Welfare Requirements of Dairy Calves

Introduction

Calves are considered as the future dairy herds. The success of dairy enterprise solely depends on the proper management and welfare of dairy calves. Dairy calf management deals with economic rearing of calves to ensure early maturity, reducing calf mortality and improving their welfare. Milk suckling phase is a crucial period in dairy calf’s life, where the calves require extra attention and care in order to increase dairy production. In ideal conditions the calf mortality (up to 1 month) should be below 5% in a dairy farm.  Ensuring and assessing good welfare of calves is an integral part of dairy husbandry management. However, most of dairy farmers have least scientific information about welfare requirements of dairy caves. Calf welfare can be optimized when all the basic minimum welfare needs of the calf is fulfilled including good farm management practices. Knowledge about best animal welfare practices for dairy calves can help us operate at a high standard hence improving health and wellbeing of calves in a holistic way.

Animal Welfare and Five Freedoms  

Animal welfare is defined as how an animal is coping with the condition in which it lives and it encompasses the physical welfare and the mental state of a sentient animal. An animal can be both good and bad state of welfare. An animal is in good state of welfare if it is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour and not suffering from unpleasant/negative states such as pain, fear and distress. It is believed that the basic welfare needs of all farmed animals are fulfilled through these ‘Five Freedoms’:

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst - by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.
2. Freedom from discomfort - by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area
3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease - by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour - by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind.
5. Freedom from fear and distress - by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering. 

Good Animal Welfare Practices for Dairy Calves 

The target of intensive dairy production systems is to achieve high levels of productivity. The knowledge of minimum welfare requirements and good management practices for dairy calves can help us in understanding and addressing animal welfare issues scientifically. 

• Pregnant cow should be shifted to calving pen one week before the expected date of calving. When there is difficulty in parturition the veterinarian must be contacted immediately.
• When the calf is born, the mucous should be removed from the nostrils and mouth and if the calf is not able to respire on its own the hind limbs of the calf is lifted up so that the head is downwards so that the mucous discharges will come out from the lungs, mouth and nose. This is necessary to avoid calf sucking in the mucous and it also facilitates easy breathing.
• The calf should be cleaned either with clean cloth, gunny bag or paddy straw which facilitates not only cleaning of the calf from the mucous but also in blood circulation.
• The navel cord is cut with a clean knife or new blade leaving at least 2 inches from the navel. The contents of the cord are to be gently squeezed with the fingers and then the navel cord is dipped in tincture of iodine for few minutes. Later a knot is tied near the cut end with a clean thread to prevent infections like navel ill, joint ill and calf scours.
• The udder of the cow should be cleaned with mild hot water and wiped with clean cloth. The new born calf should be allowed to suckle its mother within 1 to 2 hours after its birth. Feeding colostrum is very essential as it helps the calf to develop immunity against diseases. Colostrum is rich in nutrients and also contains antibodies IgG and IgM from the cow’s immune system which gives the calf passive resistance against many infections. It will also act as a laxative and helps the calf to pass the first stool (meconium).
• The dairy farmers usually wait for the shed of placenta which may take about 4 to 6 hours for allowing the calf to suckle its mother. The optimum time for absorption of antibodies through the calf’s small intestine is in the first 6 to 8 hours. The quantity of colostrum fed to the calf should be about 10% of its body weight.
• The calf should be shifted to the calf pen which must be well ventilated, dry and clean. In case the dairy farmer wishes to follow weaning, the calf should be separated from its mother immediately after its birth. It is better to avoid the mother seeing the calf. This is easy to follow in crossbred cows. In buffaloes and local cows, it is very difficult to wean the calf once the mother sees the calf, as they have very strong motherly instinct.
• Colostrum must be fed to weaned calves as per the body weight of the calf. In case the colostrum is not available (death of the cow during parturition or disease), the calf should be given artificial colostrum which could be prepared with egg, whole milk and castor oil.
• Whole milk / calf replacer at the rate of 10 % of its body weight must be given to the calves up to 8 to 12 weeks of age. After 12 weeks of age feeding whole milk/ milk replacer can be discontinued.
• Milk should be fed to the calf with a feeding bottle and care should be taken in thoroughly cleaning the bottle and nipple after each feeding.
• Adequate precautionary measures should be taken to prevent navel-ill, diarrhoea (scours) and respiratory infection (pneumonia) in calves which are the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in calves.
• If possible calves should be housed in pairs or groups as this is important for their social development. If they have to be housed singly for example for disease control they should be in close proximity with other calves and they will be able to see each other. This is to avoid the feeling of loneliness to the calf.
• Salt licks must be provided in the calf pen to facilitate the calves licking the salt and thereby avoiding licking walls, floor, other calves etc.
• The calf should be introduced to feeding of succulent green fodder after one week and later start feeding concentrates. Concentrate mixture at the rate of 1 kg per 100 kg of body weight can be offered from the first month. Feeding fodder and concentrates to calves help in their rumen development.
• Clean drinking water must always be available to the calves in the pen.
• Calves can be numbered using an ear-tag or tattoo. Numbering the calves and removal of extra teats if any, should be done in the first few weeks of life. Branding, nose ringing and tail docking should not be done in the calves.
• Disbudding (removal of horn buds) should be avoided. If it is necessary, it should preferably be done within a week and not later than two weeks after birth by a veterinary surgeon/trained person using a hot iron/electric dehorner under anaesthesia and with pain control afterwards.
• Dehorning (removal of horns later in life after they are fully formed) is traumatic and should not be resorted to unless indicated by the veterinarian as in the cases of horn injuries or horn cancer.
• If castration is necessary, it should preferably be done at about one year of age. Pain relief should be applied.
• Weaning from milk should take place at about three to four months of age or when the calf is able to eat enough roughage and concentrate to meet its requirement.
• All necessary interventions must be made to avoid heat and cold stress in young calves.

Conclusion

Optimizing the welfare of the calf during its first few days and weeks of life, through colostrum feeding, nutrition, housing, environment and overall treatment, is hugely important. The good welfare practices will help to assure the five freedoms for the calves and meet their basic needs. This will in turn help the calves to stay happy and express their innate behaviour. Widespread implementation of these practices will improve the productivity, health and welfare of the calves and therefore ensure profitable dairy farming on a sustained basis.

Content Contributors

1. Dr. Rajashree Rath, Ph.D, Livestock Production Management, Institute of Para-Veterinary Science, DUVASU, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
2. Dr. Soumya Dash, Scientist, ICAR-National Institute of Biotic Stress Management, Raipur, Chhattisgarh
3. Dr. Himani Tewari, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, SRS, Bangalore, Karnataka