Abstract
Over a period of two years, growth rate and health were measured for dairy calves allowed to suckle their mothers up to 6–8 weeks of age. Thirty-one calves were weighted weekly, and the mean daily growth rate was 1.2 ± 0.03 kg from birth up to 13 weeks of age. Illness in calves and young stock was not observed. In the cows, the mean incidences of ketosis, displaced abomasum, puerperal paresis, mastitis, teat injury and retained placenta were 0, 0, 8, 22, 1 and 1%, respectively, during a 6-year period. The mean daily gain of 56 growing bulls was 1.4 kg when slaughtered at 15 months of age, which is higher than the mean daily gain of 0.95 kg in the population. Probiotics, hormones and vaccines were not used, and antibiotics were only used for treating illness. The present study indicates many advantages and few problems when dairy calves are penned together with the cows and allowed natural feeding up to 6–8 weeks of age. This production system was easy to manage, preferred by the farmer, and may satisfy the public concern regarding the practice of immediate separation of cow and calf in commercial milk production.
Highlights
In most dairy herds in North America and European countries, calves are separated from their mothers immediately or few hours after birth
The daily weight gain ranged between 0.9 – 1.3 kg per week up to 13 weeks of age, which is higher than the weight gain reported in other studies
Resent studies with calves fed milk ad libitum, as well as the present study, indicate that feeding calves milk an amount approximately 10% of their body weight daily results in underfeeding, and the recommendations should be changed
Summary
In most dairy herds in North America and European countries, calves are separated from their mothers immediately or few hours after birth. Artificial teat feeding allows dairy calves to express their natural suckling behaviour, and feeding milk ad libitum has been observed to improve both health and weight gain [7,8]. In a private Norwegian dairy herd, the calves were, for animal welfare reasons, allowed to stay together with their mothers for 6–8 weeks after birth. This management started in 1999, and has been performed since . The calves were abruptly separated from their mother at 6–8 weeks of age and the separation resulted in vocal responses by both the cow and the calf for 1–2 days. Calves at approximately the same age were separated simultaneously, and stabled in a separate pen, but able to see and hear the cows
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
