Nutrition in suckling calf rearing
On commercial dairy calf management, calves are typically separated from the dam within the first hours postpartum and housed individually. In nature, the dam finds a secluded area in which to calve, and the neonate remains hidden in shrubs for the first few days after parturition while the dam grazes nearby. During suckling bouts, both calf and dam reciprocally lick and sniff one another. These affiliative behaviors most commonly manifest as the calf sniffing the udder of the dam, and the dam grooming the calf in areas the calf would not otherwise be able to reach. Immediate separation is frequently motivated by an effort to prevent the immunologically naive calf from acquiring pathogens from the dam or calving environment and to control the delivery of colostrum. However, a recent systematic review has found little health-related evidence to support the practice.
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Dairy calf management with dam
Cow-calf managment within the context of the dairy farm environment appears to diversify the behavioral repertoire of calves, permitting higher levels of exploratory behaviors in social tests, including sniffing, mounting, and play-fighting. The range of social behaviors of dam-eared calves has also been shown to be more varied when exposed to an unfamiliar calf, including head butting, rubbing, and tail wagging and other social play. In nature, the dam finds a secluded area in which to calve, and the neonate remains hidden in shrubs for the first few days after parturition while the dam grazes nearby.
During suckling bouts, both calf and dam reciprocally lick and sniff one another. These affiliative behaviors most commonly manifest as the calf sniffing the udder of the dam, and the dam grooming the calf in areas the calf would not otherwise be able to reach. On commercial dairies, calves are typically separated from the dam within the first hours postpartum and housed individual separation calf managment. Immediate separations is frequently motivated by an effort to prevent the immunologically naive calf from acquiring pathogens from the dam or calving environment and to control the delivery of colostrum. However, a recent systematic review has found little health-related evidence to support the practice.
What is the best diet for calf management?
Successful immunoglobulin transfers to newborn dairy calves, which hinges on the timely feeding of sufficient high-quality colostrum, is widely seen as the most important factor in calf management for future calf health and productivity. Difficulties in cow-calf rearing systems have arisen when calves fail to suckle the dam within the first few hours of life. Where the “natural system” is seen to fail, producers may be inclined to think it is their duty to intervene. In the case of colostrum feeding, efforts at for individualized care associated with the current practice of separating the calf from the dam at birth involves feeding colostrum by bottle, bucket, or tube, rather than permitting suckling. Of course, feeding calves colostrum by artificial means is not contingent on dam-calf separation; calves can be fed colostrum while in the presence of the dam.
| Colostrum versus mature milk | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Components | Units | Colostrum | Mature milk | |
| Gross energy | MJ/L | 6 | 2.8 | |
| Immunoglobulin G | g/L | 81 | <2 | |
| Lactoferrin | g/L | 1.84 | Undetectable | |
| Insulin | µg/L | 65 | Undetectable | |
| Glucagon | µg/L | 0.16 | 0.0001 | |
| Prolactin | µg/dL | 280 | 15 | |
| Growth hormone | µg/dL | 1.4 | <1 | |
| IGF-a | µg/dL | 310 | <1 | |
| Leptin | µg/dL | 30 | 4.4 | |
| TGF-a | µg/dL | 210 | <1 | |
| Cortisol | Ng/ml | 1500-4400 | 710 | |
| 17βEstradiol | Ng/ml | 1000-2000 | 10-20 | |
How to milk a fat
Calves nutrition by esophageal tube Abrubt weaning (Dairy Calf Management)
Results of a large-scale study indicate that nearly 94% of calves on US dairy operations are hand-fed colostrum. Dairy Calf Management On these operations, 23.6% of calves are fed by esophageal tube, an increase from the 13.7% reported in 2007. Esophageal tube feeding is more time efficient, but it may increase the risk of aspiration-related complications and cause temporary injury or pain that makes swallowing more difficult; in fact, routine tube feeding of colostrum is controversial in Europe and is even prohibited in several European countries see Some calves (eg, those that do not possess a suckling reflex) may still benefit from tube feeding, but for healthy calves, this method circumvents the opportunity to express natural suckling behavior.
Calf management in individual housing
Individual Housing in calf management In feral cattle, beginning at 4 to 5 days after parturition, the mother rejoins the grazing herd, with distance and time away from the calf gradually increasing as the calf matures (see review by von Keyserlingk and Weary). In turn, the calf begins to spend time interact with conspecifics. The calf engages in a variety of social play behaviors, including frontal pushes, play mounting, and “runs and gambols,” punctuated by short vocalizations Thus, for the dairy calf (but not for the dam), some of the behavioral benefits afforded by dam-rearing may also be realized through other forms of social contact. Compared with individual housing, social housing from birth improves cognition and solid feed intake before weaning and mitigates the effects of weaning and regrouping. Socially reared calves are generally less fearful (reviewed by Bøeand Færevik), which may be viewed as a social buffering effect when in the presence of conspecifics. Neophobic responses are reduced in socially housed calves, and calves are less reactive to being startled. Recent work on pair housing in modified hutches provides a practical, low-cost example of how natural behavior expression can be easily facilitated on commercial calf management Promising research has been conducted into the effects of feeding dairy calves high milk rations.
The amount of milk a calf needs
feeding the calf with low amount of milk
Moreover, as previously discussed, bucket-fed calves remain motivated to suck even when receiving high quantities of milk: calves fed ad libitum by bucket sucked a sham teat 13 minutes per day, compared with 1 minute for calves fed ad libitum by artificial teat. Offering milk byte at versus bucket and providing more regular access to milk in higher volumes can also lead to a reduction in cross-sucking of pen mates (see review by Costa and colleagues). This method of milk allowance is a preferred calf management adaptation for paired or group-raised calves in order to avoid the negative behaviors historically associated with social rearing.
feeding the calf with high amount of milk
Work comparing groups of calves with either ad libitum or restricted access to a milk feeder has shown that restricted-fed calves are more competitive and spend a higher portion of their daily time-budget standing. These calves also spent twice as long at the teat, consuming their full milk meal in a single bout and continuing. to suckle unrewarded, perhaps indicative of both frustration and hunger. When calves are provided continuous access to milk, they consume their milk meals rather randomly,107 reminiscent of suckling bouts in nature.
to suckle unrewarded, perhaps indicative of both frustration and hunger. When calves are provided continuous access to milk, they consume their milk meals rather randomly, 107 reminiscent of suckling bouts in nature.
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What is routine in calf management?
The method of sudden weaning in in calf management
In nature, the calf begins grazing and ruminating at approximately 3 weeks of age. At this time, the calf is still dependent on the dam and older conspecifics for social cues, such as learning to identify a suitable diet. The weaning process in nature is gradual, with calves consuming some quantity of milk from the dam for approximate lymonths. Conversely, commercial calf management typically initiate weaning when calves are 2 months of age, with the entire weaning process lasting several days. Until recently, early provision of forage to dairy calves was considered inadvisable; however, recent findings indicate that providing forage to pre-weaned calves (that are also fed higher milk rations and starter) can improve calf weight gain and gut microbial maturation In commercial calf managment settings, in the absence of the dam, calves may be housed with an older conspecific to promote social facilitation, encourage feeding behavior, and reduce neophobic responses to novel feed. Early and rapid weaning can result in cross-suckling, increased vocalizations, and other signs of hunger, In addition, to raising the weaning age and moving toward a more natural weaning process such gradually reducing the milk volume; see review by Khan and colleagues, the social learning afforded by older pen mates (akin to the diverse social groups formed by feral cattle) may also help mitigate weaning distress.