Invited review: Development and expression of dairy calf feeding behaviour

Miller-Cushon, E.K.; DeVries, T.J.

doi:10.4141/cjas-2014-163

Cited by 49 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Although the experimental setting did not create a competitive feeding environment, disease could have affected the social structure within the pen and the calves' ability to compete for feed. The reduced frequency and duration of visits in association with normal feed intake indicates greater average intake per visit and feeding rate, as observed for smaller and subordinate calves in competitive situations (Miller-Cushon and DeVries, 2015).…”

Section: Short Communicationmentioning

confidence: 72%

Short communication: Tick-borne disease is associated with changes in feeding behavior in automatically fed weaned dairy calves

Júnior

Silper

Ribas

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

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Tick-borne disease is a hemolytic disease complex that causes extensive losses to the dairy industry in tropical regions. Its timely diagnosis is challenging and labor intensive. Our objective was to investigate whether tick-borne disease was associated with changes in ingestive behavior of weaned dairy calves. Weaned calves (n = 35) enrolled at 108 ± 8 d of age were group housed (n = 12, 12, and 11/group) for 4 wk in the experimental pen, which had 12 electronic feed bins and 2 electronic water bins. Data were automatically collected at each feed or water bin visit via radio frequency identification ear tags. Water and total mixed ration were provided ad libitum. Calves were examined weekly for tick-borne disease detection. A disease bout was confirmed if packed cell volume was ≤25% at any exam. Diseased calves received antimicrobial and antipyretic treatment. Data were summarized by day within bin type (feed or water) as intake (kg/d; as-fed basis), frequency of visits (visits/d), and total duration of visits (min/d). Day of detection was set as d 0; a 9-d behavioral screening period for evaluation of behavioral changes was set according to d 0 (d −4 to +4). A within-calf mean was calculated for the healthy period (HP; mean of all days between 2 consecutive negative exams) for each response variable. Data were analyzed as within-calf differences between HP and each day of the behavioral screening period. Tick-borne disease was detected in 12 calves; thus, only data referent to these animals were included in the analyses. Compared with HP, daily feed intake was reduced on d −1, 0, and +1, and daily frequency and total duration of feed bin visits were reduced from d −3 to d +4. Daily feed intake was reduced by 35% on d −1 (3.5 ± 0.4 vs. 5.4 ± 0.5 kg/d for HP), and daily frequency and duration of visits were reduced by 27% (56.3 ± 7.8 vs. 76.7 ± 8.1 visits/d for HP) and 24% (27.0 ± 3.8 vs. 35.4 ± 3.9 min/d for HP) on d −3, respectively. Daily water intake on d 0 (9.1 ± 1.4 kg/d) was lower than at HP (12.9 ± 1.6 kg/d), but other drinking behaviors were not different from healthy means during the screening period. Feeding behavior, but not drinking behavior, was different from HP means before detection at weekly exams. Therefore, feeding behavior could be further explored for the development of algorithms for tick-borne disease detection.

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Section: Short Communicationmentioning

confidence: 72%

Short communication: Tick-borne disease is associated with changes in feeding behavior in automatically fed weaned dairy calves

Júnior

Silper

Ribas

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…In young calves, the relationship between solid feed meal patterns and rumen environment has not been well explored. However, some evidence does suggest that meal patterns acquired in early life may persist (Miller-Cushon and DeVries, 2015), such that encouraging a developing pattern of frequent, small meals may be beneficial. Introducing forage early in the pre-weaning stage, as opposed to closer to weaning, has also been found to enhance positive effects associated with forage intake, increasing time spent consuming starter as well as rumination time (Hosseini et al, 2016).…”

Section: Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating effects of providing hay on behavioral development and performance of group-housed dairy calves

Horvath

Miller-Cushon

2019

Journal of Dairy Science

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Providing access to forage has been shown to influence feeding behavior and non-nutritive oral behavior in individually housed calves, and these effects may be enhanced or altered in calves reared in social housing. We evaluated the effect of hay provision on the behavioral development and performance of group-housed dairy calves. Holstein calves (n = 32) were grouphoused (4 calves per group) at 17 ± 3 (mean ± SD) d of age. All calves were provided milk replacer (8 L/d) via an automated milk feeder and pelleted starter and water ad libitum. Pens were randomly assigned to receive either chopped coastal Bermuda grass in buckets adjacent to the starter trough (starter and hay, STH; n = 4 pens), or no additional feed (starter only, ST; n = 4 pens). Calves were weaned through a 10-d stepdown program beginning at 46 d of age. Intake of solid feed and hay were recorded daily, and body weights were measured weekly. The behavior of 2 focal calves per pen was recorded continuously from video for 12 h on 2 consecutive days during each of wk 4, 6, and 7 of life, to measure solid feed intake time, grooming, and pendirected sucking. Hay provision influenced total feed intake, with calves provided hay having greater total solid feed intake in the week before weaning (0.79 vs. 0.55 kg/d, STH vs. ST, respectively; SE = 0.19). Average daily gain (ADG) was similar during the pre-weaning period but tended to be greater for STH calves during weaning. Calves in pens provided hay also had fewer unrewarded visits to the milk feeder during weaning (12.5 vs. 21.1 visits per 12 h, STH vs. ST, respectively; SE = 3.59) and performed less pen-directed sucking (9.11 vs. 19.3 min per 12 h, STH vs. ST, respectively; SE = 2.86). Self-grooming time and bout characteristics evolved differently between treatments over time, with pens of calves provided hay having a greater increase in frequency and duration of self-grooming bouts during weaning. Overall, we found that providing hay to pre-weaned calves resulted in behavioral and performance benefits, including greater total feed intake and reductions in pen-directed sucking, suggesting that access to hay may improve calf welfare.

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“…In most dairy cattle production systems, calves are raised apart from their mother. Dairy farms vary in how much and how often milk is delivered to the calves and in opportunities for social learning (Vasseur et al, 2010;Hötzel et al, 2014;USDA, 2014); both factors may influence the development of feeding behaviours (reviewed by Miller-Cushon and DeVries, 2015). For example, calves reared individually must learn on their own where, how and what to eat.…”

Section: Development Of Feeding Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Individual variability in feeding behaviour of domesticated ruminants

Neave

Weary

Keyserlingk

2018

Animal

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Individual animals behave differently from one another, especially when confronting challenges such as changes in diet (e.g. weaning), environment (e.g. moving from pasture to feedlot) and social grouping (e.g. movement to lactating group after parturition). Each of these challenges involves some element of novelty, impacting the welfare and productivity of the animal. Indeed, the large individual variability in the development and expression of feeding behaviour cannot be fully explained by differences in genetics, management practices, body size or growth rate. In this review we outline evidence that individual variability in feeding behaviour is associated with the personality of the individual. We focus on three key personality traits: exploration, fear or reactivity and sociability. Individuals differ in how much they explore their feeding environment, with more exploratory individuals being less reactive to novel situations. Feeding behaviour can be impaired in individuals that are especially reactive to a change in their environment, change in diet or handling or restraint by humans. The social environment is also a major factor affecting how individuals express their behaviour. Sociability of the individual, including dominant-subordinate and affiliative relationships, affects how individuals make foraging decisions, gain access to feed and adopt particular social strategies to maintain or adjust feeding patterns when the social environment changes. Personality traits such as exploration, boldness and sociability also affect the use of social information when learning where, how or what to eat. Our review highlights the implications of feeding behaviour variability for the welfare and productivity of the individual, and how an understanding of personality can help tailor management to the needs of the individual.

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Invited review: Development and expression of dairy calf feeding behaviour

Cited by 49 publications

References 85 publications

Short communication: Tick-borne disease is associated with changes in feeding behavior in automatically fed weaned dairy calves

Short communication: Tick-borne disease is associated with changes in feeding behavior in automatically fed weaned dairy calves

Evaluating effects of providing hay on behavioral development and performance of group-housed dairy calves

Review: Individual variability in feeding behaviour of domesticated ruminants

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