells ml-1 were analysed with mixed models. ANOVA was used to analyse the effect of treatment on the average daily milk yield of the lactation (220 - 305 days in milk), calving-interval and daily weight gain of calves during ‘nursing’ and ‘in sight+milk feeding’. After the latter phase all male calves were sold for fattening, resulting in a decreased sample size. Incidences of mastitis and calf data during ‘out of sight+weaning’ and ‘post weaning’ were analysed for potential differences using non-parametric tests.
Daily milk yield during ‘nursing’ was on average 9.9 kg lower in ‘half-day’ compared to ‘no contact’ cows (p = 0.0054, r = 0.48) and 3.6 kg higher compared to ‘free’ cows (p = 0.0576,
r = 0.32). Nearly 80% of the machine milk yield of ‘half-day’ cows could be harvested after the separation from the calf overnight, during morning milking. Over the whole lactation, ‘half-day’ milk yields were in tendency higher than ‘free’ (p = 0.0889, r = 0.31) and not significantly different from ‘no contact’ (p = 0.2193, r = 0.23). In both dam rearing groups milk fat content was about 1 percent point lower during the ‘nursing’ phase. The lower machine milk yield and fat content indicates a disturbed alveolar milk ejection in both groups with calf-contact. This, however, did not negatively affect parameters of udder health. Somatic cell counts did not differ between treatments (p > 0.1), however mastitis incidences were high in all treatments. Protein content was 0.15 - 0.30 percent points higher and lactose content 0.17 - 0.33 percent points lower in dam rearing groups than in ‘no contact’ animals during ‘nursing’. After ‘nursing’ ended, machine milk yield and fat and lactose contents of dams increased. Protein content in ‘half-day’ and ‘no contact’ differed between phases, but remained stable in ‘free’ cows. Calving interval was not affected by calf-contact (p = 0.714). Weight development of dam-reared calves was similar. ‘No contact’ calves’ gained significantly less weight during ‘nursing’ (p < 0.0001) and more during ’in sight+milk feeding’ than ‘half-day’ calves (p < 0.05). During the following weeks, weight gain of dam reared calves increased, but numerically remained under the level of ‘no contact’ calves (p > 0.1). Two weeks after weaning, however, dam reared calves’ body weight was still higher than the body weight of restrictedly fed calves (p < 0.05). In conclusion ‘half-day’ contact helped to reduce milk losses during dam rearing, while calf development did not differ from ‘free’ contact.
... In a natural setting, cows gradually wean their calves after several months of nursing 1,2 . However, in conventional dairy production systems, calves are commonly separated from their dams within hours or days of calving and artificially fed milk until 7 to 12 weeks of age (e.g., refs. ...
When weaning offspring, female mammals limit nursing opportunities. This study aimed to investigate whether imposing a gradual reduction in daily contact time, by separating cows from their calves as an attempt to stimulate weaning, reduced dairy cows’ motivation to nurse their calves. For seven weeks, 84 Holstein–Friesian cow-calf pairs were housed with either full-time (23 h contact/d), part-time (10 h contact/d), or no contact. In the following two weeks, half of full- and part-time pairs were subjected to reduced contact (50% of initial contact in week 8, 25% of initial contact in week 9), while the other half continued with unchanged contact. In weeks 8 and 9, cows’ motivation to obtain full contact to and opportunity to nurse their calves was measured using weighted push gates using a novel maximum price paid method providing an alternative choice to the cows to reduce frustration. Cows with reduced calf contact were more motivated than cows with unchanged contact; however, cows used the alternative choice less than expected. The results show that cows’ motivation for full calf contact and opportunity to nurse increases when daily calf contact is reduced, illustrating that dairy cows are motivated to continue nursing their 9- to 10-week-old calves.
... Behaviors were recorded during direct observations for 120 min on each of 2 consecutive days ( = phases) before (baseline, BL 24h, BL 12h and BL 6h) and after smart gate settings were changed to accommodate reduced cow access (separation, SEP 12h, SEP 6h, SEP 0h). We recorded high-and-low-pitched vocalizations continuously (Johnsen et al., 2015b). Using scan sampling/min, we recorded if a focal cow/calf was positioned close (<1 m) to the separation barrier during any of the 120 observed minutes. ...
Premature separation, entailing a mixture of stressful events, follows a period of cow-calf contact in dairy production. We hypothesized that timing and length of debonding (i.e., gradually adapting cow and calf to separation) may affect behavioral responses indicating stress and reinstatement of the cow-calf bond. Initially, cows had 24 h/d smart gate access to their calves before reduced to 12 h/d, 6 h/d and finally 0 h/d, either commencing at 4 w after birth over 28 d; long debonding (LD, n = 16 pairs) or at 6.5 w, over 10 d; short debonding (SD, n = 14 pairs). We aimed to compare the vocal response (high-and-low-pitched vocalizations) and proximity (<1 m to separation barrier) of LD vs. SD cows and calves at each reduction of access and finally at 0 h/d contact. We also aimed to assess the impact of calf supplemental milk intake on their vocal behavior. Direct observations (2hx2d) were performed during the following different phases: 24 h/d access (baseline, BL24), once cow access was reduced (separation, SEP12), once pairs were habituated to the change (BL12), after cow access was further reduced (SEP6), once pairs were habituated (BL6), and at 0 h/d contact (SEP0). Mixed effect linear regression models indicate that overall, treatment did not affect cow behaviors nor the main indicator of separation stress, high pitched vocalizations. Both calves and cows responded with vocal and reinstatement behavior once cows' access was reduced, with great individual variation. LD calves spent less time close to separation barrier and emitted more low-pitched vocalizations. Otherwise, the effect of treatment differed with phase: SD calves emitted more high-pitched vocalizations in response to the initial reductions of cow access than LD calves. LD cows (but not calves) produced more high- and low-pitched vocalizations when access was reduced to 6 h/d and 0 h/d. Calves drinking >1.5 L supplemental milk/d emitted fewer high-pitched vocalizations. In conclusion, a longer debonding period initiated at a lower age before separation may alleviate the initial behavioral response to separation, especially for calves. The vocal response of calves increases with age at separation but is modulated by intake of supplemental milk. For cows, our results indicate that the studied debonding methods affected the behavioral response to separation only to a limited degree.
... After the milk-feeding period, foster calves face a second separation; the separation from the foster cow and weaning off milk. It is generally recommended to gradually wean calves off milk, but because this is difficult in cow-calf systems, conducting the weaning off milk and separation from the cow in 2 steps (using nose-flaps or fence line weaning) to reduce weaning stress is advised in both beef (e.g., Prince et al., 2003) and dairy production (Loberg et al., 2008;Johnsen et al., 2015;Wenker et al., 2022). However, when using foster cow systems another approach to gradually wean calves off milk is to gradually reduce the number of cows nursing a group of foster calves. ...
... The separated animals call for each other for days (e.g. Johnsen et al. 2015;Marchant et al. 2002). Besides forced weaning, gestation crates, farrowing crates, and tethered housing all prevent farmed animals from exercising (the full range) of care behavior towards partners or children (Monsó et al. 2018). ...
Many nonhuman animals have the emotional capacities to form caring relationships that matter to them, and for their immediate welfare. Drawing from care ethics, we argue that these relationships also matter as objectively valuable states of affairs. They are part of what is good in this world. However, the value of care is precarious in human-animal interactions. Be it in farming, research, wildlife ‘management’, zoos, or pet-keeping, the prevention, disruption, manipulation, and instrumentalization of care in animals by humans is ubiquitous. We criticize a narrow conception of welfare that, in practice, tends to overlook non-experiential forms of harm that occur when we interfere with caring animals. Additionally, we point out wrongs against caring animals that are not just unaccounted for but denied by even an expansive welfare perspective: The instrumentalization of care and caring animals in systems of use can occur as a harmless wrong that an approach purely focused on welfare may, in fact, condone. We should therefore adopt an ethical perspective that goes beyond welfare in our dealings with caring animals.
... The methodological procedures for the data collection and an ethogram were developed based on a review of the relevant literature [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. The methods were then tested and refined during a pilot study of two weeks at 'De Tolakker', the research farm of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University. ...
Dairy cattle are typically disbudded or dehorned. Little is known, however, about the biological function and role of horns during thermoregulatory processes in cattle, and thus about the potential physiological consequences of horn removal. Anecdotal evidence suggests that dairy cow horns increase in temperature during rumination, and few studies on other bovid species indicate that horns aid thermoregulation. The objective of this study was, therefore, to elucidate a possible thermoregulatory function of the horns in dairy cattle. Using non-invasive infrared thermography, we measured the superficial temperature of the horns, eyes, and ears of 18 focal cows on three different farms in a temperate climate zone under various environmental circumstances. Observations of social and non-social behaviours were conducted as well. Based on environmental temperature, humidity, and wind speed, the heat load index (HLI) was calculated as a measure of the heat load experienced by a cow. The temperature of the horns increased by 0.18 °C per unit HLI, indicating that horns serve the dissipation of heat. Dehorned cows had higher eye temperatures than horned cows, though this result should be interpreted with caution as the low sample size and experimental setup prevent casual conclusions. We did not, however, find changes in horn temperature during rumination, nor with any other behaviours. Our study thus supports a role of horns in thermoregulation, but not related to rumination. These results should be considered when assessing the potential consequences of horn removal, a painful procedure.
... Further studies might investigate this novel variable in the context of dam-calf contact systems, which may be linked to the 'searching' for the calf. In this study, we were not able to record the possible behavioural response of cows and calves to this abrupt separation, but previous studies suggest this would have been a stressful event for both 39 . ...
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.
... A vaca leiteira, durante a primeira semana pós-parto, não ingere a quantidade de alimento necessário para suprir a sua alta demanda de energia, podendo entrar em balanço energético negativo (BEN) (Coppock et al., 1974) e ocorrer queda nos níveis de importantes metabolitos, como a glicose, insulina e VitD3, que são indispensaveis para a saúde e produção dos animais (Horst et al., 2003;de Koster e Opsomer, 2013). Neste período, normalmente, ocorrem mudanças de dieta e lote (Johnson e Vanjonack, 1976;Tomich et al., 2015), desmame do bezerro (Johnsen et al., 2015) e redução drástica dos níveis de P4 oriundos da placenta (Villa-Godoy et al., 1988), que geram estresse aos animais (Lucy, 2019). O comportamento alimentar de vacas leiteiras, pode ser afetado pelo eixo hipotálamo-pituitária-adrenal (HPA) que é ativado pelo estresse, principalmente no início da lactação, aumentando a síntese de cortisol (Digiacomo et al., 2018). ...
O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a influência da Progesterona (P4) e 25-hidroxivitamina D (VitD3) plasmática sobre o comportamento alimentar de vacas leiteiras durante a primeira semana pós-parto. Foram utilizadas 41 vacas da raça Holandês, multíparas, ECC de 3,0 a 3,5, de 2 a 4 lactações. Durante os dias 0 (dia do parto), 1, 2, 3 e 7 pós-parto foram mensurados o consumo, tempo de consumo, número de visitas ao cocho com e sem consumo, através dos alimentadores automáticos (Intergado®) e o tempo de ruminação, atividade e ócio a partir das coleiras inteligentes do tipo “C-TECH” (Cowmed Assistant®). Além disso, foram realizadas coletas sanguíneas nos mesmos dias para análise de VitD3, P4, glicose e ácidos graxos livres. A produção de colostro foi registrada até 7 dias pós-parto e a produção de leite foi registrada até 60 dias pós-parto através do software (DELPRO® Windows, DeLaval, MG, Brasil). No dia 0, os animais foram categorizados a partir dos níveis de VitD3, sendo que os animais que apresentaram níveis de VitD3 > 60ng/mL, foram alocados no grupo ALTAD3 (n=18), abaixo deste valor, foram direcionadas para o grupo MODERADAD3 (35 e 60ng/mL; n= 23). Os mesmos animais também foram categorizados em relação aos níveis de P4, sendo os que apresentaram concentrações de P4 > 0,70ng/mL foram alocados no grupo MAIORP4 (n=24) e abaixo deste valor (0,20 e 0,70ng/mL; n=17), no grupo MENORP4. Os grupos foram analisados separadamente entre ALTAD3 e MODERADAD3 e entre MENORP4 e MAIORP4. O grupo MENORP4 apresentou maior produção de colostro (30,03 ± 1,08; P = 0,03) e leite (44,95 ± 0,40; P = 0,02), maior número de visitas aos cochos com consumo (38,17 ± 1,55; P = 0,001) e tempo de ruminação (619,87 ± 18,49 ; P = 0,001) em comparação ao grupo MAIORP4. Além disso, o grupo ALTAD3 apresentou menor número de visitas aos cochos com (31,03 ± 1,72; P = 0,001) e sem (18,01 ± 1,73; P = 0,001) consumo do que os animais do grupo MODERADAD3. Houve correlação negativa entre os níveis de P4 e o tempo de ruminação nos grupos MENORP4 (r = -0,71; P = 0,01), ALTAD3 (r = -0,55; P = 0,03) e MODERADAD3 (r = -0,38; P = 0,01). A partir deste estudo, foi possível concluir, que os animais do grupo MENORP4 apresentaram maior produção de colostro e leite, número de visitas aos cochos com consumo e tempo de ruminação do que vacas do grupo MAIORP4. Já os animais do grupo ALTAD3 apresentaram menor número de visitas aos cochos com e sem consumo do que os animais do grupo MODERADAD3. Analisar os níveis P4 e VitD3, no dia do parto de vacas leiteiras, pode auxiliar no aperfeiçoamento do manejo das propriedades, pois, podem ter influência sob o comportamento alimentar e produção dos animais.
... Another study (Johnsen et al., 2015b) shows that physical contact between dairy cows and calves after having been physically separated by a fence-line reduces stress and thus improves animal welfare. This was measured by comparing distress vocalizations and alert behaviour in form of high-head posture with ears pointing towards the cow for two groups of cows and calves, with cows and calves in one group having visual and physical contact over/under a fence-line, and cows and calves in the other group being separated by a wall and having only auditory contact (ibid: 11). ...
This book invites readers to embark on a journey into the world of agency encompassing humans, other organisms, cells, intracellular molecular agents, colonies, populations, ecological systems, and artificial autonomous systems. We combine mechanistic and non-mechanistic approaches in the analysis of the function and evolution of organisms, their subagents, and multi-organism systems, and in this way offer a theoretical platform for integrating biosemiotics with both natural science and the humanities/social sciences. Agents are autonomous systems that incorporate knowledge on how to make sense of their environment and use it to achieve their goals. The functions of all agents are supported by mechanisms at the lowest level; however, the explanatory power of mechanistic analysis is not sufficient for complex agents. Non-mechanistic methods rely on the goal-directedness of agents whose dynamics follow self-stabilized dynamic attractors. The properties of attractors depend on stable or slowly changing factors, and such dependencies can be interpreted as sign relations if they are adaptive in nature. Agents can replace or redirect mechanisms on demand in order to preserve their functions; for performing higher-level semiotic functions, mechanisms are thus only means. We assume that mechanism and semiosis are not mutually exclusive, and that simple agents can interpret signs mechanistically. This assumption allows us to extend semiotic analysis to all agents, including ribosomes in cells, computers, and robots. This book challenges established traditions in natural science and the humanities/social sciences: semiotics no longer appears as restricted to humans and rational thinking, and biology is no longer limited to rely exclusively on mechanistic reasoning.
... Another study (Johnsen et al. 2015b) shows that physical contact between dairy cows and calves after having been physically separated by a fence-line reduces stress and thus improves animal welfare. This was measured by comparing distress vocalizations and alert behaviour in form of high-head posture with ears pointing towards the cow for two groups of cows and calves, with cows and calves in one group having visual and physical contact over/under a fence-line, and cows and calves in the other group being separated by a wall and having only auditory contact (ibid: 11). ...
A precondition for understanding current ecology
is to understand how human agency influences ecology
. In this chapter we describe the world-changing effects of human agency. A key notion in this context
is the ‘Anthropocene’, the geological epoch in which human agency predominates as a causal factor. Drawing on Umwelt theory, we explain how human agency can work as a driver of environmental change. Special attention is given to the ecological function
of human–animal assemblages and other human–animal complexes, since it is primarily by way of utilization of animals that humans have a dominant impact on ecosystems. The descriptive part of the chapter is followed by a normative part focused on how environmental sustainability can be achieved and how animal welfare can be improved. In our view, achieving environmental sustainability requires societal transformations that can be modelled using Umwelt theory. The semiotic agency of human beings must in this context
be approached from different angles simultaneously and take both semiotic
and efficient causation into account. An implication of our perspective is that socio-ecological transformations must align with coordinated socio-cultural transformations. For instance, human values and identity (features of the human Innenwelt) must change for human perception and practices (features of the human Umwelt) to change. With regard to animal welfare, we discuss both farm and wildlife settings, and emphasize the importance of facilitating the animals’ autonomy and needs-fulfilment.
... High-quality forage can boost milk production.Box et al. (2017) S8. It is inhumane to separate the calf from the cow immediately upon birth.Johnsen et al. (2015) ...
This research aimed to explore the effects of animal welfare information on consumers’ hedonic and emotional responses towards milk. Two studies were conducted. For Study 1, participants (N = 101) were asked to fill out a questionnaire on attitudes towards animal welfare, in which a variety of factors including raising methods, quality of life, emotions, quality of the product, nutrition, price, and environment, were tested. For Study 2, participants (N = 63) tasted a milk sample (2% fat, standardized and homogenized) in two different conditions: [1] blind (without any previous information), and [2] informed (with information stating that the milk was obtained from a farm with an animal welfare system in place). For Study 1, participants with higher milk consumption per week showed a higher agreement with positive animal welfare statements. For Study 2, the overall liking for the milk in the informed condition was significantly higher than that of the milk in the blind condition (7.4 vs. 6.8, using a 9-point hedonic scale). Participants had higher penalizations for the milk in the blind condition as they suggested that the milk’s flavor, sweetness, aroma, and mouthfeel were not enough in the product. This research showed that animal welfare is an essential extrinsic factor in the consumers’ hedonic and emotional responses towards milk. These findings can be useful for understanding consumers’ behaviors towards animal welfare.
... Outre les performances zootechniques et de santé déjà mentionnées, les auteurs rapportent une régression des comportements anormaux, comme le fait de se téter entre veaux (KÄLBER et BARTH, 2014). Les études comportementales s'attachent avant tout à étudier les phases sensibles, génératrices de stress pour les adultes et les jeunes, que constituent l'adoption des veaux par des nourrices (LOBERG et al., 2008) et leur sevrage (JOHNSEN et al., 2015). ...
La conduite de l'élevage des génisses par allaitement multiple et libre a été étudiée dans le cadre du projet TEMPo sur le dispositif expérimental INRA ASTER-Mirecourt. En s'appuyant sur l'expérience d'agriculteurs pionniers innovants, une formalisation de cette conduite d'élevage en 6 phases est proposée. Au cours de la première année d'expérimentation, avec élevage de 9 veaux par 3 vaches nourrices, les croissances des génisses (GMQ de 817 g/j sur les 9 permiers mois) sont nettement plus élevées que celles des génisses nourries au Distributeur d'Aliments Lactés avec une complémentation en céréales; le travail est aussi modifié. Cette conduite des génisses permet d'envisager un âge au premier vêlage de 24 mois et des gains de productivité dans des systèmes uniquement herbagers, très économes et très autonomes.
... Pérez et al. [9] found that separation of the offspring has a stressful effect on both the mothers and the offspring as shown by the display of behaviors associated with stress, like vocalizations and locomotor activity, increase in cortisol concentration, loss of weight, and close proximity to fence-line, among others. Nowadays, society demands fair treatment of animals [10], so the productive advantages of shortening the parturition-first ovulation interval and reducing the calving interval, must be considered together with the need to subject the animals to the minimum possible stress [11]. ...
Nursing a calf suppresses postpartum ovarian activity prolonging the period of anestrus. Diverse methods are used to reduce the effect of suckling; the most popular, restricted suckling, reduces the number of encounters mother-calf. Temporal weaning of the calf for periods of 24 h, 48 h, or even 72 h also suppress the effect of suckling and is commonly applied to cow-calf operations in the tropics. Early weaning of the calf, usually three to five months after birth, is a practice gaining popularity over the traditional system of weaning at seven months. Furthermore, the use of nose-flaps in the calf to avoid suckling is a common procedure in South America. Finally, weaning during the first week after calving is an established method to reduce postpartum anestrus. The objective of the present review is to discuss the effects of these methods on the reproductive performance of beef cattle and their animal welfare implications.
... However, it is unknown whether calving in a secluded area affects the formation of the maternal bond. The maternal bond is evident by the dam responding behaviorally; for example, by standing with the head out of the pen from which her calf is removed (Weary and Chua, 2000;Stěhulová et al., 2008;Johnsen et al., 2015). ...
Use of individual maternity pens for dairy cows is recommended to ensure undisturbed calving and postpartum transfer of colostrum to calves, but management of these pens is a challenge due to difficulty predicting the time of calving. If group-housed cows, however, have the opportunity to calve in a secluded area of a group pen, this may limit disturbance of the dam and her newborn, especially if this area is fitted with a gate preventing other cows from entering. The aims of this study were to assess effects of cows calving inside a secluded area versus cows calving in the group area on maternal behavior and social interaction between dam and herd members during the first postpartum hour, calf's latency to stand, number of calves suckling an alien cow, and the dam's acute response to separation from the calf. This was investigated in pens consisting of a central group area with access to 6 secluded areas with or without a mechanical push gate allowing only 1 cow access at a time. At least 2 wk before expected calving, 60 Danish Holstein multiparous cows were assigned alternately, in groups of 6, to a group pen with 6 gated secluded areas or a group pen with 6 ungated secluded areas. The effects of treatment (gated, ungated) and calving place chosen within treatment (secluded area, group area) on maternal behavior, interactions with herd members, maternal response to separation, and calf latency to stand were investigated. Irrespective of whether cows calved in a secluded area or not and whether the secluded area was gated or not, cows spent, on average, 39 (±7.9) min of the first hour after calving licking their calves. When calving in a gated secluded area, the cows interacted less with herd members than when calving in the group area (0.5, 28, 18, and 33 min/h for gated/secluded, gated/group, ungated/secluded, and ungated/group areas, respectively), and no calves suckled an alien cow within the first hour after birth. In addition, the longer the calf stayed with the dam, the longer the dam stood with her head out of the pen after removal of the calf. Calf's latency to stand after calving was unaffected by treatment and calving place (mean = 39 min; range = 8–243 min). The results show that dam and calf can be protected from disturbances when cows calve in a secluded maternity area, especially if the secluded maternity area is fitted with a gate preventing other cows form entering.
... A short duration with the dam before separation at 4 d of age did, however, result in increased frequency of social play in the weeks after separation compared to just 1 d with the dam (Stěhulová et al., 2008), and differences in spontaneous play were seen at 12 wk of age (Valníčková et al., 2015). Others suggest that the stress of separation is reduced (e.g., fewer vocalizations) when calves are raised with the dam but are not nutritionally dependent on her (Johnsen et al., 2018), and when providing fence-line separation (Johnsen et al., 2015). These factors suggest dams can remain with dairy calves (as reviewed by Johnsen et al., 2016), but that the stress calves experience at removal may be reduced if calves receive milk from other sources. ...
Although the neonatal and infancy period is short, it is well documented that the early neonatal environment is critical for appropriate physical, behavioral, and cognitive development that lasts into adulthood. Dairy calves are commonly removed from the dam shortly after birth and raised in individual housing and fed limited milk allowances (4 to 6 L/d) in commercial farms around the world (conventional raising). Individual housing was developed to promote health status and facilitate individual animal monitoring. However, it is associated with high labor demand, and early life social isolation is associated with cognitive and behavioral abnormalities. Recently, group housing and enhanced milk-feeding programs are being increasingly adopted by farms; these practices more closely resemble the social and nutritional environments in natural or seminatural environments when the calf is raised with the dam. Conventional raising may lead to short- and long-term effects when compared to calves raised with the dam or peers. Short-term effects of conventional raising include impaired social skills when introduced to novel peers, reduced consumption of novel feeds, increased activity in a novel environment, and signs of hunger associated with limited milk intake and poor growth during the preweaning period. Evidence also suggests that the long-term effects of conventional artificial raising systems include behavioral differences, such as lower social submissiveness, increased heart rate and cortisol when presented with a novel environment, and production differences such as milk yield and reproductive performance. However, research on the long-term effects of maternal, social, physical, and nutritional restrictions in early life is still limited and should be encouraged. More research is needed to determine the long-term effects of artificial raising systems (individual, group housing, dam-raised) on future behavior, cognition, performance, and health parameters in dairy calves.
... It is common practice for commercial dairy farms to separate the newborn calf from the dam immediately or within a few hours after birth ( Houwing et al. 1990;Marchant-Forde et al. 2002;Stěhulová et al. 2008;Roth et al. 2009;Ventura et al. 2013;Johnsen et al. 2015). When allowed to stay with the dam, the calf will use several natural cues (e.g. the dam's shape, odors, vocalizations and cow-calf interactions such as the dam licking the calf) to locate the udder and attempt to suckle ( Hafez & Lineweaver 1968;Selman et al. 1970;Edwards & Broom 1982;Houwing et al. 1990;Phillips 2002;Roth et al. 2009). ...
In their first days of life, dairy calves in artificial rearing systems often have difficulty using an artificial teat for feeding. I examined the age at which calves are able to stand up and suckle without lifting assistance, as well as their suckling behavior when presented with a plain dry teat versus a dry teat modified with a presumably attractive odor or taste substance. Single-housed newborn dairy calves (n = 51) were presented for ten consecutive days with a two-minute two-choice test, in which suckling time was recorded for 1) a plain (control) teat vs. a glucose-coated teat (taste test) and 2) a plain teat vs. a teat with a "Freshly Cut Grass" odor (odor test). On average, the calves were able to suckle without lifting assistance from the second or third day of age on. The "Freshly Cut Grass" odor had no significant effect on their suckling behavior. The calves showed a significant preference for suckling the glucose-coated teat and displayed a significantly longer total suckling time in the taste test compared to the odor test. There were no significant differences between sexes regarding suckling preference. The results of the present study show that glucose had a significant effect on the calves' teat preference and significantly increased total suckling time with a dry artificial teat. As such, glucose may increase suckling motivation in non-efficient drinkers or ill calves with low motivation to suckle.
... Vocalizations by the young are thought to evoke maternal care (Watts and Stookey, 2000) and reveal the need to reunite with the dam (Newberry and Swanson, 2008). It has been suggested that open mouthed vocalizations are performed more frequently from long distances, while low-pitched vocalizations appear to be more common in fence-line weaning (Johnsen et al., 2015). However, during the present experiment no distinction was made between the two types. ...
Recently, a dual procedure of maternal deprivation at 25 and 45 days postpartum (dpp), has proven to induce cyclic activity in zebu type cattle as early as 50 dpp. However, little is known about the welfare of the animals subjected to these treatments. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of two periods of maternal deprivation on some behavioral and cortisol responses of cows and calves at weaning, and subsequent growth rates. Forty Bos indicus cow-calf pairs raised under extensive conditions were randomly assigned to one of four groups (n=10). In the control group (C) calves remained with their dams; in groups G24, G48 and G72, calves were temporally separated from their mothers for 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively, at 25 days and at 45 days postpartum. Calves were weaned at 150 dpp and weighed at 25, 45, 150, 240 and 270 dpp; behavioral and cortisol measures were recorded from both cows and calves at 24, 48 and 72 h post weaning. More calves were observed grazing and fewer vocalizing in the groups subjected to cow deprivation in comparison with the C group. At day 3 after weaning, serum cortisol concentration was higher (P<0.05) in group C than in the treatment groups, while day 1 after weaning, more G24 and G48 calves were observed <10 m from the fence separating them from their dams (P<0.05) compared with G72 and C calves. Most of the behavioral and cortisol weaning responses disappeared on the third day after weaning, with cows displaying fewer signs of distress than their calves, regardless of treatment. No differences (P>0.05) were found in the weight of the calves at 25, 45 and 150 dpp. However, at 270 dpp, calves in G48 and G72 were heavier (P<0.05) than calves in the other groups. We conclude that calves subjected to mother deprivation during the suckling period displayed fewer behavioral distress signs, diminished cortisol response and higher body weights during the first days after weaning. However, the potential negative impact on calf welfare caused by emotional stress due to maternal deprivation needs further investigation.
Dairy cows and their calves face several challenges around parturition and in the early life of the calf that impact their welfare. There is an increasing public awareness of some of these challenges, including those that begin before birth as the cow prepares for labour and continue until the calf is weaned from milk. Researchers have recognised that these challenges exist and have begun to define the key animal welfare issues for the cow and calf during this time period. In this chapter, we review the experience of the cow around the time of calving, the effect of prolonged maternal contact on the dam and her calf, and social housing for young calves. Next, we discuss the welfare of youngstock post-weaning and of growing cattle, although this topic has received less research attention. We end the chapter with a discussion about advances and future challenges in animal welfare for the peri-parturient cow and her calf, as well as the growing animal.
Allowing the dam to rear her calf is an alternative practice in the dairy industry where cow and calf may gain welfare benefits from performing natural and highly motivated behaviors. However, this system has been linked to an increased separation and weaning response. Reducing the daily dam-calf-contact time may be a way to prepare the calf for weaning and separation. The first aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of half-day dam-calf-contact on calves' response to weaning and separation, compared with calves reared with whole-day dam-calf-contact and an artificially reared, group-housed control with unrestricted access to milk for 20 min twice daily. Weaning off milk and separation from the dam can be viewed as 2 independent stressors. By introducing each stressor separately, it may be possible to reduce the overall behavioral response. The second aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of one-week fence-line weaning before permanent separation. The study was conducted with a 3x2 factorial design with dam-contact treatments: "Whole-day," "Half-day" and "Control" and weaning treatments "Simultaneous" and "Stepwise." Whole-day calves were separated twice daily from their dams during milking while Half-day calves were separated daily from the afternoon milking and until next morning milking. Simultaneous weaning and separation were done in wk 9, while Stepwise weaning and separation started in wk 8 with calves being fence-line weaned before permanent separation in wk 9. Data were collected on 69 dairy calves in wk 8 and wk 9, and data were summarized over the 2 weeks for analysis. Stepwise weaning and separation reduced the number of high-pitched vocalizations and activity of dam-reared dairy calves, while having little impact on control calves. There was no difference between Whole-day and Half-day calves in their response to separation, but as expected, dam-reared calves reacted more strongly than the control group. This was also reflected in the average daily BW gain the week after weaning, with Control calves having a higher average daily gains than Whole-day, while Half-day calves were intermediate. However, the behavioral response did not fully wane within the observation period (0-48 h of interventions). In conclusion, one-week fence-line weaning reduced the summed weaning and separation response in dam-reared calves. However, no difference between half-day dam-calf contact and whole-day dam-contact was detected as regards the behavioral response to weaning and separation.
Most dairy farms rear calves artificially by separating the newly born calf from the dam and feeding the calf milk from a bucket. However, the general public and scientific community have begun to question the effects of artificial rearing on animal welfare. Research so far has focused mainly on dam-calf contact, where each cow takes care of her own calf. However, previous studies show that Danish and other European farmers are using and showing interest in a variety of different cow-calf contact (CCC) systems. In the present study, we used qualitative research methods to explore the perspectives of Danish farmers who either had or had tried to establish a version of a CCC system. Farmers were asked about their motivation for establishing the system, what had shaped the system to its current form, and how they perceived the calves to benefit from the system. Practical considerations was the theme most commonly brought up and related to both why farmers chose to have CCC in the first place and in what way they had chosen to organize their CCC system. Practical considerations included a sense of ease, flexibility, and a more natural and therefore rational approach. The economy was also a repeated theme, but although the economy to a large degree shapes the type of CCC chosen (dam-calf contact or foster cow contact), it was rarely mentioned in relation to choosing a CCC system in the first place. Ethical considerations were a strong motivator for farmers with dam-calf contact systems, although less so for farmers with foster cow contact. The farm's image as seen by the consumer was an important motivation for farmers with many on-farm visitors, and with the farm's image in the eyes of the farming community potentially also influencing farmers. Farmers generally perceived the calves to benefit from the care of the cow and no difference was seen in the importance attributed to care, between farmers choosing dam-calf contact and foster cow systems.
On-farm welfare assessment tends to focus on minimising negative welfare, but providing positive welfare is important in order to give animals a good life. This study developed a positive welfare framework for dairy cows based on the existing scientific literature which has focused on developing positive welfare indicators, and trialled a participatory approach with farmers; refining the framework based on their recommendations, followed by a vet pilot phase on farm. The results revealed that farmers and scientists agree on what constitutes “a good life” for dairy cattle. Farmers value positive welfare because they value their cows’ quality of life, and want to be proud of their work, improve their own wellbeing as well as receive business benefits. For each good life resource, the proportion of farmers going above and beyond legislation ranged from 27 to 84%. Furthermore, barriers to achieving positive welfare opportunities, including monetary and time costs, were not apparently insurmountable if implementation costs were remunerated (by the government). However, the intrinsic value in providing such opportunities also incentivises farmers. Overall, most farmers appeared to support positive welfare assessment, with the largest proportion (50%) supporting its use within existing farm assurance schemes, or to justify national and global marketing claims. Collaborating with farmers to co-create policy is crucial to showcase and quantify the UK’s high welfare standards, and to maximise engagement, relevance and uptake of animal welfare policy, to ensure continuous improvement and leadership in the quality of lives for farm animals.
Bobot sapih biasanya dinyatakan sebaga bobot 205 hari yang disesuaikan, dimana bobot penyapihan disesuaikan dengan umur pedet dan bobot pedet. Bobot anak saat disapih sifat yang penting dihasilkan cow calf bobot anak sapihan dapat digunakan sebagai indikator keberhasilan induk memelihara anak. Pengetahuan tentang bobot sapih penting untuk menaksir berat badan saat dewasa dari suatu bangsa sapi. Penelitian dilaksanakan di PT. Berdikari United Livestock Bila River Ranch, Kabupaten Sidenreng Rappang Provinsi Sulawesi Selatan. Sapi yang diteliti anak sapihan Brahman Cross sebanyak 737 ekor yang berasal dari induk sapi yang berumur 3 sampai 12 tahun yang diberi ransum hijauan dan konsentrat yang dilepas di padang penggembalaan. Data bobot anak sapihan menggunakan data sapi yang dipelihara di PT. Berdikari United Livestock, berasal dari catatan selama 5 tahun. Data diperoleh melalui pengamatan langsung dan hasil recording. Keterangan lain yang berhubungan dengan penelitian diperoleh melalui wawancara. Parameter yang diukur meliputi : umur induk pada waktu melahirkan sampai anak tersebut disapih. Bobot sapih anak adalah berat anak sapi pada saat dimasukkan ke dalam feedlot dan di adjusted kebobot umur 205 hari. Kesimpulan penelitian terdapat perbedaan berat sapih umur 205 hari pada umur induk yang berbeda. Berat sapih umur 205 hari tertinggi dicapai pada umur induk dihasilkan pada umur induk 6 tahun 7 tahun dan 8 tahun. Ratan bobot anak sapihan jantan 106 kg dan betina 104 kg. Kata Kunci: Berat Sapih, Umur induk ABSTRACT Weaning weight is usually expressed as an adjusted 205 day weight, where weaning weight is adjusted for calf age and calf weight. The weight of the calves at weaning, an important trait produced by cow calf, the weight of the weaning calves can be used as an indicator of the success of the cow in raising child. Knowledge of weaning weight is important for estimating the adult weight of a breed of cattle.The research was conducted at PT. Berdikari United Livestock Bila River Ranch, Sidenreng Rappang Regency, South Sulawesi Province. The cows studied were 737 weaning cows from Brahman Cross from cows aged 3 to 12 years which were fed forage and concentrate rations that were released in the pasture. Data on the weight of weaning calves used data on cows kept at PT. Berdikari United Livestock, comes from a record for 5 years. Data obtained through direct observation and recording results. Other information related to the research obtained through interviews. The parameters measured include: the age of the cows at the time of delivery until the calf is weaned. The weaning weight of the calf is the weight of the calf when it is put into the feedlot and adjusted to the weight of 205 days old. The conclusion of the study was that there were differences in weaning weight at the age of 205 days at different ages of the brood. The highest weaning weight at the age of 205 days was achieved at the age of the cows produced at the age of 6 years, 7 years and 8 years. The average weight of weaning bull is 106 kg and weaning cow 104 kg.
Dairy farm calf rearing systems with prolonged cow-calf contact may have benefits such as improved cow and calf health, and better public acceptance of farm practices. However managing cows and calves together can be logistically challenging on modern dairy farms, particularly pasture-based operations. Half-day separation of cows and calves may offer practical benefits compared with full-time contact systems. We predicted that half-day separation could negatively affect cow and calf welfare, compared with separation for milking only. We compared the behaviour of 16 recently calved cows and their calves, separated daily for milking only (MO), or for a half-day (HD) between morning and evening milking (8-10 hours of separation per day), over a 10-day period. Linear mixed models and generalised linear mixed models (Poisson regression with random effects) were used to compare the treatments at different times of day. HD calves spent approximately twice as long suckling as MO calves (P = 0.035) before morning milking and after evening milking. HD calves showed a longer latency to lie (analysed using the Goodman-Kruskal gamma test) than MO calves, both when cows left for morning milking (γ= -0.24, P = 0.045) and when they returned after evening milking (γ = -0.83, P <0.001), and had a shorter lying duration in the evening (-375 s, P = 0.009). HD cows avoided nursing 2.9 times more (P = 0.028), and performed approximately 8.5 times more grooming (P = 0.016) and 5.9 times more agonistic behaviours (P < 0.001) than MO cows, when reunited with their calves after evening milking. HD cows also showed more restlessness during evening milking, performing 4.6 times the number of kicks than MO cows (P = 0.035). Results were comparable between treatments (P > 0.05) for milk cortisol concentration, milk yield, time spent ruminating, calf weight gain, cow vocalisations at separation for morning milking, and time taken to separate cows from calves for morning milking. Overall, some potential welfare issues with HD cow-calf separation compared to MO may be calf hunger, cow discomfort when reunited with hungry calves whilst having an empty udder, and cow restlessness at evening milking. Providing HD calves with milk during the period of separation may address these issues, apart from that of cow restlessness at evening milking; however, further research would be needed to confirm this.
Vocalization may communicate the emotional state in vocal animals. We aimed to describe and compare vocalization and other behavioral signs of cow-calf pairs in emotionally negative and positive situations, and the potential influence of genetic group, parity category and calf sex on these signs.
Forty-two beef cows (16 primiparous and 26 multiparous), and their 24 h-old calves (24 males and 18 females), with no previous separation from their mothers, were studied in Southern Brazil. The dams were daughters of Taurine crossbred mothers, 16 with Limousin (LIMO), 15 Charolais (CHAR), six Brahman (BRAH) and five Blond d'Aquitaine (BLON) bulls. We recorded 3 minute-videos to analyse animal responses to three sequential treatments: AR – arrival of cow and calf together in corral one (C1); SE – separation of the pair, calf removal from C1, isolated in corral 2 (C2), not seeing but hearing the cow; RU – reunion of calf and mother in C1. For cows and calves, the vocalization count per minute, fundamental frequency (f0), duration of the vocal call and latency to vocal response in AR, SE and RU were measured, as well as selected behaviour signals. A significant interaction effect between treatment and genetic group was observed for duration, pitch and vocalization count per minute. In SE, LIMO and CHAR cows expressed longer vocal responses than during AR, 24.6% and 18.2%, respectively, and RU (LIMO 15.7% and CHAR 33.6%). In SE, LIMO (114.2Hz) and BRAH (124.6Hz) cows showed higher f(0). CHAR and BRAH cows vocalized 2.8 and 5.1 times more frequently during SE than RU. Cows showed higher frequency of tail movements and smelling the corral in SE than in AR and RU. Cows presented higher frequency of head movement in SE as compared with RU. Calves showed greater head and body movement during SE than during AR and RU. In SE, male calves showed higher frequency of ear movements than female calves. Body movements of the cow were also more frequent during SE than in RU. Overall, cows showed higher pitch, longer vocal calls and other behavioral changes in SE, such as tail flapping, sniffing the corral, and head and body movements; calves showed higher frequency of head and body movement in SE. The results suggest that the studied indicators may be useful to identify emotionally negative situations, with genetic group and calf sex as factors which deserve further studies.
Separation of calves from cows within hours or days of birth is common on dairy farms. Stakeholders have conflicting perspectives on whether this practice is harmful or beneficial for the animals' welfare and production. Our objective was to critically evaluate the scientific evidence for both acute and long-term effects of early separation versus an extended period of cow-calf contact. The outcomes investigated were the behavior, welfare (excluding physical health), and performance (milk yield and growth, respectively) of dairy cows and calves. Primary research papers were found through targeted Web of Science searches, the reference lists of recent reviews for each topic, and the reference lists of papers identified from these sources. Studies were included if they were published in English, the full text was accessible, and they compared treatments with and without contact between dairy cows and calves for a specified period. Early separation (within 24 h postpartum) was found to reduce acute distress responses of cows and calves. However, longer cow-calf contact typically had positive longer-term effects on calves, promoting more normal social behavior, reducing abnormal behavior, and sometimes reducing responses to stressors. In terms of productivity, allowing cows to nurse calves generally decreased the volume of milk available for sale during the nursing period, but we found no consistent evidence of reduced milk production over a longer period. Allowing a prolonged period of nursing increased calf weight gains during the milk-feeding period. In summary, extended cow-calf contact aggravates the acute distress responses and reduces the amount of saleable milk while the calves are suckling, but it can have positive effects on behaviors relevant to welfare in the longer term and benefit calf growth. The strength of these conclusions is limited, however, given that relatively few studies address most of these effects and that experimental design including timing of contact and observations are often inconsistent across studies. Few studies presented indicators of long-term welfare effects other than abnormal and social behavior of the calves.
Dairy calves are at high risk for morbidity and mortality early in life. Understanding producer attitudes is important for implementation of best management practices to improve calf health. The objectives of this study were to evaluate usage frequency and producer attitudes on key calf management practices between conventional and organic dairy operations. A cross-sectional survey was mailed to conventional and organic dairy producers in Ohio and Michigan that included questions on cow-calf separation, colostrum management, and vaccination use. The overall survey response rate was 49% (727/1488); 449 and 172 conventional and organic producer respondents, respectively, were included in the final analysis. Binary, cumulative, and multinomial logistic regression models were used to test differences within and between herd types for management practices and producer attitudes. The majority of conventional (64%, 279/439) producers reported separating the calf from the dam 30 min to 6 h after birth. More organic (34%, 56/166) than conventional (18%, 80/439) producers reported separation 6 to 12 h after birth, and organic producers were more likely to agree time before separation is beneficial. Few conventional (10%, 44/448) and organic (3%, 5/171) producers reported measuring colostrum quality. Most conventional producers (68%, 304/448) hand-fed the first feeding of colostrum, whereas the majority of organic producers (38%, 69/171) allowed calves to nurse colostrum. Lastly, 44% (188/430) of conventional producers reported vaccinating their calves for respiratory disease, compared with 14% (22/162) of organic producers; organic producers were more likely to perceive vaccines as ineffective and harmful to calf health. Thus, the usage frequency and perceived risks and benefits of calf management practices vary considerably between conventional and organic dairy producers. These findings provide helpful information to understand decision making at the herd level regarding key calf management and health practices, regardless of production systems.
Housing preweaned dairy calves in individual outdoor hutches is common in North America. However, this type of housing lacks stimulation and minimizes calves' ability to express natural behavior. Providing a social companion has been shown to stimulate natural behavior and promote growth, but no research has assessed the effect of providing physical enrichment items to calves pre-weaning. The objective of this study was to determine calf use of physical items added to an individual hutch, and if providing these items affected growth, behavior (e.g., locomotor play and sucking on pen fixtures), and response to novelty after weaning. At birth, Jersey heifer calves were allocated to 1 of 2 types of hutches: furnished (n = 9 calves) or standard (n = 10 calves). Calves were housed in individual hutches on loose gravel and bedded with straw. The outdoor enclosure of furnished hutches contained 2 artificial teats, a stationary brush, a calf “lollie,” and a rubber chain link for calves to manipulate. Calves were video-recorded continuously between 0800 and 2000 h twice weekly at 1, 3, 5, and 7 wk of age; behavioral data were collected using the Noldus Observer software program (Noldus Inc., Wageningen, the Netherlands). At 63 d of age (after weaning), calf response to social and environmental novelty was tested. Starter consumption was measured daily, and calves were weighed at birth and weekly thereafter. Pre-weaning behavioral data were not normally distributed, so raw data were square-root-transformed before analysis. Calves used all of the items depending on the time of day, but they spent the most time using the brush. Calves housed in furnished hutches spent almost 50% more time engaged in locomotor play, but they spent the same amount of time sucking pen fixtures as calves housed in standard hutches. We observed no effect of treatment on growth, starter intake, or behavioral response to social and environmental novelty after weaning. Results suggest that providing some physical complexity to a standard hutch has some benefits for young calves, but further research is encouraged to determine the long-term effects of physical and social complexity for young dairy heifer calves.
Two factors presumed to affect the behavioural response of cattle (Bos taurus) to artificial weaning were investigated: the termination of nursing, and the physical separation of cows and calves. A two-stage process was used to disconnect these traditionally linked components. First, the behaviour of cows and calves was quantified in response to preventing nursing by having calves wear an antisucking device (Stage 1). Then the behavioural response of cows and calves to being separated was observed (Stage 2). Control pairs were weaned abruptly; nursing ended when cows and calves were separated. Preventing nursing while pairs were still together had almost no effect on measures of general activity with the exception of causing a slight increase in the rate of vocalizing. Calves wearing antisucking devices spent the same amount of time eating as controls. The behavioural responses of two-stage pairs to separation were favourably reduced compared to controls. In one study, two-stage cows vocalized 84% less than controls, spent 60% less time walking, and 13% more time lying, compared to controls. Two-stage calves called 97% less than controls, spent 61% less time walking, and 30% more time eating. In another study, preventing nursing for longer (3 versus 14 d) had no noticeable beneficial effects on the behaviour response to separation. In three separate trials two-stage calves gained more weight during the first week after separation from their dams. The two-stage process further reduced the behaviour responses when compared to weaning by fenceline contact. The benefits of two-stage weaning were also observed with dairy calves weaned from their dams at 5 weeks of age. The combined results of these studies indicate that the traditional method of weaning, by simultaneously terminating nursing and separating pairs, exacerbates the behavioural responses of cows and calves. Imposing these in two separate stages did not produce the same additive effect suggesting that the traditional weaning method produces a negative synergistic effect on the behaviour response. Based on the evidence two-stage weaning offers a viable production practice that is likely to improve the welfare of cows and calves.
The book is about social behaviour in farm animals (cattle, pigs, domestic birds, sheep, horses and fish). Part I of the book deals with the concepts of social behaviour, Part II concentrates on species-specific animal behaviour, and part III tackles the contemporary topics in social behaviour.
Dairy 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%, t29 = 168.8, P < 0.001). The time cow-calf pairs spent allogrooming did not vary with treatment; 10.0 ± 0.8%, F2, 27 =0.4, P = 0.696). Similarly, time spent in close proximity without nursing did not differ among treatments; 31 ± 2.6% F2, 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 (χ2 = 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.
I investigated the use of vocal behaviour in cattle as an indicator of welfare. The first study (Chapter 3) investigated effects of restraint and branding on 189 beef calves. Branded animals gave more, higher, louder vocalizations than controls. Some unbranded animals vocalized, suggesting that restraint during branding may be aversive. Chapter 4 used 17 full-sibling families of calves (N = 130), created using multiple ovulation and embryo transfer, raised by unrelated recipients. Behaviour was measured during visual isolation. Vocalizations varied due to sire and family, suggesting vocal characteristics are partly genetically inherited. Age, weight and sex also influenced responses. Chapter 5 evaluated 307 calves of 4 phenotypic breed groups during routine processing and visual isolation. Phenotype influenced amounts of vocalization, but not acoustic characteristics. More calves vocalized during processing and calls were acoustically different than during isolation. In Chapter 6, steers and bulls (N = 119)were evaluated in visual isolation while other unseen cattle were present, or not present, within the handling facility. Proximity and vocal behaviour of unseen companions increases likelihood that an individual will vocalize. Bulls vocalized more than steers. Chapter 7 studied cow-calf pairs while separated and attempting to reunite, in extensive conditions. As time between nursings increases, so does probability that animals will vocalize. Usually both vocalized while searching, or neither. Vocalization probably indicates motivation to reunite, and may be part of their strategy to locate each other. Measures of the amount of vocalization may be useful in welfare assessment, but should be used alongside other measurements, and to indicate status of groups not individuals. Measures of acoustic properties are preferred. Vocalization of cattle in testing environments is influenced by genotype, phenotype, age, weight, sex, gender and presence and activities of companions. If not controlled, these factors could confound the effects on vocal behaviour of the conditions being evaluated.
The public has become increasingly interested in the welfare of food animals, but the food animal industries possess few mechanisms for public engagement. Here we present results from a web-based forum designed to allow stakeholders to share views on controversial issues in dairying. In response to the question "Should dairy calves be separated from the cow within the first few hours after birth?" participants were able to indicate "yes," "no," or "neutral" and either write a reason in support of their view or select reasons provided by other participants. Four independent groups of participants were recruited (a total of 163 people); 31% said they had no involvement in the dairy industry; the remaining 69% (with some involvement in the industry) were students or teachers (33%), animal advocates (13%), producers (11%), veterinarians (9%) and other dairy industry professionals (3%). Overall, little consensus existed among participants across groups; 44% chose "yes," 48% "no," and 9% "neutral." Responses varied with demographics, with opposition to early separation higher among females, animal advocates, and those with no involvement with the dairy industry. A fifth group was recruited at a dairy industry conference (an additional 28 participants); 46% chose "yes," 32% "no," and 21% "neutral." Across all 5 groups, opponents and supporters often referenced similar issues in the reasons they provided. Opponents of early separation contended that it is emotionally stressful for the calf and cow, it compromises calf and cow health, it is unnatural, and the industry can and should accommodate cow-calf pairs. In contrast, supporters of early separation reasoned that emotional distress is minimized by separating before bonds develop, that it promotes calf and cow health, and that the industry is limited in its ability to accommodate cow-calf pairs. These results illustrate the potential of web-based forums to identify areas of agreement and conflict among stakeholders, providing a basis for the development of practices that address shared concerns.
We evaluated how the behavioural and heart rate response of dairy cows and calves to mutual separation was affected by two factors: the age of the calf at separation (1, 4 and 7 days) and the presence or absence of visual and auditory contact between the mother and her calf after separation. In total, 46 cow–calf pairs were randomly allocated to one of six treatments according to a 3×2 factorial design. The cows’ behavioural response to separation was recorded at 0–1, 9–10, 25–26 and 50 and 51h after separation. The calves’ behavioural response was recorded during the 24h after separation. The heart rate was measured 60min before and 60min after separation. Cows from the later separation treatments spent more time standing (p
Farm animals often show a pronounced behavioural response to weaning. The aim of this review is to draw together theoretical and empirical literature that helps improve our understanding of this distress response and the ways in which it can be reduced. Key areas of relevant theory include the parent-offspring conflict and honest signalling literature from behavioural ecology. An understanding of the neurochemical mechanisms at play comes from the growing biopsychology literature on attachment and separation. Weaning for the young animal typically involves both separation from the dam and a change in diet from milk to solid food. However, in some cases these events are separated, allowing us to disentangle the effects and understand how they interact. In other situations, weaning can involve additional stressors such as a new physical environment and mixing with conspecifics. We review papers addressing these and other situations that allow us to understand the factors affecting weaning distress, focussing especially on pigs and cattle. We conclude that simultaneously imposing stressors at weaning can accentuate the distress response, and that under some situations disentangling these factors can much diminish the combined response. In particular, achieving high intakes before weaning, to the extent that the young is partially or fully established on solid feed, can reduce responses to separation from the dam when this occurs. The physical environment before and after weaning can affect the way animals interact with each other, and modifying the environment can be helpful in reducing aggressive interactions when animals are mixed at weaning.
Weaning of beef calves is usually done abruptly and early compared to the natural weaning of the species, and is associated with simultaneous exposure of calves to a range of social and environmental stressors. Behavioural and physiological responses to weaning indicate detrimental effects on the welfare of these animals. The development and assessment of weaning methods aiming at reducing or avoiding this problem must be supported by scientific knowledge of the morphological, physiological and psychological mechanisms involved in the establishment, maintenance and braking of the cow-calf bond. Solutions also depend on the understanding of the various stressors associated with weaning, among which are the change in diet, cessation of nursing, separation from the dam, the change to a new spatial environment and the need for social reorganization following removal of the adults from the group. This review discusses these issues and assesses the effectiveness of the methods so far proposed for improving the welfare of beef calves during the weaning period.
Forty Holstein heifer calves were assigned to two treatments. Control calves (n = 20) were fed milk replacer in open buckets, and calves that were allowed to suckle (n = 20) were paired and suckled the same dam three times daily. Treatments were conducted during the first 6 wk following birth; thereafter, all calves received the same management, and weaning was at 60 d of age. During treatment, calves that were allowed to suckle had significantly higher average daily gains than did control calves. However, at 12 wk of age, calves that were allowed to suckle had significantly lower body weights (BW) than did control calves. Age at conception was significantly lower, and BW at conception and conception rate tended to be higher, for calves that were allowed to suckle. Calving age was significantly earlier for heifers that had been allowed to suckle as calves, and BW at calving also tended to be higher. Height at the withers after calving was also significantly higher for those heifers. Milk production during first lactation tended to be higher for the heifers that had been allowed to suckle as calves. Our results indicated that heifer calves that suckled milk during the first 42 d of age had higher average daily gains, higher height at the withers, an earlier age at calving, and a tendency for greater milk production than did calves fed milk replacer.
The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that fenceline contact between beef calves and cows at weaning reduces indices of behavioral distress and associated temporary reductions in weight gain. One hundred Angus/Hereford-cross calves were randomly assigned to five treatments for 7 d in each of 3 yr to determine the effect of different weaning techniques on their behavior and subsequent growth. Treatments were 1) fenceline separation from dams on pasture (F-P), 2) total separation from dams on pasture (S-P), 3) total separation from dams in a drylot (corral) preconditioned to hay (S-D-P), 4) total separation from dams in a drylot not preconditioned to hay (S-D-NP), and 5) nonweaned controls on pasture (C-P). At the end of the 7-d postweaning period, all calves were placed on pasture in large groups. Calves were weighed weekly for 10 wk. In the days following weaning, F-P and C-P calves spent more time eating (grazing or eating hay) than S-P and S-D-NP calves (P < 0.05). The S-P calves spent more time walking (pacing) than calves in the other four treatments (P < 0.05), which did not differ. The S-P calves also spent less time lying down than C-P, F-P, and S-D-P calves (P < 0.05); S-P and S-D-NP calves did not differ in lying time. The F-P calves vocalized less than S-P and S-D-NP calves (P < 0.05). In general, treatment differences were greatest during the first 3 d following weaning with d 2 (20 to 30 h after weaning) showing the greatest disparity. The F-P calves spent approximately 60% of their time within 3 m of the fence separating them from their dams during the first 2 d following weaning, whereas F-P cows spent about 40% of their time within 3 m of the fence during this period. Postweaning cumulative body weight gains of the F-P calves were greater than the gains recorded for the calves in the three totally separated treatments (which did not differ). The F-P calves gained 95% more weight than the average calf in the three totally separated treatments in the first 2 wk and were still heavier at 10 wk (21.4 vs 11.0 kg, respectively, at 2 wk and 50.0 vs 38.2 kg, respectively, at 10 wk; P < 0.05). It was concluded that providing fenceline contact between beef calves and cows for 7 d following weaning reduces behavioral indices of distress seen in the totally separated calves. In addition, fenceline contact with dams at weaning minimizes losses in weight gain in the days following separation. Totally separated calves did not compensate for these early losses in weight gain even after 10 wk.
Over a period of two years, growth rate and health were measured for dairy calves allowed to suckle their mothers up to 6-8 weeks of age. Thirty-one calves were weighted weekly, and the mean daily growth rate was 1.2 +/- 0.03 kg from birth up to 13 weeks of age. Illness in calves and young stock was not observed. In the cows, the mean incidences of ketosis, displaced abomasum, puerperal paresis, mastitis, teat injury and retained placenta were 0, 0, 8, 22, 1 and 1%, respectively, during a 6-year period. The mean daily gain of 56 growing bulls was 1.4 kg when slaughtered at 15 months of age, which is higher than the mean daily gain of 0.95 kg in the population. Probiotics, hormones and vaccines were not used, and antibiotics were only used for treating illness. The present study indicates many advantages and few problems when dairy calves are penned together with the cows and allowed natural feeding up to 6-8 weeks of age. This production system was easy to manage, preferred by the farmer, and may satisfy the public concern regarding the practice of immediate separation of cow and calf in commercial milk production.
Most dairy producers believe that early separation of the cow and calf is necessary for reproductive efficiency, to minimise health problems and to improve the ease of milking. In addition, many consider that it is less distressing for both animals if separation occurs earlier rather than later. In this paper we review the welfare and production effects of early separation on the cow and calf. Research has shown that the cow's immediate behavioural response to separation from the calf increases with increased contact with the calf, but other work has shown that cow health and productivity are positively affected by the presence of the calf. Calf response to separation also increases when the calf spends more time with the cow, but there are long-term benefits of prolonged contact in terms of sociality, fearfulness and future maternal behaviour. Health, weight gain and future productivity are also improved when the calf is allowed to spend more time with the cow.
Some investigators have argued that emotions, especially animal emotions, are illusory concepts outside the realm of scientific inquiry. With advances in neurobiology and neuroscience, however, researchers are proving this position wrong while moving closer to understanding the biology and psychology of emotion. In Affective Neuroscience, Jaak Panksepp argues that emotional systems in humans, as well as other animals, are necessarily combinations of innate and learned tendencies; there are no routine and credible ways to really separate the influences of nature and nurture in the control of behavior. The book shows how to move toward a new understanding by taking a psychobiological approach to the subject, examining how the neurobiology and neurochemistry of the mammalian brain shape the psychological experience of emotion. It includes chapters on sleep and arousal, pleasure and pain systems, the sources of rage and anger, and the neural control of sexuality. The book will appeal to researchers and professors in the field of emotion.
Temporal weaning is a common practice to reduce the calving interval. Behavioral responses of calves to short-term separation and subsequent reunion with their mothers were measured. Twenty-seven zebu-type cow-calf pairs were assigned to 1 of 3 groups. Calves in the first group were separated from their dams for 72 hours (FC) using a fence. Calves in this group had some contact with their mothers through the fence. In the second group, calves were removed for 72 hours with no sensorial contact with their mothers (NC). The third group (CO) was used as a control group, in which calves were not separated from their mothers. After the 72-hour period, calves were reunited with their dams. Results show that FC and NC induced significant (P<0.05) increases in walking, butting, urinating, and vocalizing and concurrently reduced (P<0.05) the time that calves spent eating when compared with CO calves. The number of calves grooming and lying down was reduced in the FC calves but was not affected by the NC treatment. Vocalizations/calf/hour rose from 0.9 ± 0.12 in the CO group to 10.5 ± 1.5 in FC and 9.3 ± 0.72 in NC calves (1033% and 1166% increase, respectively), with day 2 showing the greatest disparity among groups and the highest value for FC calves. With the exception of suckling, which increased 861% and 886% in NC and FC calves, respectively, all variables decreased (P<0.05) below the CO levels the day the calves and cows were reunited, regardless of treatment. It was concluded that (1) temporal weaning induces severe psychological stress in cattle, and preventing any sensorial contact between mother and young within this period resulted in a less stressful situation in zebu-type calves, and (2) calf-cow reunion reduced behavioral signs associated with stress and induced calves to suckle and remain standing close to their mothers.
The aim of this experiment was to compare the behavioural responses and weight change of beef calves weaned using three weaning methods. Forty-eight primiparous Hereford or Hereford×Angus nursing beef calves (180.7±1.3days old; mean±SEM) were assigned to one of three treatments: 1) CON: weaned abruptly on day 0; 2) FEN: calves were separated by fence line from dams on day −17 but remained in visual sight of one another; or 3) NF: cows and calves remained together but suckling was prevented on day −17 by inserting a nose-flap anti-suckling device. In all treatments remote physical separation of the cow and calf took place on day 0. Behaviours were recorded by instantaneous sampling from day −20 to day −13, and from day −3 to day 5, except on day 0. Distance between cows and calves and the fence line in FEN calves and between the dyads in NF calves were recorded from day −17 to day −13. Body weights of calves were recorded on days −24, −11, 0, 7 and 21. There was a day and treatment by day interaction for all behaviours. Behavioural responses were strongest during the first 2days after fence line separation in the FEN calves and after remote separation in the CON calves. For the NF calves, behavioural effects were observed immediately after insertion of the nose-flaps, including numerous unrewarded suckling events, and again when remote physical separation took place. Overall the FEN calves vocalized (P
Whereas mammalian mothers and young may retain long-term social affiliations in nature, the management of animals in captivity typically dictates that offspring are abruptly and permanently separated from their mothers at a relatively early age, often prior to the time of natural weaning. For animal breeders, this strategy can enhance the yield of offspring from a breeding population. Morbidity and mortality can also precipitate severance of mother–young bonds. Although it is recognized that early weaning provides nutritional challenges for the young, relatively little attention has been paid to the psychological consequences and long-term impacts of breaking the mother–young bond in non-human mammals. Furthermore, whereas great strides are being made in our understanding of the neurobiological and genetic underpinnings of social bonding, the mechanisms underlying the process of detachment following establishment of a mother–young bond remain relatively unexplored, although parallels can be drawn with processes involved in withdrawal from addictive substances. In this review, we outline mechanisms involved in social bonding. We consider the diversity in extent and duration of mother–young attachment across mammalian lineages and implications for predicting the outcome of severing ties between mothers and young at different times post-partum. We identify characteristics signalling emotional distress resulting from separation of mothers and young and discuss strategies for mitigating separation-induced distress. These include postponement of separation, ensuring high-quality maternal care of young prior to separation, providing bonded individuals with opportunities to separate voluntarily for brief periods prior to permanent separation, use of anti-suck devices prior to separation, allowing a period of partial (fence line) contact prior to full separation, providing substitutes for stimuli previously exchanged between mother and young, providing social buffers, gradual introduction to new housing arrangements, and pharmacological intervention. Areas for future research are proposed, including the use of functional neuroimaging technologies and functional genomics approaches, in combination with behavioural assessments of reinstatement motivation, individual recognition memory and long-term consequences of early separation, to shed further light on the nature of mother–young bonding and detachment in animals.
In order to improve animal welfare, a growing number of calves, heifers and dairy cows are reared in loose housing systems. However, (re)grouping unfamiliar animals may result in aggressive interactions and distress, especially for low ranked animals. Grouping of unfamiliar animals is found to increase aggression, social stress, locomotion behaviour and to have negative effects on feed intake and milk yield. Problems related to social integration are normally higher for the introduced animals than the resident animals. Previous social experience, number of animals that are mixed and the group composition are important factors that can influence social integration. Calves reared in groups are more social confident and show less fear than calves reared in single boxes or in isolation. Repeated grouping seem to accustom the animals to these procedures. Increased knowledge about social integration is necessary to develop effective management techniques that reduce the amount of problems occurring during social integration of cattle.
The present experiment aimed at investigating the generality of the percentage of visible eye-white as a dynamic indicator of frustration and satisfaction. In this experiment, we used separation of 11 multiparous dairy cows from their 4 days old calf as a frustrating stimulus, and reunion with the calf as a rewarding stimulus. We hypothesized that the eye-white percentage of the cow would increase when the calf was taken away from her, and decrease when cow and calf were reunited. The eye-white percentage was larger when cows were separated from their calf compared to when they were reunited with the calf. The hypothesis was therefore not falsified. The present results strengthen the assumption that this behaviour element may be a general dynamic indicator of emotions in dairy cattle.
Current commercial dairy practice involves the removal of the calf from the dam within the first day of life. Both vocalize after separation. The aim of this study was to determine if cows and calves respond to each other’s calls after separation and whether they could distinguish their own calf’s or dam’s calls from another calf’s or cow’s calls. The study was carried out on 12, first to fourth parity, Holstein cow-calf pairs. Immediately after calving, the cow and calf were moved to a single pen. Each calf was separated from its dam 24h later and placed in an individual calf pen in another building. The cow remained in the home pen. During the next 24h, sample calls were recorded from the cow and calf. Four or five representative calls from each cow and calf were edited together to form playback sequences for each animal. For each call sequence, a paired white-noise sequence was generated. At 24h after separation, the cow and calf were subjected to four playback sequences in two pairs; own calf or dam and white noise, other calf or other cow and white noise. Cows responded more to calf vocalisations than to white noise during and after playback. They had a greater heart rate (HR) change (call=16.5%, noise=7.3%) and increased head movements (call=1.1min−1, noise=−0.5min−1) and ear movements (call=8.6min−1, noise=1.9min−1). However, cows only decreased head movements when differentiating between own calf calls and other calf calls. Calves showed more head movements (call=3.8min−1, noise=1.5min−1) and less ear flicks (call=−1.4min−1, noise=1.5min−1) during playback of cow calls compared to white noise. They also showed greater HR change (own=15.6%, other=5.8%) and tended to show more ear movements (own=1.9min−1, other=−0.7min−1) and less head movements (own=−0.3min−1, other=0.5min−1) during playback of own mother calls compared with other cow calls. The apparent poor ability of dairy cows to preferentially respond to calls from their own calf may have been because separation is carried out before cows have been able to learn these calls; calves are rarely vocal during the first few hours of life. Dairy calves responded subtly to cow calls, but responses were greater to calls from their own dam. During the pre-separation period, the cow is vocal towards the calf and under natural conditions, overt responses to cow calls could increase risk of predation. Dairy calves are, therefore, capable of individual recognition based on auditory cues at a very early age.
This study investigated the behavioural effects of separating the dairy calf from its mother at birth or after 4 days and how the mother-young attachment and suckling behaviour developed during these 4 days post partum (p.p.). Observations were made during 2 h sampling sessions per day on 33 Swedish Red and White and 6 Swedish Friesian mother young pairs. They were either kept together during 96 h (treatment T n = 24) in a calving pen (11 m2) or separated immediately p.p. (treatment S n = 15) with the cow kept in the calving pen and the calf placed in a single crate (1.2 m2) at a distance of 5 m from the cow and in sight of each other. Calves on treatment T were standing earlier p.p. than calves on treatment S (60 vs. 201 min p.p., P ≤ 0.05). However, seven of these calves (32%) did not suckle successfully within 4 h. p.p. Mean duration until placenta expulsion was 245 min and 77% of the cows showed placentophagia, but there were no effects of treatment. During the 2 h p.p. cows on treatment T vocalised more often (P ≤ 0.001), were lying less (P ≤ 0.001), were less inactive (P ≤ 0.05) and performed less oral behaviour (P ≤ 0.01) than cows on treatment S. Calves on treatment T vocalised less often during all 4 days p.p. (P ≤ 0.001) and licked themselves less often during the second, third and fourth day p.p. (P ≤ 0.05) than calves on treatment S. When the calf was separated at 96 h, cows on treatment T vocalised more often (P ≤ 0.001), were lying less (P ≤ 0.05) and ruminated less (P ≤ 0.01) than did cows on treatment S. Calves on treatment T were lying less (P ≤ 0.01) and performed more oral behaviour (P ≤ 0.05) after separation than did calves on treatment S. Cows on treatment T were within 1 m of the calf during most observations, but this decreased during the 4 days p.p. (P ≤ 0.01). Maternal sniffing and licking was most common during the first 2 h p.p., and decreased during the 4 days (P ≤ 0.0001). Total suckling time per 24 h decreased during the first 4 days (P ≤ 0.01), but suckling frequency and bout duration did not change over the 4 days. The conclusion from this study is that both cow and calf are stimulated to higher activity immediately post partum when kept together, but that separation after 4 days has an effect on some behaviours of both cows and calves.
Two experiments were undertaken in order to determine the effects of late weaning on the social behaviour of calves.Control heifers that were still suckled were compared to heifers that were weaned and kept either alone (Experiment 1) or with other familiar cows (Experiment 2) and to heifers whose dams had cloth on the udders to prevent suckling (Experiment 1). Spatial repartition and social encounters were recorded at pasture from dawn to dusk.Weaned heifers gathered more and engaged in more social encounters between them than controls. These alterations were more striking when the heifers were kept alone after weaning and less striking when only suckling was prevented.Moreover, preventing suckling did not alter dam-young relationships (Experiment 1). Nevertheless, when the dams were returned to their young after a total 3-week separation, their attachment to their young seemed to have declined, whereas that of the calves to their dams had not (Experiment 2).It is concluded that the calf remains attached to its dam even after weaning and that the absence of this preferential social partner makes the young animal strengthen its bonds with other partners.
Social relationships were studied in 4 herds of 2.5-year-old heifers (55 animals in total). Animals of Friesian (F) or Salers (S) breed were observed at pasture during 144 h. In each breed, half of the females had been either reared by a foster cow (M), or bucketfed and isolated for 10–12 weeks (I). When a year old, animals were allocated into 4 herds, each herd including heifers of 2 experimental treatments. The 4 chosen combinations (FM/FI, SM/SI, SM/FM, SI/FI) allowed us to study the effects of rearing conditions and breed on social behaviour. Non-agonistic interactions were more frequent within Salers groups than within Friesian groups, regardless of rearing conditions. When comparing the 2 rearing conditions (isolated (I) versus mothered (M)), agonistic interactions were more frequent between suckled than between bucket-fed animals, regardless of breed. Hierarchy relationships were assessed by a new method, relying on the notion of hierarchical power, computed from all the individual relationships within a group. Salers heifers had a higher hierarchical power than Friesians. Suckled Salers females were dominant over bucket-fed females of the same breed. By contrast, no significant difference was observed between the 2 corresponding Friesian groups. It would appear, therefore, that bucket-feeding can lead to a disadvantage concerning dominance-subordination relationships in the Salers breed, whereas such an effect is not observed in Friesians. This interaction between breed and rearing conditions may suggest breed differences in the ability of the young to adapt to various rearing systems.
Behavioral responses to weaning were studied in 21 foals assigned to one of five treatments: (1) abrupt, total separation of mare and foal, no pre-weaning creep feed (TSNC); (2) total separation but with creep feed (TSC); (3) partial separation of mare and foal allowing fence-line contact, no pre-weaning creep feed (PSNC); (4) partial separation but with creep feed (PSC); (5) control (CON), no separation of mare and foal with creep feed. Foals were observed for 5 h immediately after weaning. Vocalization frequency and times of the following behaviors were recorded: lying down; standing still; walking; trotting; cantering. The TSNC foals spent more time walking than PSNC, PSC or CON foals, and spent less time standing still than foals on all other treatments. The TSC, PSNC, PSC and CON foals spent more time standing still than walking. There were no significant treatment effects on times spent lying down or cantering, but TSNC foals tended (P < 0.06) to spend more time trotting than other foals. The PSC and CON foals were not different in locomotor patterns, indicating that during weaning PSC foals utilized the same patterns of activity behavior as unweaned foals, and weaning stress was apparently minimal. Data from the weaned foals (CON excluded) indicated partial separation resulted in less post-weaning activity in foals than total separation, and access to pre-weaning creep feed resulted in less activity than no pre-weaning creep feed. Treatments were not significantly different in mean times spent lying down, trotting or cantering. Total vocalizations ranged from 0 to 722. Foals on PSNC, PSC and CON treatments vocalized less (P< 0.05) than TSNC or TSC foals. Foals weaned by total separation treatments vocalized more (P < 0.001) than those weaned by partial separation. Pre-weaning feeding management did not affect (P > 0.05) vocalization frequency during weaning. All weaned foals exhibited aggression toward other foals, pawing and non-nutritional sucking of other foals. Non-nutritional sucking started within 2 h post-weaning and was observed up to 2 weeks post-weaning. Results of this study showed that foals weaned by means of a partial separation management system exhibited fewer signs of stress than those weaned by abrupt separation.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether the prevention of suckling and the separation from a foster cow in two steps lower the behavioural and physiological stress reaction in calves compared with if the two events occur simultaneously. Twelve groups, each consisting of one cow and four calves, were formed when the calves were 1 week old, and the calves were prevented from suckling at 10 weeks of age. In six of the groups, the calves were prevented from suckling by simultaneous separation from the cow (control). In the other six groups, the calves were fitted with a nose-flap, which prevented them from suckling while they were kept together with the cow for another 2 weeks before they were separated at 12 weeks of age (two-step). The behaviour and the heart rate of the calves were recorded, and saliva cortisol samples were taken after the calves were prevented from suckling (both treatments), as well as after the two-step separation. The two-step calves vocalised and walked significantly less when prevented from suckling than control calves (p
Dairy calves are commonly vocal after separation from the cow and during the following weeks while they are fed milk. This study examined the functional and motivational basis for such vocalizations. In one experiment, we found that 14 newborn calves called on average (±S.E.M.) 31.4 (±7.0) times per day when fed according to conventional management (i.e. twice daily for a total of 5l during 24h). In contrast, when calves were fed every 4h and received 8l of milk per day they called only 5.0 (±3.4) times over that period. Calls were also higher in fundamental frequency when calves were fed conventionally than when fed more milk, more often (120.6±2.2 versus 109.0±3.1Hz). In a second experiment, we found that 19 five-week-old calves deprived of milk called on average 9.9 (±2.1) times during a 3h period compared to 0.3 (±0.5) times when they had ad libitum access to milk. These results indicate that the vocalizations of milk-fed calves are related to milk feeding practices and that vocal behaviour may be useful in developing methods of separation and weaning that are less distressing for the calf. Analysis of call duration, fundamental frequency and frequency of maximum amplitude indicated that calls of calves in both experiments were individually distinctive, providing a potential basis for recognition of calves by cows.
Most dairy producers believe that early separation of the cow and calf is necessary for reproductive efficiency, to minimise health problems and to improve the ease of milking. In addition, many consider that it is less distressing for both animals if separation occurs earlier rather than later. In this paper we review the welfare and production effects of early separation on the cow and calf. Research has shown that the cow's immediate behavioural response to separation from the calf increases with increased contact with the calf, but other work has shown that cow health and productivity are positively affected by the presence of the calf. Calf response to separation also increases when the calf spends more time with the cow, but there are long-term benefits of prolonged contact in terms of sociality, fearfulness and future maternal behaviour. Health, weight gain and future productivity are also improved when the calf is allowed to spend more time with the cow.
Twenty-one wapiti calves, born between 24 May and 4 July were weaned on 5 September. They were weighed, divided into two groups (10 and 11 calves) and either moved to a familiar paddock, adjacent to their dams and allowed fence-line contact (contact wean CW), or moved to a familiar paddock which was visually obscured, and separated from their dams by approximately 50m (remote wean - RW). For the next two days after weaning the calves were observed from dawn until dusk. All observations were done using a 10-minute instantaneous scan sampling technique. Activities recorded included the number of calves standing, walking, lying, fence-line pacing, running, grazing, and feeding at a trough. On day 4 the observation time was reduced to 9 hours and 20 minutes. Observations were continued for a further six days during 2-hour periods after dawn and before dark. The calves were held in these separate paddocks for 10 days and during that time were weighed. After that they were held together in the remote wean paddock and weighed again at 31 and 63 days. There were no significant differences in the amount of time spent grazing between the two groups and there were no differences in weight gains between the groups throughout the trial. The CW calves vocalized less and spent less time standing, walking, fence-line pacing and running compared to RW calves. The CW calves were also observed spending more time lying and feeding at the trough. Overall, the CW calves displayed fewer behaviours indicative of the distress following weaning.
Sucking behaviour and age of weaning were investigated in a herd of East African zebu cattle in which all calves born had been retained for several years. Suckling rates were compared at different periods of the 24 h cycle and found to be less at night than during any day-time period. The highest rates of suckling took place in the early morning and in the late afternoon. The early morning suckling was triggered by the dawn. During both night and day, suckling was irregular and bouts were presumably due to sympathetic induction because a high proportion of the calves was suckled on each occasion. The total sucking time and the number of bouts varied significantly in inverse relation to age of the calf but the duration of a sucking bout was constant at 8 min and independent of age. There was an average of 4·8 sucking bouts within 24 h giving a total duration of 38 min. Sucking behaviour did not exhibit sex-specific differences. The average age of natural weaning was 10 months but there was a marked sex difference. Female calves were prevented by their mothers from sucking after an average age of 8·8 months but male calves continued to be suckled for a further 2·5 months and were weaned at an average age of 11·3 months.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of social contact and milk allowance on social behavior, play behavior, and responses to handling in dairy calves. Forty test calves and 16 companion calves were allocated to 1 of 5 treatments from birth to 4wk of age: (1) housed singly and fed 5L of milk/d; (2) housed singly and fed 9L of milk/d; (3) housed in pairs and fed 5L of milk/d; (4) housed in pairs and fed 9L of milk/d; or (5) kept with the dam and fed 9L of milk/d. From 4 to 6wk of age, all calves were offered 5L of milk/d to promote intake of solid feed before weaning. At 6wk of age, all calves were weaned, and at 7wk of age, they were grouped (7 calves/group: 1 test calf from each treatment and 2 companion calves). The response to restraint during blood sampling was recorded weekly; singly housed calves struggled more during restraint than did calves kept with the dam, and pair-housed calves struggled at an intermediate level. Play behavior was recorded for 20min/wk after the provision of fresh straw; calves housed singly and fed a low milk allowance spent less time playing than did calves in all other treatments. Three days after grouping, calves were subjected to a feed competition test; calves receiving the high milk allowance and housed in pairs spent more time feeding than did those receiving the high milk allowance and housed singly, with all other treatments showing intermediate responses. These results indicate that social contact decreased responses to restraint and increased play and competitive success. The high milk allowance increased play but reduced competitive success after grouping. Lower responses to restraint indicated less responsiveness to stress. Play is considered an indicator of positive welfare, and competitive success helps calves succeed in a group environment.
Removing the calf after bonding may induce acute stress in the dairy cow. We examined the responses of dairy cows immediately after the removal of their calves. Eight dairy cows were successively separated from their calves on the third day post-partum and heart rate and behaviour of the cows were recorded. In addition, the cows were blood sampled before and after the separation for cortisol analysis. After separation, cows vocalised initially and moved to the feeding rack but started feeding shortly after that. Heart rate effects were restricted to the first minutes after separation and cortisol effects were not found. We conclude that multiparous dairy cows respond only mildly immediately after their calves have been removed. Feasible explanations for the observed mild response are discussed.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of age of separation on the behavioural responses of the dairy calf and cow. Calves were separated from their dams 6 h, 1 day, or 4 days after birth (n=9 cow-calf pairs in each of the 3 treatment groups) and behaviour was video and audio taped from 1 h before separation to 21 h after separation. In the hour immediately before separation, we found that the younger calves tended to call and move more in the pen, and spent more time standing than the older calves, but after separation these trends reversed. Calves separated at older ages made significantly more movements in the pen (P<0.05), spent more time standing (P<0.05) and spent more time with the head out of the pen (P<0.01) than calves separated soon after birth. We observed a similar pattern for the cows. Before separation, cows with younger calves moved more frequently about the pen (P<0.05), and called at much higher rates (a mean of 40.7 calls during 40 min for cows on the 6-h treatment, vs. 0.2 calls for cows in the 4-day group; P<0.001). After separation, cows in the 4-day group called at approximately four times the rate of those separated at 6 h or 1 day (P<0.01). Moreover, the calls produced by cows separated later had a significantly higher fundamental frequency (P<0.001) and a lower emphasized harmonic (P<0.02) than the calls of cows separated from calves soon after birth. There was no difference between treatment groups in the other behavioural measures, either before or after separation. Calves separated at older ages tended to require fewer days of treatment for scouring, but calf weight gain and cow milk production did not differ among treatment groups. In conclusion, behavioural responses of both the cow and calf increase in relation to calf age at separation. However, there may be health advantages associated with delayed separation that compensate for the increased behavioural response.
This study investigated the effects of separating dairy calves from their mothers at 1 day (early separation) and 14 days (late separation) after birth. Behavioural observations were conducted on 24 Holstein dairy cow-calf pairs during the first 24h after separation. Before separation, cow-calf pairs were generally inactive. After separation, cows from the late-separation treatment group showed higher rates of calling, movement and placing the head outside the pen, than cows in the early-separation group. Parity did not influence cow behaviour. During the first 2 weeks after calving, cows in the late-separation group (i.e. still with their calves) yielded less milk at milking, a difference at least partly due to the milk consumed by the calf. Milk yields from days 15-150 did not differ between the two groups. After separation, calves in the late-separation group moved and placed their heads outside the pen more often than early-separation calves. During the first 14 days after birth, late-separation calves gained weight at more than three times the rate of those separated early. When introduced to an unfamiliar calf at 6 weeks of age, calves from the late-separation group showed more intense social behaviour towards the unfamiliar calf than did those calves separated early. Thus, the response to separation by both cows and calves increased when calves were separated at 2 weeks rather than 1 day of age, but calves separated at the later age gained more weight and delayed separation appeared to influence the development of calf social behaviour.
This article discusses the consequences of different suckling systems in the industrial countries for the milk production, udder health, reproduction and behaviour of high producing dairy cows and the effects on the gain, health and behaviour of the calves. The suckling systems are divided into three different categories depending on the purpose and duration of the suckling period. Long-term suckling with or without additional milking covering the period where the calf has a nutritional need for milk, and short-term suckling, where cow and calf are kept together in the colostrum period only.Long-term suckling without additional milking in early lactation can in some situations stimulate the subsequent milk production to a greater extent than milking alone. No clear or significant differences can be found between restricted and free suckling systems. Most experiments show that suckling decreases the risk of mastitis in the suckling period and in some cases even for some time after the suckling has been terminated. Suckling and milking during the same period is not advantageous in production turns because of a very poor ejection of milk. Long-term suckling can increase the post-partum interval until first heat, in some cases until the end of the suckling period. However, as the cows appear to be more fertile, the net effect on reproduction is small. The suckled calves are usually healthy with a high daily gain. Short-term suckling have more advantages than disadvantages on production, health and behaviour of both the cow and the calf compared to an immediate separation after birth.
The aim of this study was to investigate if a 2-step method of preventing suckling and cow-calf separation reduces the stress reaction in foster cows compared with a simultaneous separation method. Seven Swedish Holstein and 5 Swedish Red dairy cows were used as foster cows, each having a group of 4 calves. The foster cow-calf group was formed when calves were 1 wk old, and the calves were prevented from suckling at 10 wk of age. In 6 of the cow-calf groups, calves were prevented from suckling by simultaneous separation from the cow (control). In the other 6 groups, calves were fitted with a nose-flap, which prevented them from suckling while they were kept together with the cow for another 2 wk before they were separated (2-step). The behavior of the foster cows was observed at 4 observation periods, 0 to 2, 8.5 to 9.5, 24 to 26, and 72 to 74 h after the calves were prevented from suckling (2-step), after separation (2-step), and after calves were prevented from suckling by simultaneous separation (control). For both treatments, saliva cortisol was sampled once daily for 5 d at wk 10. This was repeated at wk 12 for the 2-step treatment. Heart rate was measured with the behavioral observations. Control foster cows vocalized more (P < 0.001) and walked more (P = 0.005) than the 2-step foster cows after prevention of suckling and after separation from the calves. When control cows were separated from their calves, they more frequently (P < 0.001) held their head out of the pen than was the case with 2-step cows when separated 2 wk after prevention of suckling. The variation in heart rate was larger in the control group compared with 2-step cows at 0 to 2 h after separation/prevention of suckling (P = 0.002). No effect of treatment was found on cortisol concentration. Our conclusion is that separating the 2 events "prevention of suckling" and "separation" reduces the stress experienced by the foster cow at weaning.
We provide a critical summary of the literature on maternal behavior in cattle. The studies we review increase our basic understanding of this behavior and provide insights into practical problems in cattle production. When domesticated cattle are permitted to rear their young, the behaviors associated with maternal care are for the most part similar to those observed in wild ungulates. These behaviors allow the cow to bond with her calf, protect and provide it with nourishment and ultimately break down this bond at weaning. Different commercial production systems have emphasized different maternal behaviors, some being viewed as advantageous while others are considered a hindrance. Extensive production systems (most beef cattle production) place the responsibility of rearing the newborn largely on the cow and risk factors that affect the maternal bonding process (e.g. cross licking) remain important practical challenges. Most dairy cattle production discourages all aspects of maternal behavior with the exception of milk production, but changing consumer demand (e.g. increases in organic production) will make an understanding of maternal behavior in this system a priority in years to come.
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- J F Johnsen
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Growth rate, health and welfare in a dairy herd with natural suckling until 6–8 weeks of age: a case report A comparison of weaning techniques in farmed wapiti (Cervus elaphus)
- A M Grondahl
- E M Skancke
- C M Mejdell
- J H Jansen
- J C Haigh
- J M Stookey
- P Bowman
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