Lisbeth Mogensen

Long-term Effect of Colostrum Feeding Methods on Behaviour in Female Dairy Calves

The experiment was carried out with 57 female dairy calves (Danish Holstein Friesian) divided into three groups and treated differently during the first four days of life (colostrum period). Treatments were: single box and no contact with the dam (group S0), cow and calf together in a maternity pen and no suckling (C0), and cow and calf together and suckling (C4). In the post-treatment period from day five until the end of their 24th week of lactation, all three groups received the same treatment (tie stalls in winter and pasture in summer). The results from the treatment period showed that calves, which were together with their dams (groups C0 and C4), grew about 100% more per day than calves in group S0. The calves in group S0 were licked less and had the highest duration of non-nutritive sucking on equipment. In the post-treatment period, non-nutritive sucking on equipment was lower in both duration and frequency for group C4 than for the two other groups during the observations on days 21, 42 and 70. ...

EFFECTS OF HOUSING IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS ON OPEN-FIELD AND SOCIAL RESPONSES OF FEMALE DAIRY CALVES

To investigate the effect of social contact during early development on open-field responses and social responses, 80 female dairy calves were housed either in open single pens (SOpen), closed single pens (SClosed), calf-groups (GCalf), or groups of calves and cows (GCow) until 3 months of age. During the first 3 months, the calves were open-field tested at 2 and 10 weeks of age. Calves isolated in closed single pens (SClosed) performed more exploration during the open-field tests at 2 and 10 weeks of age than did calves housed in open single pens (SOpen). During the open-field test after the experimental period at 6 months of age, previously isolated calves (SClosed) had a longer latency to enter an open-field arena, and during a social test at this stage group-reared calves (GCalf and GCow) sniffed and mounted other calves more than calves housed in single pens (SOpen and SClosed). The results suggest that isolation increases the motivation to explore a novel environment, and that housing in groups faci...

Resting and social behaviour of dairy heifers housed in slatted floor pens with different sized bedded lying areas

Abstract The hypothesis that an increase in the straw bedded resting area for group housed heifers would increase synchronization of resting behaviour and decrease aggressive and abnormal behaviour was tested. An experiment was conducted on two Danish commercial dairy farms with 20 Danish Friesian heifers (approximately 400 kg) from November 1994 to April 1995. The experimental pens were constructed on existing slatted floor and contained a total area of 27 m 2 per pen with five heifers in each pen. Three different sizes of lying area (1.8, 2.7 and 3.6 m 2 per heifer) bedded with straw were established in each pen for three consecutive periods of 5 weeks. Resting and social behaviour were recorded using direct observations for 24 h at the end of each 5 week treatment period. The synchronization of resting behaviour was reduced ( P = 0.002) when the heifers were offered 1.8 m 2 bedded lying area per heifer compared with 2.7 or 3.6 m 2 per heifer, and the heifers were more aggressive, as more butting ( P = 0.007) and forcing another heifer to stand up ( P = 0.02) were seen. The frequency of leaning against other heifers was highest ( P = 0.05) at the lowest space allowance in the bedded area. The results indicate that increasing the resting area from 1.8 m 2 to 2.7 or 3.6 m 2 per heifer improved the welfare of group housed dairy heifers.

Potential N-losses in three scenarios for conversion to organic farming in a local area of Denmark

Techniques are needed to investigate whether different strategies for conversion to organic farming might help to reduce N-losses. In this study, an N-balance technique was applied in a local area of Denmark; 25% of this area was designated as environmentally sensitive with special interests to protect groundwater quality. Three scenarios, where 25% of the local area was converted to organic farming, were compared to the present situation with conventional farming. The first two scenarios were conversion to organic dairy and pig production, respectively. The third scenario was conversion of the whole area with special interests in clean groundwater to organic farming, self-sufficient in fodder and fertiliser. Scenario 1 resulted in a lower N-surplus on the dairy farms, but the reduction was too small in order to significantly reduce the N-surplus in either the whole local area or within the area with special interests in clean groundwater. Scenario 2 resulted in an analogous result. In Scenario 3, the N-surplus was reduced significantly within the area with special interests in clean groundwater, but not within the whole local area. The N-surplus reduction from conversion to organic farming was divided into an extensification and a management effect. The extensification effect meant that the lower livestock density in the organic scenarios resulted in lower N-surpluses, due to an exponential relationship between livestock density and N-surplus. The management effect was primarily caused by lower net imports of fodder and fertilisers to the organic farms and the following higher self-sufficiency in fodder. In addition, the distribution of animal manure between the organic farms was more uniform than between the conventional farms and because of the exponential relationship between livestock density and N-surplus, this caused a lower average N-loss potential. We conclude that organic farming can help to reduce potential N-losses in environmentally sensitive areas, but only if the conversion is designed with respect to that aim and takes account of the spatial distribution of farm types present.

Association between resting behaviour and live weight gain in dairy heifers housed in pens with different space allowance and floor type

The hypothesis that daily gain is associated with resting behaviour in heifers is tested in this paper. The test is based on two experiments conducted on Danish commercial dairy farms with Danish Friesian heifers (300–400 kg) in the winter periods. Group size was 5–6 heifers per pen. Experiment A, with 80 heifers, investigated the effect of different space allowances (1.5 or 3.0 m2 per heifer on fully slatted floor) and different floor types (fully slatted or with access to bedding). Experiment B, with 70 heifers, investigated the effect of space allowance in the deep bedding area (1.8; 2.7 and 3.6 m2 resting area per heifer). Data from experiment A showed a tendency towards a positive correlation between lying periods and daily gain for heifers housed on fully slatted floor but not when housed with access to bedding. There tended to be a positive correlation between number of lying periods and daily gain at a low but not at a high space allowance. The data from experiment B showed a tendency towards a positive correlation between lying time and daily gain at a low space allowance in the deep bedding area and not at a high space allowance. Among heifers in the pens with access to bedding in experiment A, it was found that one particular heifer in each of the four pens lay significantly more on the slatted floor and this heifer had an average daily gain which was less than the others.

Effect of space allowance in deep bedding systems on resting behaviour, production, and health of dairy heifers

An experiment was conducted on three Danish commercial dairy farms using 70 Danish Friesian heifers over a period of 141 to 162 days beginning in November. Average body weight of the heifers was 315 kg at the beginning of the experiment. Fourteen experimental pens were established with a flock size of five and different space allowance in the deep bedding area: 1.8, 2.7, and 3.6 m2 resting area per heifer. The total space allowance inclusive of an unstrawed area at the feed manger was 3.6, 4.5, or 5.5 m2 per heifer in herd 1, 3.6 or 4.5 m2 per heifer in herd 3, and 3.0 or 4.9 m2 per heifer in herd 2. Eating space was standardized within pens to 60 cm per animal. Feed was available ad libitum. At 1.8 m2 resting area per heifer, the heifers were unable to synchronize their resting behaviour, and the variance of the daily lying time was higher compared with heifers at 2.7 or 3.6 m2 resting area. None of the heifers were lying on the unstrawed area. Total lying time was not affected by the space allowance of ...

Effect of group composition and feeding system on behaviour, production and health of dairy heifers in deep bedding systems

An experiment was conducted in eight Danish commercial dairy herds, using 168 Danish Friesian heifers for 5 months, from November 1995. Three groups were established in each herd: two small, homogeneous groups (SHom) with five light heifers (130-250 kg) or five heavy heifers (250-380 kg) and one large, heterogeneous group (LHet) with ten light and heavy heifers (130-380 kg). The space allowance per heifer was 4.5 m2 including a 2.7-m2 resting area (deep litter). Four herds were fed restrictive amounts of concentrate per pen and ammonium-treated straw ad libitum (RCS) and four herds were fed one ration of either silage or total mixed ration (TMR) ad libitum (OR). The group composition had no general affect on the live weight gain (LWG). When using the RCS feeding system, the daily LWG in the LHet groups compared with the SHom groups decreased by 95 g for the light heifers, whereas it increased by 31 g for the heavy heifers. The average feed intake was 7% lower in the LHet groups than in the SHom groups (P=...

Concentrate Mixture, Grass Pellets, Fodder Beets, or Barley as Supplements to Silage ad libitum for High-yielding Dairy Cows on Organic Farms

In Denmark, organic feeding is typically based on homegrown feed with a high proportion of roughage. Which crop to grow and use as supplementary feed is investigated in this paper. In three experiments, barley (B) was compared with another type of supplementary feed: a concentrate mixture (C), grass pellets (G), or fodder beets (F). The concentrate mixture resulted in a higher (P=0.002) milk yield (25.9 vs. 23.7 kg), a tendency of a lower (P=0.07) fat content (4.08 vs. 4.25%), and a higher (P=0.006) ECM yield (25.7 vs. 24.1 kg) compared to feeding barley as supplement at the same energy level. Grass pellets resulted in a lower (P=0.01) milk fat content (3.74 vs. 4.07%), a tendency of a lower (P=0.12) protein content (3.14 vs. 3.23%), but no different milk or ECM yield compared to feeding barley as supplement at the same dry matter level. Fodder beet tended to decrease (P=0.12) the milk yield (20.7 vs. 22.0 kg), and the ECM yield (P=0.05) was lower (21.5 vs. 22.9 kg) whereas the composition of the milk was unaffected compared to the total mixed ration with barley.

Long-term Effect of Housing Method during the First Three Months of Life on Human-Animal Relationship in Female Dairy Cattle

The effect of housing during the first three months of life till the end of the first lactation on the human-animal relationship and milk production was examined in an experiment with four treatments of 20 female dairy calves each. For the first 12 weeks of their lives, the calves were housed in either open single pens (SOpen) or closed single pens (SClosed), in groups of five calves (GCalf) or in groups of five cows and calves (GCow). Calves housed in a closed single pen approached humans more than calves housed in an open single pen. There was no difference in the ease of handling. The human-animal relationship was not affected by type of housing. Calves housed in groups of calves and cows sought less human contact, but were not difficult to handle. Milk production was not affected by housing method during early rearing. Therefore, group housing, which allows full socialization with other animals and involves better welfare than individual housing, can be recommended, as no negative effect was found on ...

Organic dairy production based on rapeseed, rapeseed cake or cereals as supplement to silage ad libitum

This experiment presents the effect of 100% organic feed rations grown at an equal area per cow on milk production performance and metabolic responses. A total of 174 Danish Holstein cows were included in two experiments on two commercial organic dairy farms during the winter 2000/2001. Three types of supplementary feed were examined: 5 kg cereals, 3 kg rapeseed/cereal pellet or 1 kg rapeseed cake fed with a mixture of clover grass silage, whole crop silage and grass pellets ad libitum. The supplement of rapeseed/cereal pellet compared with cereals tended to decrease both milk fat and protein content, whereas fat and protein yield were unaffected. Milk yield was increased by supplement of rapeseed/cereal pellet compared with cereals in experiment 1, but unaffected in experiment 2. Consequently, energy corrected milk yield tended to be increased in experiment 1 but decreased in experiment 2. The supplement of rapeseed cake compared with cereals changed neither milk composition nor yield. The risk of subclinical ketosis based on metabolic parameters and other metabolic disorders was not affected by the different feedings.