A calving solution where the cow can choose to leave the calf
The aim was to evaluate cow-calf behaviour up to 24 h after calving in a new type of group calving area with individual calving pens. The study was conducted at a private dairy farm with 86 cows of Norwegian Red Cattle kept in cubicle housing with two milking robots. A calving area (8.8×6 m) was bui...
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| Format: | M2 |
| Language: | Inglés Swedish |
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SLU/Dept. of Animal Environment and Health (until 231231)
2015
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| Summary: | The aim was to evaluate cow-calf behaviour up to 24 h after calving in a new type of group calving area with individual calving pens. The study was conducted at a private dairy farm with 86 cows of Norwegian Red Cattle kept in cubicle housing with two milking robots. A calving area (8.8×6 m) was built by separating parts of the cubicle stall to accommodate a calving area. It had two calving pens (3×2.4 m each), four cubicles and a feeding area. Silage and water was supplied in the feeding area, and 3-5 cows were kept in the calving area. Cows were moved to the calving area at least one day prior to calving, and were locked into the calving pen at signs of contractions, and left there for the first 4 h after calving. Cow-calf pairs were filmed continuously during 24 h with two surveillance cameras. The films were scored continuously from hour 4-24 in periods of two hours. Out of 12 cow-calf pairs recorded, 7 were used for descriptive data analysis. All dams left the calving pen on average 12 times (min 5, max 33), and an average total duration of 1 h and 37 minutes (min 30 min, max 3 h 13 min). Each time they were away during a mean of 38 minutes (min 1 min, max 114 min). Six of the cows left the calf while it was lying down, whereas one cow left the calf when it was active in the pen. One calf followed the dam when she backed out of the pen while the calf was suckling. Four of the calves left the calving pen during the observations. Of these, one spent < 6 min in the cubicle area, while one spent < 2 h in the feeding area. All four dams followed the calves out of the pen. One cow only followed the calf 4 out of 6 times, but the calf was never outside her reach. One calf left the calving pen approximately half an hour before the observations started. Contacts between the calf and other cows were recorded for all calves, but 5 of the 7 dams acted aggressively towards other cows. Other cows entered the calving pen of all cow-calf pairs, but the highest score was 5 times. Once a stronger cow entered the calving pen and forced the dam out of the pen for <3 h. In conclusion this new type of calving area functioned well for the calving cows. All cows left the calving pen during the observations, and no calf was seen actively following the dam for a longer period. The open entry to the calving pens led to unwanted disturbances from other cows, and it is necessary to put more research into how to prevent this. The results are promising, but future research on a larger number of cows from different dairy breeds is important. |
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