The document discusses keeping dairy calves and cows together, including: 1. Alternatives for calf suckling, such as short-term or long-term single/multiple suckling with or without additional milking. 2. Research showing benefits like improved calf welfare, cow health, and milk production when calves are allowed to suckle. 3. Housing and management considerations for different suckling systems in tie-stall, cubicle, or robotic milking housing. Precision technologies may help monitor calves.

1. Future Livestock Buildings – Keeping the
Calf and the Dairy Cow Together
Anders H. Herlin
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences - Sweden

2. Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 2
Contents
1. Background
2. Suckling alternatives
3. Effects
4. Housing and management
5. Discussion – suggestions
6. Conclusions

3. Background
• Remarkable changes in livestock buildings since WW2
– Structure; farm size
– From housing in tie-stalls to cubicles alt. straw yards or
compost packs
– Huge changes in efficiency; logistics and technology –
automation, robotisation, precision livestock farming
– The emerging of ”Factory farming”
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 3

4. Background
Predicting the future of modern milk production?
• The milk sectors’ ability to keep up with societal
changes and values
• Dairy products being attractive for consumers can
include:
– Consumers view on dairy farming practices
– Transparency
– Certification, traceability
– Sustainability issues (environmental, societal, economic)
– Economic pressure on the farmer to sell the milk produced
by the lactating cow
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 4

5. Public perceptions on animal welfare:
The fate of dairy calves
• Separation of cow and calf
• However,
– Criticised by animal rights
groups, animal welfare
advocates, the public?
– Alternative methods promoted
by organic farming community
and likes
– Scientific evidence of benefits
and disadvantages
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 5

6. Examples from past and now
• Somewhere in the domestication process of cattle
humans were able to milk cows, ewes and does,
mare
• With the help of the calf/lamb/kid/foal facilitating the
milk let down
• Sharing the milk with the offspring
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 6

7. Milking the cow/calf pair - then
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 7

8. Milking the cow – calf pair - still
• Salers cattle
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 8

9. Calf suckling alternatives
• Short term single suckling without additional
milking; calves suckle their own mother during the
colostrum period for 24 hours (or shorter) to 4-5
days.
• Long term single suckling with or without
additional milking: the cow is suckled by her calf
the first 6 to 12 weeks.
• Long term multiple suckling without additional
milking. Two or more calves suckle a nurse cow,
for a period of 6 to 12 weeks
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 9

10. Alternatives for the newborn calf
• Immidiate removal of calf
• Temporary – the Cuddle box
– cow licking the newborn
calf, feeding, milking
• Short term suckling for 24
hrs up to 4-5 days
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 10

11. Long-term suckling without additional milking
(review by Krohn 2001)
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 11
• Several experiments with multiple calves
• Milk production:
– Sometimes stimulate subsequent milk production than milking alone
– An increase of up to 20%
• Health;
– Decreased risk of mastitis in the suckling period
– Also for some time after the suckling has been terminated

12. Long-term suckling without additional milking II
(review by Krohn 2001)
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 12
• Calf growth:
– Depends on the cows’ milk production
– Multiple suckling leads to greater individual variation in gain
– Malnutrition or even death
• Behaviour
– Bonding
– Separation after 2-3 months
• Both the cow and the calves will vocalise a lot for some days,
restlessness will increase, activity and feed consumption will
decrease and the cow has to habituate to the milking machine

13. Long-term suckling with additional milking I
(review by Krohn 2001)
• Restricted suckling on a few daily periods of 15±30 min
• Several experiments with multiple calves, some single calf
• Production:
– Suckling and milking during the same period affect the milk
ejection during machine milking
– No effect on subsequent milk production
• Restricted or free suckling systems:
– No clear differences
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 13

14. Long-term suckling with additional milking II
(review by Krohn 2001)
• Health:
– Indication for better udder health, also post-weaning
• Fertility:
– Can increase the post-partum interval until first heat, in
some cases until the end of the suckling period.
– Does not seem to lengthen the calving interval much.
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 14

15. Long-term suckling with additional milking III
• Calf:
– Depends on amount of milk availbale
– Growth rate >1000 g/d found, but greater individual
variation
– More milk intake – less roughage intake and delayed
rumen development
– More productive as a cow
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 15

16. Conclusions on suckling systems I (Krohn 2001)
• Improved welfare of calves than artificial rearing
systems:
– nursed by the mother, - suckle the milk, - learn to eat
roughage earlier, - have social contact with other calves and
cows in a free suckling system, - have space enough to
exercise and play.
• These factors are absent in artificial rearing systems,.
• The cows can carry out natural maternal behaviour, and
will often be housed under less restrictive conditions
than traditional milking herds
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017 Livestock housing : let’s build the future
16

17. Conclusions on suckling systems II (Krohn 2001)
• Separation after 2-3 months, much earlier than under
natural conditions.
• The separation results in restlessness and vocalisation
for some days.
• Separation after a short-term suckling much less
traumatic for either the calf or the cow.
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017 Livestock housing : let’s build the future
17

18. Example
• Biodynamic farm: (Schnieder, 2007)
– Cow/calf pairs 5 days together after parturition in a
“maternity pasture” (with other cows/calf pairs)
– Thereafter cow/calf pair join the rest of the herd on pasture
– Nursing calves are separated out at evening milking,
spends the night together in a bedded pen with hay and
water – cows spend night at pasture
– After morning milking, the cow/calf pairs are rejoined and
so on
– Calves are weaned between eight and ten weeks of age.
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 18

19. Experiences from biodynamic farm
• High growth rate of calves, including development,
learn from mothers, plant nibbeling early on
• Health concerns have been a non-issue
• Time savings on bucket/bottle feeding, a little bit more
work on separation
• “herd dynamics”, maternal behaviour
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 19

20. Housing and management
• Housing alternatives:
– Tie-stall housing
– Cubicle housing
– Straw bed / Compost pack
• Suckling – single or multiple calves per cow
– Free
– Restricted
• Milking system
– Conventional milking (in tie-stalls or parlour)
– Robotic milking
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 20

21. Tie-stall housing
• Restricted or un-
restricted suckling
• Prevent calves enter
the manger
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 21

22. Cubicle/Deep litter/Compost pack housing
• Not much different from suckler beef cow housing
• Separate calf area
• Floor concerns: multiple scraping or smaller slots
• Separation of cows/calves at milking or more if
restricted suckling
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 22

23. Application in robotic milking
• Automatic calf separation/access to suckling by use
of smart gates to and from the calf area
• Calf get access to the cow after milking
• For the Salers cows, a calf compartment beside the
milking box can be designed….
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 23

24. Concerns - calf surveillance
• Precision Livestock Farming technologies to be used
to monitor calf performance, behaviour and health
– Ensure feed intake, sensors which:
• Captures suckling
• Captures the onset of rumination
– Health:
• Automatic on-line body temperature
• Behaviour - activity
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 24

25. Conclusions
• Maybe more demand for milk from cows where calfs
spend significant time with their mothers – at least in
some market segments
• Not much production is lost
• Restrictive suckling and milking seems to be less
appealing, but then not every cow will have her ”calf..”
as the high milk production in early lactation requires
multiple calves per cow
• New technologies are promising to be adopted for this
purpose
Lille – February 22nd, 23rd, 24th 2017
Livestock housing : let’s build the future 25