Does Pelleted Starter Feed Restriction and Provision of Total Mixed Ration Ad Libitum during Weaning Influence the Behavior of Dairy Calves?

ABSTRACT: Currently, in dairy farming, there is growing concern for the welfare of calves during the critical period between the separation from their dams and weaning. During weaning, rationed feeding is a practice used to improve feed efficiency and control the calves' growth, but it could also have negative consequences associated with hunger and feed restriction behavior. One such consequence could be the performance by calves of stereotyped behaviors indicative of poor welfare, such as non-nutritive oral behaviors. We hypothesized that making a Total Mixed Ration (TMR) available to calves, in addition to the standard pelleted starter diet, thanks to its structural and nutritional characteristics, could help to focus the oral behavior of the subjects towards nutritional activities and therefore

SUBMITTER: Spina AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11475125 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature