Abstract
The aim of the study reported in this Research Communication was to compare play behaviour and social interactions of dairy calves either separated from their mother and reared in a calf group (Artificial) or with access to their mother and the cow herd (cow-calf contact: Contact). Contact calves had access to a calf area and also to the cow barn where they could suckle their dam. Artificial calves were fed whole milk up to 16 kg per day via an automatic milk feeder and were only kept in the calf area. We observed the animals on 3 d during the first three months of life. Contact calves showed solitary play, consisting predominantly of locomotor play, for longer than Artificial calves and mainly in the cow barn. This indicates higher welfare in Contact calves. In addition, Artificial calves hardly experienced any agonistic interaction, while Contact calves both initiated and received agonistic interactions, which might contribute to the development of higher social competence.
Highlights
Under semi-natural conditions calves experience a complex social environment, engaging in social interactions with their dam and with other conspecifics of different ages and sex (Kiley-Worthington and de la Plain, 1983)
Most of the solitary play was locomotor play
For comparing play according to location in Contact calves, data were calculated per hour to correct for the different duration of presence in the two locations
Summary
Under semi-natural conditions calves experience a complex social environment, engaging in social interactions with their dam and with other conspecifics of different ages and sex (Kiley-Worthington and de la Plain, 1983). Systems allowing calves access to peers and to their dam and other cows (cow-calf contact, CCC) offer a more complex social environment resembling the natural social structure better. Play as a potential welfare indicator (Held and Spinka, 2011) and social interactions of calves were not investigated in CCC systems so far. We observed these behaviours in calves reared artificially or with CCC at three times during the first three months of life. We hypothesized that calves with CCC would both show more play behaviour and encounter more social interactions
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