Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The transition from the dry period to early lactation is the most metabolically challenging phase for dairy cows, during which sufficient feed intake is essential to support the following lactation and reduce the risk of metabolic disorders. Standard practice is to separate the calf from its mother after birth, but by keeping the calf after parturition, behavioural priorities of the cow may differ compared to cows without the calves, by increasing care taking behaviours. So far, no research has been done in this area, and the aim of this study was therefore to investigate if cow-calf contact (CCC) affected the cow’s behavioural priorities related to feeding and resting, as well as dry matter intake (DMI), energy intake, and feed sorting in dairy cows in the first days postpartum. Data were collected from 19 Swedish Holstein (SH) and 22 Swedish Red Breed (SRB) dairy cows that were randomly allocated to either long contact (LC, n=20) or short contact (SC, calf separated approx. 12 h after birth, n= 21). Behavioural data (n = 37) was evaluated from video recordings using 5 minutes scan sampling for 3h followed by 1h pause for 48h after parturition for 2 discrete interval periods: interval A (0-7h postpartum) when all cows had contact with their calf and interval B (with 3 focus periods: B1=13-23h, B2=25-35h and B3=37-47h postpartum) when calves had been removed from SC cows. Feed data (n = 39) included total feed intake and feed sorting over the first 2 days of lactation. There were no differences in cow or calf behaviour between the treatment groups during the first 7 h postpartum. However, significant effects of breed were shown in feeding time (p<0.05), with SH spending more time than SRB on feeding (9.4 and 7.6 % of the 7 hours, respectively). Also, a tendency for effect of breed was found for standing and lying (p>0.05) where SRB spent more time standing (60 %) and less time laying down (40 %), compared to SH (53 % standing, 47 % lying). During time interval B, a significant interaction was shown between treatment and interval (p<0.05). Post hoc analysis showed that LC cows increased their eating behaviour from interval B1 to interval B2, compared to SC cows which decreased their eating behaviour between these intervals (p<0.05). However, there was a strong tendency (p = 0.0516) for SC to increase rumination time from interval B1 to B2, whereas rumination time did not change in LC cows between B1 and B2. Furthermore, in B2 there was a significant effect of breed (p <0.05) with SH spending more time on feeding (20 %) than to SRB (16 %). There was a significant effect of parity and day for both DMI (p <0.0001, and p <0.05) and energy intake (p <0.0001, and p <0.05 respectively), where multiparous cows and observation day 2 had higher DMI and energy intake than primiparous cows. Feed sorting was not affected by treatment. These results showed that primiparous cows spent more time standing (57 %) compared to multiparous cows (44 %), and that SH spent more time feeding (20 %) compared to SRB (16 %). Also, DMI and energy intake showed significant results for parity and day, while there was a tendency for more sorting in lower parity cows. In conclusion, CCC did not affect behavioural priorities or feed intake negatively.