Play and social behaviour of calves with or without access to their dam and other cows
Waiblinger et al.; Austria and Germany
This study aimed to compare play behaviour and social interactions of dairy calves either separated from their mother and reared in a calf group (Artificial) or with access to their mother and the cow herd (cow-calf contact (CCC): Contact). It was hypothesised that calves with CCC would both show more play behaviour and encounter more social interactions.
Today, dairy calves are usually separated from their mother shortly after birth and reared artificially, housed singly or in groups with similar age and the same sex. Systems allowing calves access not only to peers but also to their dam and other cows (cow-calf contact, CCC) offer a more complex social environment resembling the natural social structure better. This early social environment affects welfare, social behaviour and challenge response both in the short and long-term (Wagner et al., 2012, 2013, 2015; Buchli et al., 2017).
Contact calves had access to a calf area and also to the cow barn where they could suckle their dam. Artificial calves were fed whole milk up to 16 kg per day via an automatic milk feeder and were only kept in the calf area. Animals were observed for 3 days during the first three months of life.
Contact calves showed solitary play, consisting predominantly of locomotor play, for longer than Artificial calves and mainly in the cow barn. This indicates higher welfare in Contact calves.
Artificial calves hardly experienced any agonistic interaction, while Contact calves both initiated and received agonistic interactions, which might contribute to the development of higher social competence.