Investigating common management practices and natural behaviors of dairy cattle during the transition period.

Abstract

The management of dairy cattle during the transition period can vary greatly from farm to farm. These management practices can have a lasting effect, influencing the dairy cows future productivity, profitability, and their overall welfare. Additionally, some of those management practices often used for dairy cows in the transition period may affect the ability to perform natural behaviors which may induce additional stress. The public has questioned the common practice of separating the calf from the dam shortly after birth. As a result of removing the calf shortly after birth from the dam, it is not completely understood what natural and preferred behaviors dairy cows and calves perform when kept together for extended periods of time. This thesis addresses two main topics of dairy cows during the transition period: 1) the common management practices of transition cows during the 60 d before to 30 d after calving, and 2) maternal behaviors and interactions of cow-calf pairs on pasture during early life. Chapter 2 provides a background for the two topics of this thesis, cow-calf behavior, the behavioral and health effects of cow calf separation, and management practices of dairy cows during the transition period. Chapter 3 explores the natural behaviors of 2 cow-calf pairs kept on pasture with a dynamic group of cows and calves during the first 2 wk of life. Both calves were observed hiding within 8 h after calving and spent a majority of time on d 2 hiding and away from the rest of the herd. Additionally, both calves stayed in proximity to their dam for the majority of d 1. Both calves were observed suckling on d 2 and eating grass, hay, or mineral on d 2. These results indicate that additional research is needed to understand the natural behaviors of cow-calf pairs kept together for an extended period on time in a semi-natural environment. Chapter 4 investigates common management practices including specific pen design and management, cow-calf separation, and disease prevalence of dairy cows during the 60 d before and 30 d after calving on Wisconsin and Minnesota dairy farms. The results indicated that many practices are variable among farms and are often influenced by herd size and lactating cow housing. Additionally, farms commonly entered dairy cows into new pens twice during the transition period and allowed some cow-calf contact (CCC). The survey re-establishes the need for more research focused on best management practices of transition cows. Despite the small number of cow-calf pairs included in the study and the survey only focusing on Wisconsin and Minnesota farms, both of these studies provide insight on dairy cows behavioral preferences and current management practices as well as highlighting an important component of dairy cattle research which needs further attention.