On-farm factors associated with cross-sucking in group-housed organic Simmental dairy calves

Größbacher, Verena; Winckler, Christoph; Leeb, Christine

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2018.05.030

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This could indicate that milk ingested with the possibility to suck on a teat to a greater extent satisfies calves' motivation to suck, compared to milk offered by bowl or trough (where milk is ingested without the possibility to suck on a teat). This is in agreement with previous studies who found significantly less non-nutritive sucking in calves that were offered milk by buckets fitted with a teat, compared to buckets without teats [39,40], and that duration of sucking at buckets fitted with a teat was negatively correlated with the duration of cross-sucking [38]. Another study, however, found that there were no differences in cross-sucking between 8-week-old calves that had been allocated water with a nipple from the second day after birth until weaning, compared to water allocation without the possibility to suck on a nipple [41].…”

Section: Non-nutritive Sucking Behavioursupporting

confidence: 93%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The effect of age when group housed and other management factors on playing and non-nutritive sucking behaviour in dairy calves: a cross sectional observational study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The aim of this study was to investigate if calves’ play behaviour and non-nutritive sucking behaviour, as indirect measures of welfare status, are associated with the age of the calf when group housed, age when observed, age difference within the group, pen size, milk feeding system, current or previous sicknesses, access to dry teat, indoor/outdoor rearing, sex, organic/conventional farm, group size and regrouping events. An observational study was conducted on 176 Danish dairy calves in the age range of 1–12 weeks, on both conventional (n = 17) and organic (n = 5) farms. All calves had been group housed before 8 weeks of age and had spent various periods of time with the dam and/or individually housed before being group housed. Behaviour was recorded continuously by filming each individual calf over a period of 30 min. Results The calf’s age when group housed for the first time was not found to be significantly associated with duration of either play behaviour (P = 0.55) or non-nutritive sucking behaviour (P = 0.44). It was found that calves had significantly reduced odds of playing for longer than the mean play duration (5.5 s) for each day of their lives (OR = 0.97, P = 0.003). Also, they had reduced odds of performing non-nutritive sucking behaviour for longer than the mean non-nutritive sucking duration (145.5 s) when milk was allocated by drinker buckets fitted with a teat compared to by bowl or trough (OR = 0.06, P = 0.02). Conclusion No significant associations were found between calves’ age when group housed for the first time and play and non-nutritive sucking behaviour. It was found that calves’ play behaviour decreased with increasing age, and that non-nutritive sucking behaviour decreased when milk was allocated with a teat compared to no teat.

show abstract

Section: Non-nutritive Sucking Behavioursupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In this study, no significant association was found between non-nutritive sucking duration and age when grouped. This is in accordance with Größbacher et al [38] who found that age at grouping did not have a significant effect on cross-sucking for Simmental calves.…”

Section: Non-nutritive Sucking Behavioursupporting

confidence: 93%

The effect of age when group housed and other management factors on playing and non-nutritive sucking behaviour in dairy calves: a cross sectional observational study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When calves are fed high milk allowances from a teat rather than a bucket, cross-sucking is significantly reduced because calves are able to satisfy their natural motivation to suckle ( De Passillé et al, 2010 ). A longer duration of access to an artificial teat was negatively correlated with cross-sucking events in Simmental cattle ( Größbacher et al, 2018 ), whereas milk flow rate and portion size had no effect on cross-sucking ( Nielsen et al, 2018 ). Cross-sucking behavior as a heifer is known to carry into adulthood ( Keil et al, 2001 ), so adjustments to milk-feeding practices to offer increased volume and teat access is especially important to correct this behavior from an early age.…”

Section: Short- and Long-term Effects Of Conventional Raising Under Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current perspectives on the short- and long-term effects of conventional dairy calf raising systems: a comparison with the natural environment

Cantor

Neave

Costa

2019

Translational Animal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

“…30 However, cross-sucking can persist in individuals beyond calf-hood 3,15 and lead to udder damage and mastitis in heifers and cows as well as considerable economic losses due to reduced milk yield. 20 Besides the inability to suckle milk from a cow, the feeding regime (e.g., milk amount; 13 bucket vs rubber teat feeding), 12,22 the weaning method (e.g., gradual vs abrupt weaning; 24 individual weaning dependent on solid feed intake; 5,27 appropriate feed rations after weaning), 16 and housing conditions (e.g., access to a run or pasture; 14 group composition) 9 are important factors that influence cross-sucking behavior in artificially reared calves. However, in practice, cross-sucking in calves is abundant on many dairy farms, and farmers use various methods to prevent this behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the anti-sucking device «SuckStop Müller» on calf behavior

Bisang¹,

Rufener²,

Steiner³

et al. 2022

SAT

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

On-farm factors associated with cross-sucking in group-housed organic Simmental dairy calves

Cited by 7 publications

References 28 publications

The effect of age when group housed and other management factors on playing and non-nutritive sucking behaviour in dairy calves: a cross sectional observational study

The effect of age when group housed and other management factors on playing and non-nutritive sucking behaviour in dairy calves: a cross sectional observational study

Current perspectives on the short- and long-term effects of conventional dairy calf raising systems: a comparison with the natural environment

Effects of the anti-sucking device «SuckStop Müller» on calf behavior

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About