Abstract
The objective of this study was to test the hypotheses that a heifer’s growth, health, and reproduction after 12 months are impacted by rearing (feeding/housing) before weaning, their season of birth, and the father’s lineage. Fifty-one Holstein heifers, born during January–March (SB1), April–June (SB2), July–September (SB3), and October–December (SB4) and originating from four fathers, were assigned to one of the three rearing treatments: restricted suckling (RS), calf in a pen with the mother until the 21st day, sucking three times daily, then group pen (6 kg milk) to weaning; unrestricted suckling (US), calf in a pen with foster cows (6 kg milk) to weaning; and conventional rearing (CR), calf in a hutch until the 56th day, then group pen to weaning (milk replacer 6 kg). After weaning on the 84th day, heifers were kept in groups with the same ration. The growth of the live body weight (LBW), health, and reproduction were recorded. The LBW had a tendency to increase from the 360th to the 570th days in the US, and the reduced growth of the LBW was shown in the CR. Heifers of SB2 had the highest LBW at 570 days of age. The ages of the first insemination service and the conception varied significantly among the rearing groups. The results indicate that a heifer rearing method may have a significant impact on their later growth and fertility.
Highlights
IntroductionThe method of separating a cow and their calf shortly after birth has been used for many years, but early weaning from the mother has been shown to affect normal behavioural development with later challenges of environment conditions [1,2]
A variety of methods and facilities can be used to raise a replacement dairy animal.In husbandry, the method of separating a cow and their calf shortly after birth has been used for many years, but early weaning from the mother has been shown to affect normal behavioural development with later challenges of environment conditions [1,2]
The lowest growth of the live body weight (LBW) in the period from the 360th to the 570th day was found in the conventional rearing (CR) group
Summary
The method of separating a cow and their calf shortly after birth has been used for many years, but early weaning from the mother has been shown to affect normal behavioural development with later challenges of environment conditions [1,2]. It is expected that the delayed separation of the calf from its mother may improve the welfare and growth of dairy calves [3,4,5,6]. The suckling systems can be divided into more categories depending on the farming purpose and duration of the suckling period on restricted ( referred to as a single suckling system) and the foster cow system ( referred to as multiple or cow-calf contact system) [1,6,9,10]. In the foster cow system, the calves are kept together and suckle one cow [1,7,8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
