McFarland David S, McFarland Lorna M, Shaw Darren J, Macrae Alastair I
Division of Farm Animal, Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies and the Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK.
Independent Researcher, Newtownstewart BT78 4LG, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2024 May 23;14(11):1540. doi: 10.3390/ani14111540.
Previous research has indicated that preweaned dairy calves reared in pairs compared with individually have improved performance and indicators of animal welfare. One hundred and thirty Holstein female calves completed the trial, with eighty-five being allocated to paired housing and forty-five calves being allocated to individual housing. Daily live weight gain (DLWG), treatments and mortality were recorded throughout the preweaning period. Salivary cortisol, latency to feed and latency to approach a novel object were assessed at batching. There were no significant differences in DLWG, mortality and disease treatments between the average of the pair and the individually housed calves, although the pair-reared calves were quicker to approach the milk feed after batching and interacted more quickly with a novel object. The heaviest born calves within the pair had the highest DLWG from birth to weaning, with a higher percentage of calves approaching the novel object, compared with the lightest born calf within the pair. This study shows that calves within a pair may have significantly different performance and welfare during the preweaning period, with the heavier calf outperforming and displaying less fear and more exploratory behaviour than the lighter calf within a pair.
先前的研究表明，与单独饲养的犊牛相比，成对饲养的断奶前奶牛犊生长性能更好，动物福利指标更佳。130头荷斯坦雌性犊牛完成了该试验，其中85头被分配到成对饲养栏舍，45头被分配到单独饲养栏舍。在整个断奶前期记录每日增重（DLWG）、处理情况和死亡率。在分组时评估唾液皮质醇水平、采食潜伏期和接近新物体的潜伏期。成对饲养犊牛平均体重与单独饲养犊牛在DLWG、死亡率和疾病处理方面无显著差异，不过成对饲养的犊牛在分组后更快接近喂奶器，并且与新物体互动更快。成对饲养中出生体重最重的犊牛从出生到断奶的DLWG最高，与成对饲养中出生体重最轻的犊牛相比，接近新物体的犊牛比例更高。本研究表明，在断奶前期，成对饲养的犊牛之间生长性能和福利可能存在显著差异，较重的犊牛比成对饲养中较轻的犊牛表现更好，恐惧更少，探索行为更多。
