Rumination and Activity Patterns in Angus and Angus-Cross Beef Calves: Influences of Sex, Breed, and Backgrounding Diet

Omontese, B. O.; Zakari, Friday Ocheja; Webb, M. J.

doi:10.3390/ani12141835

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Similarly, between week 8 and week 20: the third peaks occurred right after the starting of the afternoon milk timeslot (15h30), and the relative stable height of the third peaks indicated the normal activity level caused by the feeding; the difference of heights between the first and the third peaks narrowed down gradually as calves grew older, till the third peaks reached to similar heights as the first peaks at week 19 and week 20, suggesting that the calves were more eager to access to AMFs in the morning as they grew older. Our results were in line with recent studies reporting, that the activity patterns were related to the feeding time in calves (Omontese et al, 2022;Giannetto et al, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

“…This is a new approach as previous studies typically describe activity either in minutes per day (e.g. Omontese et al, 2022), or display average calf activity (standing or lying) across the day on a graph, without extracting key features (Webb et al, 2012(Webb et al, , 2014(Webb et al, , 2015 based on direct manual observations). The added value of the smooth curves is that they represent the expected increase in variables for specific moments of the day when all other parameters in the model are fixed (partial effects are adjusted or scaled variables adjusted for all other variables, e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Decoding calf patterns : Advancing automated health monitoring with algorithmic insights

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World milk production reached 887 million tonnes in 2020 (FAO, 2022). With such high demand worldwide, dairy cows who produce the milk need to keep giving birth to renew the lactation in order to produce milk. Most female calves will be kept as heifers for the dairy industry, while the male (and some female) calves are not needed. The veal industry was therefore developed (mainly in Europe and North America) to make use of the dairy calves that are not wanted or needed for herd replacement, commonly referred to as 'surplus' calves.Although there are a number of possible routes for surplus dairy calves (Haskell, 2020;Webb et al., 2023), those calves destined for veal production are typically transported from different source dairy farms, sometimes across country borders, at the early age of around two to four weeks to a fattening veal farm (Marcato et al., 2018). At the veal farm, the calves are grouphoused, typically in small groups of five to ten, but sometimes in large groups of 40 to 70 calves, with typically 1.8 m 2 per calf, on wooden slatted floors. Veal calves are fed milk replacer in open troughs or buckets if housed in small groups, or via an automated milk feeders if house in large groups, until slaughter for the 'white' veal calves, and for eight weeks for the 'rosé' veal calves. Next to milk replacer, the calves receive solid feed, typically a mixture of concentrates and roughage (e.g. straw) until slaughter at approximately six (white) to eight (rosé) months of age (EFSA AHAW Panel, 2023). Veal calves do not typically receive enrichment, unless housed in the large groups, and do not typically have access to outdoor spaces. This production system allows veal calves to be raised efficiently, allowing each step of the chain to be considered and controlled (Renaud and Pardon, 2022), to end up with relatively high-quality meat products which fetch a high price with consumers, while using minimal resources.The Dutch veal sector is the biggest veal producer in the EU, accounting for 36% of the total production in 2020 (Berkhout et al., 2021). With around one million veal calves being kept in approximately 1,600 fattening farms 1 , the Dutch veal sector produces 1.6 to 1.7 million calves per year (Berkhout et al., 2021). These calves are transported from their source dairy farms all across Europe to the collection centres first, where they are sorted based on weight, breed, or conformation, before being sent to the fattening farms (Damiaans et al., 2019). This dairyveal chain presents potential concerns for calf welfare, including transportation of young animals, high risk of disease, and barren housing (Webb et al., 2023). One important concern for the farmers in this production system is the high morbidity (Sandelin et al., 2022) and high mortality rates (

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decoding calf patterns : Advancing automated health monitoring with algorithmic insights

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“…In our study, the observed RT values of the 4 h/d period from 57 to 63 days of age and 7 h/d from 63 to 72 days of age are in line with the RT values observed by Lopreiato et al [ 51 ] using Hr-Tag loggers in calves at the same age. In the study of Omontese et al [ 24 ], an average RT of 9 h/d was reported in older calves. At the age of 10 weeks, rumination was well developed, similar to adult cows [ 51 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In short, rumination data were recorded in minutes per 1 h interval as an arbitrary number determined using a three-dimensional accelerometer that recorded the speed and angle of the ear movements. Data were transmitted from the ear tag every 20 min where the system software reported the rumination time using a series of internal algorithms, which are proprietary to Allflex [ 23 , 24 ]. Rumination time data (min/h) were processed to calculate rumination time over the entire trial and the average of rumination time in each of the following periods: 8 to 21 d, 22 to 42 d, 43 to 56 d, 57 to 63, and 64 to 72 days of age.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Feeding a Total Mixed Ration with an ad libitum or Restricted Pelleted Starter on Growth Performance, Rumination Behavior, Blood Metabolites, and Rumen Fermentation in Weaning Holstein Dairy Calves

Spina,

Lopreiato,

Britti

et al. 2023

Animals

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The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of the starter restriction and of the ad libitum TMR (total mixed ration) inclusion on intake, growth performance, rumination time (RT), and health condition of Holstein dairy calves during weaning. We randomly assigned thirty female Holstein calves (with an average weight of 38.5 ± 1.96 kg at birth) to one of three treatments. From 21 days of age, the calves were fed one of three treatments as follows: a control diet (CTR) with an ad libitum calf starter but without TMR; Treatment 1 diet (TRT1) with both an ad libitum calf starter and ad libitum TMR; Treatment 2 diet (TRT2) with ad libitum TMR and a restricted amount of a calf starter (50% of the intake recorder in the control group day by day). Calves in the TRT2 group, between 56 and 63 days of age, had a lower body weight (80.1; 79.5; 75.6 kg for the CTR, TRT1, and TRT2 groups, respectively) compared with CTR and TRT1 calves. This outcome is ascribed to the average daily gain (0.759; 0.913; 0.508 kg/day for the CTR, TRT1, and TRT2 groups, respectively), resulting also in TRT2 being lower than CTR or TRT1 calves. The inclusion of ad libitum TMR increased the rumination time, especially after weaning (15.28 min/h, 18.38 min/h, and 18.95 min/h for the CTR, TRT1, and TRT2 groups, respectively). Concerning the rumen metabolism and inflammometabolic response, overall, no differences were observed between the three dietary treatments. In conclusion, the results indicated that a TMR could partially replace a calf starter in weaning dairy calves, since neither growth performance nor health status were impaired. In addition, providing TMR (with or without concentrate restriction) led to a better rumen development and likely a better rumen fermentation efficiency in post-weaning.

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“…(2018) using Hr-Tag loggers in calves at the same age during a weaning study. In the test by(Omontese et al 2022), the ear sensors recorded in older calves, speci cally around 3 months of age, an average RT equal to 9 h/d.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of feeding total mixed ration with ad libitum or restricted pelleted starter on growth performance, rumination behaviour, blood metabolites and rumen fermentation of Holstein calves

Spina,

Lopreiato,

Britti

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of diet with ad libitum TMR and restricted starter on animal performance, rumination time, blood metabolites and rumen fermentation of Holstein calves during the pre- and post-weaning periods. Thirty female Holstein calves were randomly assigned at birth (38.5 ± 1.96 kg) to receive 3 treatments. Calves, from 21 days of age, were fed 1 of 3 treatments as follows: Control diet (CTR) with TMR and starter ad libitum; Treatment 1 diet (TRT1) with TMR and starter ad libitum; Treatment 2 diet (TRT2) with ad libitum TMR and restricted amount of calf starter (50% of the intake recorder in the control group day by day. The results showed that the reduced amount of starter did not compromise the growth of calves nor did it compromise the ruminal and metabolic parameters of the animals. The inclusion of ad libitum TMR indeed, improved the rumination time especially after weaning. Overall, the results indicated that the calf starter can be partially replaced with a TMR in weaning calves, reducing the feeding costs of weaning dairy calves.

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Rumination and Activity Patterns in Angus and Angus-Cross Beef Calves: Influences of Sex, Breed, and Backgrounding Diet

Cited by 6 publications

References 64 publications

Decoding calf patterns : Advancing automated health monitoring with algorithmic insights

Decoding calf patterns : Advancing automated health monitoring with algorithmic insights

The Effect of Feeding a Total Mixed Ration with an ad libitum or Restricted Pelleted Starter on Growth Performance, Rumination Behavior, Blood Metabolites, and Rumen Fermentation in Weaning Holstein Dairy Calves

Effect of feeding total mixed ration with ad libitum or restricted pelleted starter on growth performance, rumination behaviour, blood metabolites and rumen fermentation of Holstein calves

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