Does the duration of repeated temporary separation affect welfare in dairy cow-calf contact systems?

Roadknight, Natalie; Wales, William J.; Hepworth, Graham; Fisher, Andrew

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105592

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Similarly, cows separated from their calves at 4 [ 10 ] and 14 [ 7 ] days displayed greater frequency of vocalizations after separation as compared to groups separated at 1 day and 6 h. Vocalization has been linked to physiological [ 30 ] and behavioral [ 31 ] signs of stress, and associated with distress following cow-calf separation [ 10 , 18 , 29 ]. The maternal-filial bond forms within the first 5 min [ 19 ] and increases with physical contact, suckling and grooming behavior [ 3 , 32 ]. Previous research suggests that within the first 21 h [ 10 ] and 51 h [ 18 ] of separation, the greatest number of vocalizations occur approximately 9 h post separation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In dairy systems, calves are commonly removed within 24 h postpartum and subsequently hand reared either in housing or pasture systems [ 1 ] to increase saleable milk, decrease disease transfer, increase ease of management around milking [ 2 , 3 ], and increase calf monitoring [ 2 ]. These calves can either be housed individually or in groups of two or more and fed milk using artificial teats or buckets, however these rearing systems are perceived poorly by the public stating it is unnatural, causes emotional stress and poor health [ 4 – 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These calves can either be housed individually or in groups of two or more and fed milk using artificial teats or buckets, however these rearing systems are perceived poorly by the public stating it is unnatural, causes emotional stress and poor health [ 4 – 6 ]. An alternative to such systems is the maintenance of the calf with the cow, but existing research has predominantly focused on housed systems [ 7 – 9 ] with either full [ 7 , 8 , 10 ] or part-time contact [ 3 , 11 ]. In this regard, there is a paucity of data pertaining to the maintenance of cows and calves together on pasture until weaning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Greater calf milk consumption can increase milk production in the first lactation [ 13 ] but maintaining the cow and calf together has inconclusive health impacts compared to early separation [ 14 ]. Longer duration cow-calf systems can be associated with increased labor requirements for physical separation of cows and calves for milking, decreased calf habituation to humans, and increased stress around full separation [ 3 , 12 , 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral responses to cow and calf separation: separation at 1 and 100 days after birth

Mac¹,

Lomax²,

Clark³

2023

Anim Biosci

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Objective: To The aim was to compare the behavioral response to full separation of cows and calves maintained together for 100 days or 24 h. Methods: Twelve Holstein-Friesian cow-calf pairs were enrolled into either Treatment or Industry groups (n = 6 cow-calf pairs/group). The Treatment cows and calves were maintained on pasture together for 106 ± 8.6 d and temporarily separated twice a day for milking. The Industry cows and their calves, were separated within 24 h postpartum. Triaxial accelerometer neck-mounted sensors were fitted to cows 3 weeks before separation to measure hourly rumination and activity. Before separation, cow and calf behavior was observed by scan sampling for 15 min. During the separation process, frequency of vocalizations and turn arounds were recorded. At separation, cows were moved to an observation pen where behavior was recorded for 3 d. A CCTV camera was used to record video footage of cows within the observation pens and behavior was documented from the videos in 15 min intervals across the 3 d.Results: Before separation, Industry calves were more likely to be in close proximity to their mother than Treatment calves. During the separation process, vocalization and turn around behavior was similar between groups. After full separation, Treatment cows vocalized three times more than Industry cows. However, the frequency of time spent close to barrier, standing, lying, walking and eating were similar between Industry and Treatment cows. Treatment cows had greater rumination duration, and were more active, than Industry cows. Conclusion:These findings suggest a similar behavioral response to full calf separation and greater occurrence of vocalizations, from cows maintained in a long-term, pasture-based, cow-A c c e p t e d A r t i c l e calf rearing system when compared to cows separated within 24 h. However, further work is required to assess the impact of full separation on calf behavior.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral responses to cow and calf separation: separation at 1 and 100 days after birth

Mac¹,

Lomax²,

Clark³

2023

Anim Biosci

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“…In general, the risk of prolonged hunger is considered to be higher in artificial rearing than in CCC systems, but this will depend on access to suckle the dam (e.g. full time, part time or restricted suckling (Nicolao et al., 2022 ; Roadknight et al., 2022 )), number of calves per foster cow and milk allowance in artificial reared calves (see Section 3.2.7.1 ).…”

Section: Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Welfare of calves

Nielsen¹,

Álvarez²,

Bicout³

et al. 2023

EFS2

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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 m 2 /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.

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Effects of whole-day versus half-day cow-calf contact on cows’ and calves’ performance

Zipp,

Knierim

2024

animal

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Does the duration of repeated temporary separation affect welfare in dairy cow-calf contact systems?

Cited by 21 publications

References 29 publications

Behavioral responses to cow and calf separation: separation at 1 and 100 days after birth

Behavioral responses to cow and calf separation: separation at 1 and 100 days after birth

Welfare of calves

Effects of whole-day versus half-day cow-calf contact on cows’ and calves’ performance

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