Satu Raussi

Human–cattle interactions in group housing

Abstract In traditional European tie stall barns the stockperson has close interaction with the cattle several times a day. New barns are, however, mostly loose housing units where the animals are group housed and normally have space to evade people. As group housed cattle can be less habituated to humans, they may be more difficult to handle compared to individually housed and they may become fearful of people. Fear is a negative feeling and continuous fear causes stress. That is why cattle should not be fearful of humans. Fear of humans can be avoided with positive human contact, which is especially effective to young calves. However, regularity of positive interactions is also important. The number of cattle per farm is increasing in Europe. The farmer is, therefore, facing the question of how to manage all the work at the farm. Professional stockpeople are difficult to find and the labour is expensive compared to the price of milk or meat. Technology could be a solution to these problems. This situation will lead to reduced human–cattle interactions and increased cattle–machine interactions. Thus, in modern European cattle husbandry, the time to individual handling and care of cattle will diminish, despite the fact that the individual care has been highly valued. The question is also, do we need individual handling of cattle or should we instead develop group handling methods. Cattle do not necessarily want to interact with humans apart from the situation when people offer them something to eat. A group of cattle is also known to alleviate the stress experiences of its members. If the welfare of cattle is to be secured, a need for individual care will remain. Absolutely reliable automatic instruments for health detection of cows have not existed until now and thus, the stockperson has had to identify individual cows from the group. Human–cattle interaction studies are mainly done with individually housed animals. Therefore, the effect of group housing and group size on human–cattle interactions needs to be studied.

The formation of preferential relationships at early age in cattle.

Calves can develop long-lasting social relationships with peers. We examined the strength of the relationships between calves according to the time they had been together. Twenty-four female dairy calves were assigned to six groups of four animals (Type-1 partners) at 0.5 month of age. At 3.5 months of age, they were mixed with other calves (Type-2 partners) to form groups of 14. Type-3 partners were calves added to the experimental groups after 5.25 months. The calves stayed together until 1.5 years of age. Social preferences between the three partner types were examined in a Y-maze, and the position and activity of animals in the barn and pasture were followed in three periods. Behavioural synchrony, distance between animals, proximity and nearest neighbour were analysed. The calves more frequently butted Type-3 than Type-1 partners in the Y-maze (P<0.05). They spent more time in proximity to Type-1 partners, and these were more often the nearest neighbours than other partners (P<0.001). Synchrony and distance between animals were greater at pasture than in the barn (P<0.01). Calves seem to form preferential relationships before 3.5 months of age. Keeping cattle together from an early age seems beneficial for them.

Five or eight weeks of restricted suckling: influence on dairy calves’ feed intake, growth and suckling behaviour

Abstract Concern about welfare and behavioural needs of animals has increased the interest in keeping calf and cow together after parturition. In this experiment six calves suckled their dams twice a day for five weeks then once a day for three weeks (DAM8). Six calves (DAM5) suckled during five weeks in the same way as calves in DAM8 and were then abruptly weaned. Six calves (TEAT8) were fed the same amount of milk from teat buckets as DAM8. Consumption of dry feed by all calves was low at the age of five weeks. Consequently, the calves abruptly weaned at the age of five weeks lost weight after weaning. Nursing times were quite similar (about 20 min) during the entire suckling period. However, reducing suckling from twice a day to once a day at the age of five weeks increased the frequency of teat changing. In conclusion, total weaning at the age of five weeks from high milk allowance seems not recommendable. Five weeks of twice a day suckling followed by three weeks of once a day suckling is likely to reduce the decline in energy intake and growth following weaning.

Sublingual administration of detomidine to calves prior to disbudding: a comparison with the intravenous route

Objective To study the effects of oromucosal detomidine gel administered sublingually to calves prior to disbudding, and to compare its efficacy with intravenously (IV) administered detomidine. Study design Randomised, prospective clinical study. Animals Twenty dairy calves aged 12.4 ± 4.4days (mean ± SD), weight 50.5 ± 9.0 kg. Methods Detomidine at 80 μg kg−1 was administered to ten calves sublingually (GEL) and at 30 μg kg−1 to ten control calves IV (V. jugularis). Meloxicam (0.5 mg kg−1) and local anaesthetic (lidocaine 3 mg kg−1) were administered before heat cauterization of horn buds. Heart rate (HR), body temperature and clinical sedation were monitored over 240 minutes. Blood was collected from the V. cephalica during the same period for drug concentration analysis. Pharmacokinetic variables were calculated from the plasma detomidine concentration-time data using non-compartmental methods. Statistical analyses compared routes of administration by Students t-test and linear mixed models as relevant. Results The maximum plasma detomidine concentration after GEL was 2.1 ± 1.2 ng mL−1 (mean ±SD) and the time of maximum concentration was 66.0 ± 36.9 minutes. The bioavailability of detomidine was approximately 34% with GEL. Similar sedation scores were reached in both groups after administration of detomidine, but maximal sedation was reached earlier in the IV group (10 minutes) than in the GEL group (40 minutes). HR was lower after IV than GEL from 5 to 10 minutes after administration. All animals were adequately sedated, and we were able to administer local anaesthetic without resistance to all of the calves before disbudding. Conclusions and clinical relevance Oromucosally administered detomidine is an effective sedative agent for calves prior to disbudding.