Reducing weaning stress in beef cattleDerek B. Haley and Joseph M. Stookey
Large Animal Clinical SciencesWestern College of Veterinary
MedicineUniversity of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, SK
INTRODUCTION
Beef cattle are traditionally weaned by the abrupt and permanent separation of cows and calves, which is stressful and dramatically different from the natural weaning process. As a result calves gain less weight and many get sick and need to be treated. Finding ways of reducing weaning stress can help alleviate these problems and improve cattle welfare (Fig. 1).
OBSERVATIONS
Behaviour was observed (12 h/d) during 3 distinct time periods:
BASELINE period, for 4 d before experiment startedNO MILK period, for 4 d two-step calves unable to nurse but
still with their mother, control calves were still nursing
SEPARATE period, for first 4 d after pairs had been separated
General activity of each individual animal was recorded every 10 minutes
Vocalizations by each individual were counted during a 2-minute period, every 10 minutes
RESULTS
Both groups behaved the same during the baseline period.
The only behavioural changes seen in pairs when prevented from nursingwas a slight increase in calling rate and walking by the TWO-STEP group; 2% above baseline (Fig. 6A, 6B).
Behaviour of TWO-STEP pairs was only altered slightly by mother-young separation, which was dramatically different than the response of CONTROL cattle weaned the traditional way (Fig. 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 7C).
CONCLUSIONS
Calves reacted very little when milk was taken away and surprisingly little when subsequently removed from their mother.
Two-step weaning dramatically reduced the behavioural changes associated with weaning distress in both cows and calves.
Traditional methods unnecessarily exacerbate the weaning stress experienced by cows and calves and the two-step procedure reduces weaning stress in beef cattle.
QUESTION
Is stress at weaning the result of calves missing the milk or the mother or both?
Fig.1 At weaning, vocalizations increase dramatically for 4-6 days.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funding for this research was provided by the Saskatchewan Agricultural Development Fund. Thanks to Dr. Jon Watts and Jean Clavelle for their help with observations.
Fig. 2. Anti-sucking device used. Fig. 3. Device fitted on a calf.
Fig. 4. Nursing was prevented. Fig. 5. Calves were still able to graze and be with their mother.
MATERIALS & METHODS
16 cow-calf pairs
Two-step calves wore an anti-sucking device (Fig. 2, Fig. 3), which prevented nursing (Fig. 4) but still allowed them to graze (Fig.5).
8 CONTROL traditionally weaned (see INTRODUCTION)
8 TWO-STEP nursing prevented for 4 days whilepairs were still together [step 1]then cow-calf separation [step 2]
0
5
10
15
20
25
Fig. 7C. Mean (±SEM) distance walked by calves on each of the first 4 days after being separated from their mother.
DIS
TA
NC
E W
ALK
ED
(k
m)
1 2 3 4 DAYS POST WEANING
Fig. 6A and 6B. Mean (±SEM) daily number of vocalizations given by cows and calves based on recorded observations.
NU
MB
ER
O
F
VO
CA
LIZ
ATIO
NS
DAYS OF EACH PERIOD
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
1800
2100
2400BASELINE
all calves nursingNO MILK
half calves nursing
half calves no milk
SEPARATEcow and calf pairs apart
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Fig. 6A - COWS
0
300
600
900
1200
1500
1800
2100
2400
DAYS OF EACH PERIOD
BASELINEall calves nursing
NO MILKhalf calves nursing
half calves no milk
SEPARATEcow and calf pairs apart
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Fig. 6B - CALVES
TWO-STEP cattle called 85% less (Fig 6A, 6B), walked 80% less (Fig. 7A,7B, 7C) and calves spent 25% more time eating (8A, 8B).
Fig. 7A - COWS
TIM
E S
PEN
T W
ALK
ING
(m
in)
Fig. 7A and 7B. Mean (±SEM) time spent walking per day.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
DAYS OF EACH PERIOD
BASELINEall calves nursing
NO MILKhalf calves nursing
half calves no milk
SEPARATEcow and calf pairs apart
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Fig. 7A - COWS
DAYS OF EACH PERIOD
BASELINEall calves nursing
NO MILKhalf calves nursing
half calves no milk
SEPARATEcow and calf pairs apart
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Fig. 7B - CALVES
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0
50
100
150
200
250
300Fig. 8B - CALVESFig. 8A - COWS
TIM
E S
PEN
T E
ATIN
G
(min
)
Fig. 8A and 8B. Mean (±SEM) time spent eating per day, after separation.
1 2 3 4 DAYS POST WEANING
1 2 3 4 DAYS POST WEANING
STATISTICS
Overall treatment effects within each period were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test statistic.
NS P < 0.01 P < 0.01 NS P < 0.01 P < 0.01
NS NSNS P < 0.03 NSNS