Reducing milk induced cross-sucking of group housed calves by an environmentally enriched post feeding area

Abstract

Group housing of calves is an animal-friendly natural and economic way of raising calves. One major disadvantage of artificial milk feeding in group housing systems, however, is the incidence of cross-sucking. The main objective of this study was the evaluation of structural and technical modifications of the feeding stall of an automatic teat feeder and the environmentally enriched feeding area in relation to a reduction of cross-sucking after finishing a milk meal. The experiment was carried out with 168 female calves (German Holstein) of one origin randomly assigned to two treatments: control group and optimized group with a furnished post feeding area and an exercise yard with environmental enrichment. Calves were fed by an automatic teat feeder according to schedule starting with 7 L whole milk per day and calf. Cross-sucking and general behaviour was observed for 20 min directly after the milk meal. Observations were made at three age levels on two consecutive days. Depending on the age group, cross-sucking behaviour of calves in the optimized group was significantly lower (11.9 to 17.2%) compared to the control group (58.6 to 73.7%). Based on the age, mean duration of cross sucking bouts showed in the control group were significantly higher (79.0 to 122.5 s) than the bouts of the optimized group (39.0 to 65.0 s). With an increase of age the calves of the optimized group used the post-feeding area first with an average duration of 129.0 s and later with an average duration of 416.0 s. Corresponding to this result, calves of the optimized group left the feeding stall significantly faster (13 s) than the reference group (61 s). Despite those facts, the presence of a post feeding area and its interior had no significant effect on feeding behaviour regarding concentrates and hay and other behaviour observed in relation to the milk meal. Our results indicated that adding a post feeding area to an automatic milk feeding system can significantly reduce cross-sucking of group housed calves related to milk intake by simultaneously increased performance of the feeder. However, future research is needed to evaluate interactions between feeding techniques, environment and physiological processes related to cross-sucking behaviour of calves.