Cow Welfare Research Articles

Public perceptions of potential adaptations for mitigating heat stress on Australian dairy farms

Temperature variability resulting from climate change poses challenges around the world for livestock production and the welfare of the animals in these systems. As animal industries attempt to combat these challenges, it is vital to understand how potential changes implemented by farmers resonate with societal values. The aims of this study were to determine how different proposed changes to mitigate heat stress in dairy cattle influence public perceptions toward Australian dairy farm systems, including perceptions of (1) cow welfare, (2) confidence in the industry, and (3) trust in farmers. Participants were presented with 1 of 4 treatments representing a potential solution to mitigate heat stress in dairy cattle: (1) indoor system (a fully indoor barn), (2) choice system (cows have agency to choose to be indoors or outdoors), (3) gene edition + pasture (cows are genetically modified to become more resilient to heat stress), and (4) pasture (outdoor system that is currently used in Australia, but the farmer plants more trees). Participants were then asked to respond to questions on a 7-point Likert scale. Questions were about cow welfare (3 questions), confidence in dairy industry (4 questions), and trust in farmers (9 questions), with each section followed by an open-ended question for participants to explain their answers. Participants perceived cow welfare to be the lowest in the indoor system (2.80 ± 0.10), followed by gene edition + pasture (4.48 ± 0.11), with choice and pasture systems being the highest but not different from each other (5.41 ± 0.11 and 5.32 ± 0.11, respectively). Confidence in the dairy industry was lower among participants in the indoor (4.78 ± 0.08) compared with participants assigned to the choice (5.28 ± 0.08) or pasture (5.25 ± 0.08) systems. Confidence was also lower among participants in the gene edition (4.95 ± 0.08) compared with the choice system. Trust in farmers was similar across all treatments. Our results provide the first evidence that the Australian public may be reluctant to accept heat stress mitigation strategies that either do not allow cows to have access to pasture or those that include gene-editing technologies.

Dairy cattle lameness: a roundtable discussion

Foreword Lameness in dairy cattle is a high prevalence condition with significant negative impact on the welfare and economics of the dairy herd. Most lameness is attributable to four main conditions: sole bruising (also referred to as sole haemorrhage), sole ulcer, white line disease and digital dermatitis. Understanding of the pathogenesis of major claw horn diseases has undergone a transformation in the last 20 years, with a shift from a primary nutritional aetiology to a biomechanical one. This has led to significant research into factors relating to claw biomechanics and interventions targeting the inflammatory process. Even for infectious conditions, the benefit of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to cow welfare and recovery cannot be underrated. In this roundtable discussion, the panel explore the clinical relevance of the findings of research exploring biomechanics and managing inflammation.

Pasture access and eye temperature in dairy cows

ABSTRACT Pasture access can benefit dairy cows’ behavior, health, and welfare, but herds are increasingly housed indoors full-time. Recent infrared thermal-imaging (thermography) studies suggest that higher eye temperatures may be a physiological indicator of chronic stress. We, therefore, hypothesized that, compared to cows with pasture access, cows housed indoors full-time would have higher eye temperatures. In a two-phase crossover experiment, 29 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows experienced 18 days of overnight pasture access and 18 days of full-time indoor housing. We measured each animal’s eye temperature 16 times (eight/phase). During Phase One, cows with pasture access had higher eye temperatures than cows housed indoors full-time (contrary to our hypothesis). However, during Phase Two, cows with pasture access had lower eye temperatures than cows housed indoors full-time. It is, therefore, unclear whether eye temperature reflected disparities in dairy cow welfare between different housing treatments.

Dimension-reduced spatiotemporal network for lameness detection in dairy cows

Lameness has a negative effect on the welfare and production of dairy cows. In previous studies of lameness detection in cows based on computer vision, cow walking videos contained considerable irrelevant information, lowering detection accuracy. In this study, we proposed a dairy cattle lameness detection method, namely, the Dimension-Reduced Spatiotemporal Network (DRSN), to reduce the impact of irrelevant information, consisting of video dimensionality reduction and deep learning algorithms. The YOLOv4 algorithm was used to detect the cow’s hooves from the video. The video was dimensionally reduced to a spatiotemporal image based on the locations of the cow’s legs according to the previous detection, retaining gait information while removing much irrelevant information. Finally, the DenseNet algorithm was used to classify the lameness degree into a locomotion score according to the spatiotemporal image. To evaluate the performance of the algorithm, videos of 456 cows were used as the dataset for testing. After comparing different target tracking and classification algorithms, the YOLOv4 object detection and DenseNet classification algorithms demonstrated the best performance, with target detection and classification accuracies of 92.39% and 98.50%, respectively. The result of video-based lameness classification was compared with our method, and the experimental results showed that our method was more accurate. The newly proposed approach can effectively remove irrelevant information and improve the detection accuracy for lameness in dairy cow walking videos. The method can be further integrated into a system for automatically detecting cow lameness.

60. Evaluation of private dairy cow health and welfare standards and associated quality assurance programmes

60. Evaluation of private dairy cow health and welfare standards and associated quality assurance programmes

59. Understanding public perceptions of dairy cow welfare

59. Understanding public perceptions of dairy cow welfare

Basic motion behavior recognition of single dairy cow based on improved Rexnet 3D network

• Rexnet was extended to Rexnet 3D for basic motion behavior recognition of dairy cows. • Sliding window mechanism were used to verify the effectiveness of untrimmed videos. • Rexnet 3D could be used for recognizing the basic motion behavior of dairy cows. Basic motion behaviors of dairy cows (lying, standing and walking) contain abundant health information. However, to monitor these behaviors accurately and efficiently by using camera-based methods remains challenging. In this study, time dimension was added to extend the Rexnet to Rank eXpansion Network 3D algorithm (Rexnet 3D) network to realize non-contact and automatic recognition of dairy cows’ basic motion behaviors. A total of 406 videos containing 256,500 frames of dairy cows in different scenes and postures were collected and tested. Six different networks including Resnet101, Mobilev2, Mobilev3, Shufflev2, C3D and S3D were selected to validate the performance of the proposed network. The average number of frames recognized per second (ANFR), FLOPs and Networks Weight were used to evaluate the performance of the method. Experimental results showed that behavior recognition accuracy, ANFR, FLOPs and Networks Weight of the proposed method were 95.00%, 76.52 fps, 15.80 G and 14.30 M, respectively. Meanwhile, a total of 10 unedited videos with 1,722 s in total (43,065 frames) were collected to verify the effectiveness in real environment. The results showed that the accuracy of the proposed method was higher when the sampling interval was five frames and the accuracy of the specific three basic motion behaviors was 91.02%, and the ANFR was 101.02 fps. In general, these findings indicated that it was feasible to use a designed network for accurate recognition of cows’ basic motion behaviors. The network could provide necessary reference for improving the precision breeding and health welfare of dairy cows.

Does the duration of repeated temporary separation affect welfare in dairy cow-calf contact systems?

Dairy farm calf rearing systems with prolonged cow-calf contact may have benefits such as improved cow and calf health, and better public acceptance of farm practices. However managing cows and calves together can be logistically challenging on modern dairy farms, particularly pasture-based operations. Half-day separation of cows and calves may offer practical benefits compared with full-time contact systems. We predicted that half-day separation could negatively affect cow and calf welfare, compared with separation for milking only. We compared the behaviour of 16 recently calved cows and their calves, separated daily for milking only (MO), or for a half-day (HD) between morning and evening milking (8–10 h of separation per day), over a 10-day period. Linear mixed models and generalised linear mixed models (Poisson regression with random effects) were used to compare the treatments at different times of day. HD calves spent approximately twice as long suckling as MO calves (P = 0.035) before morning milking and after evening milking. HD calves showed a longer latency to lie (analysed using the Goodman-Kruskal gamma test) than MO calves, both when cows left for morning milking (γ = −0.24, P = 0.045) and when they returned after evening milking (γ = −0.83, P < 0.001), and had a shorter lying duration in the evening (−375 s, P = 0.009). HD cows avoided nursing 2.9 times more (P = 0.028), and performed approximately 8.5 times more grooming (P = 0.016) and 5.9 times more agonistic behaviours (P < 0.001) than MO cows, when reunited with their calves after evening milking. HD cows also showed more restlessness during evening milking, performing 4.6 times the number of kicks than MO cows (P = 0.035). Results were comparable between treatments (P > 0.05) for milk cortisol concentration, milk yield, time spent ruminating, calf weight gain, cow vocalisations at separation for morning milking, and time taken to separate cows from calves for morning milking. Overall, some potential welfare issues with HD cow-calf separation compared to MO may be calf hunger, cow discomfort when reunited with hungry calves whilst having an empty udder, and cow restlessness at evening milking. Providing HD calves with milk during the period of separation may address these issues, apart from that of cow restlessness at evening milking; however, further research would be needed to confirm this.

How to Predict Parturition in Cattle? A Literature Review of Automatic Devices and Technologies for Remote Monitoring and Calving Prediction.

Simple SummaryCattle farming is progressively facing an increase in the number of animals that farmers must care for, resulting in decreasing time for observation of the single cow. A large amount of the scientific literature has been published concerning remote automatic devices and machine learning technologies for continuous monitoring of animal behavior and health status, including sensors for calving prediction This review summarizes the current status of the art concerning available automatic devices for the identification of the beginning of calving.Cattle farming is facing an increase in number of animals that farmers must care for, together with decreasing time for observation of the single animal. Remote monitoring systems are needed in order to optimize workload and animal welfare. Where the presence of personnel is constant, for example in dairy farms with great number of lactating cows or with three milking/day, calving monitoring systems which send alerts during the prodromal stage of labor (stage I) could be beneficial. On the contrary, where the presence of farm personnel is not guaranteed, for example in smaller farms, systems which alert at the beginning of labor (stage II) could be preferred. In this case, time spent observing periparturient animals is reduced. The reliability of each calving alarm should also be considered: automatic sensors for body temperature and activity are characterized by a time interval of 6–12 h between the alarm and calving. Promising results have been shown by devices which could be placed within the vaginal canal, thus identifying the beginning of fetal expulsion and optimizing the timing of calving assistance. However, some cases of non-optimal local tolerability and cow welfare issues are reported. Future research should be aimed to improve Sensitivity (Se), Specificity (Sp) and Positive Predictive Value (PPV) of calving alert devices in order to decrease the number of false positive alarms and focusing on easy-to-apply, re-usable and well tolerated products.

The relationship between welfare of dairy cows and drug use: a preliminary study

The relationship between welfare of dairy cows and drug use: a preliminary study

Cows can’t Complain Out Loud. so, at Times, shouldn’t we Do it for Them?

Until relatively recently, the welfare of the dairy cow was not often perceived as being poor. However, the dairy industry has been changing, and increasing attention has been paid by the general public to the animals’ welfare. Nowadays the consumer demands food from animals that are kept under conditions which allow them to function more or less naturally, and which provide shade and shelter [1]. It is now generally accepted that the animal husbandman has a responsibility to the animals under his care and to society in general in order to maintain an acceptable standard of humane care of animals. In the Northern Hemisphere, where most dairy cows are housed indoors either permanently or at least during a significant part of the year, there are industry standards or codes that pay specific attention to the animals’ comfort. In general, they are housed in either straw yards or comfortable barns, where they have access to properly designed cubicle stalls that have the correct dimensions [2-4].

The effect of herd size on dairy cows' welfare quality - provision of good feeding and housing

In the last decades, there has been a trend present in the world to increase the size of dairy herds while increasing the yield of milk per head. In addition to environmental and economic benefits, this trend carries certain risks for the welfare of cows because in conditions of increased agglomeration of cattle the possibility of spreading of pathogens is also increased, there are less opportunities for adequate control and cows are exposed to greater selection and production stress. Research of the relationship between herd size and welfare quality parameters is still not sufficient to make relevant conclusions. Starting from that, the aim of this study, conducted in Serbia, is to examine the influence of herd size on parameters related to providing good feeding and housing conditions as important segments of the overall welfare of dairy cows. The assessment of given welfare parameters was done by Welfare Quality? Assessment Protocol for Cattle (2009) on 16 dairy farms of different herd sizes (large, medium and small) and housing management. The results indicate that there are significant variations in welfare indicators in each of the observed groups, which is why the size of the herd cannot be taken as a parameter that explicitly determines the quality of welfare. However, individual observation and comparison of welfare parameters between groups indicate that small herds in our production conditions could be identified as the greatest risks to the welfare of cows. In small herds, the highest share of cows of poor (4.62%) and fattened condition (8.76%) was found, as well as the lowest freedom of movement because cows on small farms are mostly reared in a tied system. Average values of indicators: lying down time (6.24s), frequency of collisions with equipment (13.25%) and high dirt contamination of cows (65.6-89.8%) further emphasize the issue of providing comfort in small herds.

Animal welfare research – progress to date and future prospects

The welfare status of an animal is dependent on its ability to cope and exist in harmony with its environment, such that good physical and psychological health is maintained. Improving animal welfare is an increasingly important aspect of livestock production systems due, in a large extent, to increased consumer concerns about animal production practices. Animal welfare is an integrated part of quality assurance programmes for sustainable animal production, considering that welfare, health, management, economy, consumer acceptance and environmental impact are interdependent. The major welfare concerns in the livestock industry in recent years relate to the rearing and management of dairy calves, the welfare of the dairy cow, effect of husbandry management procedures on the welfare of beef cattle, rearing of sows in gestation and farrowing crates, and the broiler (meat) chicken sector. The paper will focus on scientific research underpinning these welfare concerns, with a particular focus on research conducted on the island of Ireland.

Review of trends in essential oils as alternatives to antibiotics in bovine mastitis treatment

Bovine mastitis is an important disease in the dairy industry responsi?ble for the welfare and significant economic losses in dairy cows. The treatment of choice for mastitis is the administration of antibiotics. However, this therapeutic choice has some disadvantages including presence of antibiotics residues in the milk, low cure rate as well as rapid increase in antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Therefore, new alternative approaches to antibiotics were investigated by different groups of researchers in order to find an effective approach for bovine mastitis therapy. This review was conducted in order to analyze different publications on usage of essential oils in relation to bovine mastitis. There are many in vitro studies for evaluating the antimicrobial efficacy of essential oils against many mastitis associated pathogens. In addition, numerous of tested essential oils have shown good efficacy with a wide range of minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs). On the other hand, only several in vivo studies have focused on therapeutic effects of essential oils. Moreover, recent studies indicate the possibility of using essential oils in the fight against biofilm which could be promising fight against bovine mastitis since unsuccessful antibiotic treatment can be associated with the presence of biofilms.

Analysis of direct parameters of cow welfare assessment on dairy farms

Analysis of direct parameters of cow welfare assessment on dairy farms

Data-Based Variables Used as Indicators of Dairy Cow Welfare at Farm Level: A Review.

Simple SummaryIn recent years, the interest in the use of data from routine herd records in the monitoring of dairy welfare at farm level has increased. This review compiles 13 papers to outline the current potential of data-based variables for animal welfare monitoring. All the identified studies showed associations between data-based variables and farm-level dairy cow welfare and therefore provide a first indication of the possible use and suitability of data-based variables for welfare monitoring. However, we found that the definitions of animal welfare, its assessment on the farm, and the data-based variables varied considerably. Consequently, the current state of research does not allow a conclusive assessment of the potential of data-based variables for animal welfare monitoring. Therefore, future research is needed to clarify the potential of data-based variables. Harmonisation of the data-based variables and the use of valid measurements that reflect the multidimensionality of welfare could contribute to increased comparability between the studies.During the last years, the interest in data-based variables (DBVs) as easy-to-obtain, cost-effective animal welfare indicators has continued to grow. This interest has led to publications focusing on the relationship between DBVs and animal welfare. This review compiles 13 papers identified through a systematic literature search to provide an overview of the current state of research on the relationship between DBVs and dairy cow welfare at farm level. The selected papers were examined regarding their definition of animal welfare and classified according to this definition into three categories: (a) papers evaluating DBVs as predictors of animal welfare violations, (b) papers investigating the relationship between DBVs and animal-based measurements, and (c) papers investigating the relationship of DBVs to scores of welfare assessments like the Welfare Quality protocol or to overall welfare scores at farm level. In addition, associations between DBVs and indicators of animal welfare were extracted, grouped by the type of DBV, and examined for replications that may confirm the associations. All the identified studies demonstrated associations between DBVs and animal welfare. Overall, the first indications of a possible suitability of DBVs for predicting herds with animal welfare violations as well as good or poor animal welfare status were given. The evaluation of relationships between DBVs and animal-based measurements (ABMs) found mortality-based DBVs to be frequently associated with ABMs. However, owing to varying definitions of animal welfare, the use of different variants of DBVs, and different methods used to assess DBVs, the studies could only be compared to a limited extent. Future research would benefit from a harmonisation of DBVs and the use of valid measurements that reflect the multidimensionality of welfare. Data sources rarely investigated so far may have the potential to provide additional DBVs that can contribute to the monitoring of cow welfare at farm level.

Effects of Compost-Bedded Pack Barn on Circulating Cortisol and Beta-Endorphins in Dairy Cows: A Case Study.

Simple SummaryManagement and housing conditions have been reported to significantly affect the health and welfare of livestock species. Therefore, the adoption of novel, alternative housing systems (such as the compost-bedded pack barn, developed in the USA) requires extensive research to assess the implications for animal welfare. From a general point of view, animal welfare is typically assessed by means of animal-based (such as blood biochemical markers) and resource-based (such as management practices) indicators. Based on such considerations, the present study evaluated the fluctuation of circulating cortisol and beta-endorphins in dairy cows housed in a conventional freestall barn (FB) and in the alternative compost-bedded pack barn (CB). The results obtained suggest that the CB housing system did not elicit significant changes in either blood cortisol or beta-endorphins.The up-to-date literature suggests that the compost-bedded pack barn housing system is capable of remarkably improving productive and reproductive performance, as well as health status and welfare, in dairy cattle. However, there is currently limited knowledge available on the endocrine and biochemical changes in animals housed in such alternative systems. Therefore, this study aimed to measure blood cortisol (COR) and beta-endorphins (BE) in 22 two-year-old primiparae Fleckvieh cows, who were randomly allotted to the following two different housing systems: CB (n = 11) and FB (n = 11). Blood samples were collected at the beginning of the experiment (T0) and every two months thereafter (T1, T2, and T3). The COR and BE were measured through an immunoenzymatic kit. With the only exception being T0, no differences were observed over time between the two groups, neither for COR nor for BE. However, the blood cortisol levels of the CB cows decreased over time, while a T1 peak was identified in the FB group. On the contrary, both the housing systems displayed numerically higher BE at T3 than at the other experimental times. Therefore, the overall data suggest that the compost-bedded pack barn did not significantly affect the studied parameters. Accordingly, cow welfare should be assessed using a wider panel of animal-based indicators.

Management Factors Influence Animal Welfare and the Correlation to Infectious Diseases in Dairy Cows.

Simple SummaryTo investigate the relationship between some infectious diseases (Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydiophila abortus, Neospora caninum, bovine viral diarrhea virus, and the bovine herpesvirus) and the dairy farms’ welfare scores, 36 dairy farms were monitored using the Italian National Animal Welfare Reference Center (CreNBA) checklist. Farms and their animals were scored in five different areas, namely: Area A, “Farm management and personnel”; Area B, “Facilities and equipment”; Area C, “Animal-based measures”; Area D, “Inspection of microclimatic environmental conditions and alarm systems”; and Area E, “Biosecurity”. The recorded scores were compared between two farming conditions (access to pasture and indoor housing) and correlated with the serum data. Our results indicated that an accurate application of the checklist could be an instrument to prevent and control the spread of infections in dairy farms. The present study assessed dairy cow welfare through the application of the Italian National Animal Welfare Reference Center (CReNBA) checklist in 36 dairy farms located in Ragusa (Italy) subjected to two different management conditions, housing with free access to pasture (Group 1, farms n = 17) and indoor housing (Group 2, farms n = 19). Five areas of investigation were considered: Area A, “Farm management and personnel”; Area B, “Facilities and equipment”; Area C, “Animal-based measures”; Area D, “Inspection of microclimatic environmental conditions and alarm systems”; and Area E, “Biosecurity”. Blood samples were collected by coccygeal venipuncture from all animals (4081 cows). The specific antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydiophila abortus, Neospora caninum, bovine viral diarrhea virus, and the bovine herpesvirus were assessed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) serological test. Group 1 (access to pasture) showed a lower value of percentage score recorded in Area A (p = 0.02) and E (p = 0.01) than Group 2 (indoor housing). Herpesvirus (Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis - IBR - detection of gB antibodies/IBR-gB) blood concentrations were higher in the cows housed indoor versus those with access to pasture (p = 0.01). Farm management and personnel (score A) was correlated with the level of bovine viral diarrhea virus (τ = 0.3754) and bovine-herpesvirus-specific antibodies (IBR-gB) (τ = 0.4159). “Biosecurity” percentage score showed a significant correlation with Chlamydiophila abortus (τ = −0.4621) in the cows with access to pasture and IBR-gB (τ = 0.3435) in the cows housed fully indoors. Group 2 showed a significantly reduced level of antibodies against Neospora caninum. In conclusion, differences in the welfare assessment score were observed in the “Farm management and personnel” and “Biosecurity” between the two management conditions. It had an effect on the prevalence of herpesvirus, which occurred more in cattle with access to pasture. Therefore, an accurate application of the checklist could be an instrument to prevent and control the spread of infections in farms.

Effects of small milking stalls on stress responses in dairy cows during milking in group milking parlors

Milking stall dimensions have not been adapted to the increase in cow body size caused by selection for better milking performance over the past decades. Improper milking stall dimensions might limit cow comfort, could lead to stress responses during milking and thus could negatively affect cow welfare. A crossover study was conducted in an experimental milking parlor that was converted from a herringbone (HB) to a side-by-side (SBS) parlor. The milking stall dimensions were modified in length and width and for HB also in depth (perpendicular distance between rump rail and breast rail). The stall dimensions applied during the experiments ranged from much smaller than common in European dairy farming to much larger. Treatments were applied for 2 wk per milking parlor type. In each milking parlor type, a total of 30 cows, kept in 2 groups were observed during milking for behavioral and physiological stress responses and for milking performance. In addition, milk cortisol levels and somatic cell counts were measured at the end of the 2-wk period. Outcome variables were selected based on a principal component analysis and analyzed using mixed effects models reflecting the experimental design. The results showed that the first cow per milking batch required more time (on average >40 s) to enter very small HB stalls than to enter small, large and very large stalls (<30 s). Also, cows yielded more milk per milking in very small and very large HB stalls than in the small and large milking stall dimensions [very small: 15.8 kg; 95% confidence interval (CI), 14.2-17.4 kg); small: 14.3 kg (95% CI, 12.8-15.9 kg); large: 14.6 kg (95% CI, 13.1-16.1 kg); very large: 16.1 kg (95% CI, 14.6-17.6 kg)]. The other behavioral, physiological and milk flow parameters as well as udder health were not affected by stall dimensions. For the SBS parlor, effects of milking stall dimensions were not detectable in any of the parameters. Despite the strong avoidance behavior to enter the milking parlor (measured as latency), no acute stress responses were found during milking. However, the study cannot exclude long-term effects of narrow stall dimensions on stress levels and possibly udder health, which should be investigated in future studies.

A survey on management and housing of peri-parturient dairy cows and their calves

Housing and management around the time of calving impact dairy cow behaviour, health and welfare, but little is known about current practice. The aim was to provide an overview of current calving practice and the study describes the main calving housing and management based on replies to an online questionnaire by 42 dairy cattle experts in 28 countries, or regions, in Europe, Canada and USA. The survey suggests that in the majority of countries and regions included in this study, dairy cows typically calve in indoor calving facilities; either individual pens, group pens or a system where the cow is moved from a group pen into an adjacent individual pen before calving. Regarding individual calving pens, the survey suggests that in the majority of countries and regions included in this study, most pens have open sides and offer cows no opportunity to isolate, although research shows that a secluded corner of an individual pen creates a preferred calving site. Further, the survey suggests that when cows calve in individual calving pens or tie-stalls, they are often moved there with signs of imminent calving, although research shows that this practice increases the duration of calving and it is recommended to move cows before their expected calving time. Regarding group pens, none of the 42 respondents replied that group pens typically offer cows the opportunity to isolate at calving. Recent research suggests that when cows calve in a secluded area of a group calving pen, this reduces the risk of failure of passive transfer of immunity. Regarding calving facilities where group pens are combined with adjacent individual pens, this was reported to be the most typical in 10 of the 24 countries and regions with indoor calving sections covered by the survey. The same concerns regarding when the cow is moved from the group pen to an individual pen apply, as outlined above. Irrespective of pen type, the most frequently reported surface was deep bedded straw and the most frequent type of separation between pens was open sides. Cow-calf separation within 12 hours of birth, and thereafter individual housing of calves combined with milk feeding via a teat bucket or bar was indicated the most frequent management. The survey presents experts’ evaluations of current practice of housing and management of peri-parturient dairy cows and their calves, and suggests that there is a discrepancy between current calving management and housing and recommendations based on recent research.