EFFECT OF MOTHER BONDED REARING ON GROWTH, HEALTH, BEHAVIOUR AND WELFARE OF MURRAH BUFFALO CALVES
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Date
2021
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
ICAR-NDRI, KARNAL
Abstract
Mother-calf contact during early calfhood stage of rearing is not well practiced in
commercial dairy farms. Deprivation of this bond with restricted or no contact of calf
with its mother affects calf’s emotional state and welfare. To investigate the effect of
mother bonded rearing on growth, health, behaviour and welfare of Murrah buffalo
calves this research was carried out. For this, 24 Murrah buffalo calves immediately
after birth were taken from LRC of ICAR-NDRI, Karnal, India. For this, 3 groups of
mother-calf contacts of 8 calves each were formed, i.e Full Mother Contact (FMC),
Restricted Mother Contact (RMC) and No Mother Contact (NMC). Calves of FMC
group were kept with their dams for 0-5 days with free choice colostrum intake, after
5 days they were kept in contact with their dams for 24 hrs through fenceline and
were allowed suckling during morning and evening milking. The calves of RMC were
fed colostrum and milk during 0-5 days and thereafter in suckling were allowed
during morning and evening milking, and were housed separately from their mothers.
In NMC group, calves were separated immediately after birth from their mothers and
fed colostrum and milk with bottle in morning and evening, throughout the
experiment. Each calf was monitored for its growth, health, behavioural response
during the experiment by daily observation and CCTV recording. The results showed,
ADG of calves with FMC was higher (P<0.05) compared to RMC and FMC
(0.61±0.06 vs. 0.53±0.06 vs. 0.51±0.08). Diarrhoea score was higher (P<0.05) in
NMC (2.75±0.25) compared to FMC (1.50±0.18). EPG in faeces was higher (P<0.05)
in NMC (141.60± 16.86) compared to FMC and RMC (29.10± 8.69, 45.80± 8.76)
calves. Time (min) spent on cross-sucking and licking inanimate objects was more
(P<0.05) in NMC followed by RMC and FMC. Cortisol level was lower (P<0.05) in
FMC followed by RMC and NMC, IgG level was higher (P<0.05) in FMC followed
by RMC and NMC calves (20.72±0.47 vs. 17.04±0.23 vs. 15.09±0.31). Response on
exposure to novel object was better (P<0.05) in FMC followed by RMC and then
NMC group. From this study it can be concluded that calves in fenceline contact with
their mothers have performed better in growth, health, behavioural responses and
coping ability compared to restricted and no mother contact. Therefore, buffalo calf
should not be weaned/separated from its mother for better performance and welfare.