Comparison of suckling and artificial rearing on calf growth and milk requirements in pastoral dairy systems

Racheal H. Bryant; Paige Beckett; Lucas Tey; Riki Burgess; Jeffery Curtis; Axel Heiser; Sally-Anne Turner; Alison J. Hodgkinson

doi:10.1071/AN24299

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Next Contents Vol 64(16)

Comparison of suckling and artificial rearing on calf growth and milk requirements in pastoral dairy systems

Racheal H. Bryant

^A ^* , Paige Beckett ^A , Lucas Tey ^A , Riki Burgess ^A , Jeffery Curtis ^A , Axel Heiser ^B , Sally-Anne Turner ^C and Alison J. Hodgkinson

^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Lincoln University, PO Box 85084, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand.

^B AgResearch, Grasslands Research Centre, Tennent Drive, Palmerston North 4410, New Zealand.

^C Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd, PO Box 9045, Hamilton 3200, New Zealand.

^* Correspondence to: racheal.bryant@lincoln.ac.nz

Handling Editor: James Hills

Animal Production Science 64, AN24299 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN24299

Submitted: 18 September 2024 Accepted: 24 October 2024 Published: 7 November 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Dairy calf-rearing practises have the potential to influence profitability through milk requirements at rearing, and affect lifetime productivity and market access from an animal-welfare perspective.

Aims

The aim of this research was to compare calf growth and milk requirements by using conventional artificial rearing (AR) and restricted milk allocation with AR and high milk allocation or suckled calves.

Methods

Forty-five Friesian × Jersey calves were allocated to be either AR on 6 L/calf.day, (ARC) or 12 L/calf.day, (ARH), or suckled with dams in a cow–calf contact system using partial contact (15 h/day, CCC). AR calves were fed, and intake measured, using an automatic feeder, whereas CCC calves had access to their dams between 1500 hours and 0600 hours. Calves were transitioned off milk, once they reached at least 75 kg liveweight (LW), by gradually reducing their milk allocation (AR) or reducing access to their dam (CCC).

Key results

Milk consumption for ARH was greater than for ARC calves (382 vs 450 L/calf, P < 0.05), whereas for CCC calves milk-yield difference between dams for the control and suckling groups during the suckling period and over the full season was 706 and 1048 L/cow respectively. There was no difference in weaning weight of calves (87 ± 1.7 kg LW), but, owing to differences in pre-weaning growth rate, age to weaning was youngest (P < 0.05) for CCC (55 days), followed by ARH (62 days) and ARC (73 days). Respective growth rates between birth and weaning (P < 0.001) for CCC, ARH and ARC calves were 0.955, 0.873 and 0.755 ± 0.028 kg/day. Although there was a growth check among CCC calves during the weaning period, there were no post-weaning differences in growth rate among the groups.

Conclusions

Increasing milk allowance had the benefit of improving calf pre-weaning growth rate, giving the option of weaning calves either earlier or when heavier. However, milk yield losses under suckling systems may be too high to warrant the elevated pre-weaning growth of calves.

Implications

The costs–benefits of high milk allocation or suckling systems need to be ascertained over the lifetime of the animals to assess long-term survival and productivity outcomes.

Keywords: health, immunity, live weight, milk flow rate, milk yield, natural rearing, nursing, separation, vaccine response.

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