Rearing dairy beef calves by multiple suckling. 1. Effects of liveweight change, onset of oestrus and post-weaning milk production

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to study the effects of multiple suckling during early lactation on liveweight change, the interval to first postpartum oestrus, and post-weaning milk production of cows. The effects of liveweight change and butterfat production during the first six weeks of lactation on the interval to first postpartum oestrus in milked cows were studied in a fourth experiment. Multiple suckling caused greater liveweight loss in suckled cows during the first six months of lactation and stimulated postweaning milk production in two out of three experiments. Multiple suckling also delayed the onset of first postpartum oestrus. In experiment 4 the correlations of liveweight change and butterfat production with interval to first postpartum oestrus were low and non-significant. As suckled and milked cows received the same nutritional treatment, these results indicated that suckling per se, rather than nutritional effects, was the likely factor responsible for the delay in first postpartum oestrus in multiple suckled cows. A possible relationship between the stimulatory effect of suckling and plane of nutrition, and the application of the multiple suckling system to the dairy farm situation are discussed.