This chapter concerns the lives of calves from organic dairy farms. It opens with a description of management of calves under organic farming conditions. Next, cow-calf contact (CCC) during the milk feed period is described, followed by a section on non-replacement calves born in organic dairy herds.

In commercial dairy farming, the majority of cows are dehorned or genetically hornless. It is argued that this reduces the risk of injurious and stressful social conflicts. On the other hand, in horned herds, management and housing may be better adapted to the cows, e.g. by avoiding changes in herd structure or by providing more space and resources, which would contribute to reducing stress. This cross-sectional study with 12 horned and 13 hornless organic dairy herds in loose housing aimed to explore the effect of horn status on faecal cortisol metabolites (FCMs) as an indicator for the cows' stress level while taking into account possible differences in the farms' compliance with management and housing recommendations for reducing social conflicts. Repeated faecal samples were collected from 674 cows (n = 2 625 samples), and FCMs were analysed by enzyme immunoassay. A total of 22 housing and management factors relating to guideline recommendations were recorded. Each factor was categorised as compliant, partly compliant, or non-compliant, and percentages of housing, management, and overall compliance were calculated. There was a wide variation in overall compliance between farms, ranging from 20 to 93%. Housing and management compliance correlated positively (rs = 0.62) and farms with horned cows complied with more recommendations (median: 60 vs 48%). A linear mixed model was calculated with the fixed effects of horn status, overall compliance, and their interaction. Cow was nested within herd as a random effect, and days in milk and time of sampling were included as covariates. FCM levels were not higher in horned compared to hornless herds. However, contrary to expectations, no associations with compliance were found. More knowledge is needed about the extent to which FCM levels reflect social stress and whether individual housing or management factors may be particularly important in reducing stress. (c) 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The animal Consortium. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Prolonged cow-calf contact (CCC) is of growing importance to the dairy sector due to increasing societal interest, implementation of CCC on farms, and research efforts. Incorporating CCC into dairy systems may be a polarizing change for academics and farmers. However, by considering the challenges with curiosity, including those mutual to CCC and non-CCC systems, there may be an opportunity to collectively improve the management of dairy animals. The aim of this review was to describe current issues and constraints in CCC, propose opportunities to advance knowledge of CCC, and inspire forward-thinking questions for dairy systems. There are known challenges for CCC implementation, such as research reproducibility (e.g., suitable controls, validity types) and on-farm application (e.g., farmer perspectives, policies, and corporate standards). To facilitate practical solutions for farmers wanting to adopt CCC we need research describing the effects of CCC systems on animal health and behavior. Already researchers have begun to explore cow and calf performance and health, methods for decreasing stress at weaning and separation (e.g., duration of contact, gradual weaning), foster cows, and opportunities for positive animal welfare in CCC systems (e.g., affiliative and play behavior). However, because dairying takes place in a complex system, changes may affect different facets of the system's sustainability. We suggest that the development of CCC systems should happen in dialog with stakeholders. Cow-calf contact is an uncommon practice in dairy systems and exists in different contexts; thus, there are many questions to address before advice can be given to interested dairy stakeholders. Perhaps, these CCC-related questions are an invitation to contemplate how we want dairy systems to look like in 30 years.

IntroductionWhile early separation of dairy calves after birth has been debated from an ethical and animal welfare lens, the economic evidence surrounding alternative cow-calf contact (CCC) systems is scarce.MethodsTo address this knowledge gap, we assessed the economic consequences of CCC systems using data from the Agriwise database as well as parameters from published literature in a stochastic partial budget model. The implementation of CCC is very diverse between farms, so in our study we therefore selected a limited number of CCC systems to assess. The examined CCC systems were: (i) dam rearing with limited contact at milking (15 minutes twice a day for 115 days) with no manual milk feeding; (ii) dam rearing with 21-day full contact, after which calves are manually fed 8 kg of whole milk for 94 days; and (iii) mixed calf rearing with using both dams and foster cows with full contact; calves are initially kept with their dams and then moved to foster cows at 9 days of age.ResultsWe found that adoption of CCC systems was associated with decreases in contribution margins in the range of 1 to 5.4%, as compared to a rearing system where the calves were separated from their dams after one day and were manually fed 8 kg of milk for 12 weeks. These results illustrated that the costs associated with CCC systems may be fairly high under certain circumstances and may prohibit farmers from adopting this practice. Sensitivity analysis suggested that differences in milk sales, assumptions on changes in labor requirements, and changes in daily calf weight gain depending on CCC system were the main variables that governed the net impact on the contribution margins.DiscussionWe did not include building costs in the analyses assuming that barn structures may not change in the short-term. The study focused only on short-term pecuniary associations between changes in CCC systems and contribution margins. To strengthen the economic decision-making around CCC systems, future research should consider non-monetary impacts of different CCC systems, as well as long-term economic impacts of these production strategies.

Although it is still most common to rear dairy calves separately from adult cattle, the interest in pro-longed contact between dairy calves and lactating cows during early life is increasing. Previous research has documented positive effects of cow-calf contact (CCC) on for example early calf growth and udder health of suckled cows, but also negative effects such as increased separation distress and reduced weight gains after weaning. The aim of this study was to use information from European farms with prolonged cow-calf contact to identify innovative solutions to common challenges for CCC farms. Commercial dairy farms that kept calves with adult lactating cows for seven days or more after birth were invited to participate, and interviews were performed with 104 farmers from six countries. During interviews, information about farm management, calf rearing, farmers' perception of animal health on their farm, and farmers' drivers and barriers for implementing CCC were collected. We found that CCC was practised in a large variety of housing and management systems, and that calves could be reared together with their dam, with foster cows, or using a combination of the two. The contact period varied considerably (7-305 days) between farms and about 25% of the farms manually milk fed the calves during parts of the milk feeding period. Daily contact time varied between farms, from 30 minutes per day to permanent contact except at milking. Behaviours indicative of separation distress, most commonly vocalisation in cows and calves, were reported by 87% of the farmers. Strategies to alleviate separation distress, for example simultaneous gradual weaning and separation, were used on some farms. Building constraints were most often mentioned as a barrier for implementing CCC. Our findings suggest that CCC is practised in a variety of commonly used husbandry systems. Reported challenges were primarily related to weaning and separation, and to building constraints; these aspects should be areas of future research.@2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Animal Consortium. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

The affective state is an integrated aspect of farm animal welfare, which is understood as the animals’ perception of their living environment and of their internal biological functioning. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore animal-internal and external factors potentially influencing dairy cows’ affective state. For this purpose, qualitative behavior assessments (QBA) describing the animals’ body language were applied at herd level on 25 dairy farms. By means of principal component analysis (PCA), scores of PC1 (QBAscores) were determined for further analyses. From monthly milk recordings (MR) one year retrospectively, prevalences of udder and metabolic health impairments were calculated. Factors of housing, management, and human-animal contact were recorded via interviews and observations. A multivariable regression was calculated following a univariable preselection of factors. No associations were found between MR indicators and QBAscores. However, more positive QBAscores were associated with bedded cubicles or straw yards compared to raised cubicles, increased voluntary stockperson contact with the cows, and fixation of cows during main feeding times, the latter contributing to the explanatory model, but not being significant. These results underline the importance of lying comfort, positive human-animal relationship and reduction of competition during feeding for the well-being of dairy cows.

Experimental studies have shown positive welfare effects of enhanced milk feeding of calves. However, there is limited evidence from studies carried out under commercial management conditions including organic farming with a prolonged whole milk feeding period. In a multi-farm study, we investigated effects of an increased level of milk feeding (10-12 l/d, estimates 14-16% of the calves' body weight, 'MilkPlus' (MP)) compared to the still widespread restricted milk feeding (6-8 l/d, estimates 10-12% of body weight, 'Control' (C)) between weeks 3-13 of life. In total 111 female calves were alternatingly allocated to the treatments MP or C on each of the 10 dairy farms (nine certified organic, one near-organic) in Austria (Fleckvieh; 4 farms) or Germany (Holstein Friesian; 6 farms) that originally applied restricted milk provision by bucket-feeding. Data were recorded during the milk feeding period in weeks of life 3/4, 7/8, 11/12 ( +/- 2 days) as well as after weaning in week 15/16. It comprised welfare measures relating to behaviour, observed from video-recordings (manipulating other calves, manipulating objects, vocalisation, duration of contact with solid feed; observation time: 320 min per day distributed over 16 h), to health (clinical scoring), and to performance (weight gain). MP calves tended to have higher body weights at the end of the milk feeding period (weeks of life 11/12: MP 111.0 kg, C 104.4 kg) and shortly after weaning (weeks of life 15/16: MP 138.7 kg, C 131.1 kg; pgroup*time point =0.095) and had higher daily weight gains during the milk feeding period (week 3/4-7/8: MP 939 g/d, C 818 g/d; week 7/8-11/12: MP 1082 g/d, C 956 g/d; p = 0.025). C calves manipulated other calves more frequently only in week 3/4 (MP 2.6, C 4.5 times per 320 min, p < 0.001). Clinical health and manipulation of objects showed no association to milk amounts, but the latter decreased when feeding duration of solid feed increased (p < 0.001). C calves spent more time with solid feed during the milk feeding period (week 7/8: MP 9.8% of observed time, C 12.0%, week 11/12: MP 14.4%, C 17.7%; p = 0.008). MP calves vocalised more after weaning (MP 1.6, C 0.5 times per 320 min, p < 0.001), though time spent with solid feed and weight gain (MP 983 g/d, C 995 g/d) were then similar between treatments. We conclude that twice-daily (teat-)bucket feeding of enhanced milk amounts under commercial organic or nearorganic conditions had limited positive welfare effects.

Im Fokus des Projektes mit Partnern aus 8 Landern (AT, CH, DE, FR, PL, SE, SI) stand, verschiedene naturliche Futterungssysteme fur Kalber, Jungvieh und Milchkuhe unter den okologischen Produktionsbedingungen in den beteiligten Landern zusammenzutragen und hinsichtlich moglicher Tierwohl-Verbesserungen zu prufen. Deutschland (DE) war an folgenden Teilprojekten beteiligt: Evaluation verschiedener kuhgebundener Kalberaufzuchtsysteme in der Milchviehhaltung: In DE und funf weiteren Landern konnte eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Losungen zur kuhgebundenen Kalberaufzucht mit Muttern und/oder Ammen sowie mit unterschiedlichen Kuh-Kalb-Kontaktzeiten identifiziert werden. Es zeigte sich, dass vor allem das Trennen und Absetzen der Kalber eine wesentliche Managementherausforderung ist, um Stress und Trennungsschmerz fur die Tiere zu reduzieren. Eine Hurde zur Umsetzung konnen auch stallbauliche Herausforderungen sein. Wesentliche Motivationen fur die kuhgebundene Aufzucht sind die Kalbergesundheit und die „Naturlichkeit“ dieses Aufzuchtsystems. Effekte erhohter Milchtrankemengen auf Gewichtsentwicklung und Tierwohl von Bio- Aufzuchtkalbern: Eine Trankemenge von zweimal taglich ca. 5 l im Vergleich zu einer restriktiven Vollmilchtranke von ca. 3-3,5 l Milch pro Mahlzeit am Nuckeleimer wirkte sich positiv auf die Wachstumsentwicklung der Kalber aus, zeigte aber nur geringe Effekte auf das Verhalten der Kalber und keine Auswirkungen auf die Kalbergesundheit. Effekte einer silagefreien Gras- und Heufutterung auf die Gesundheit und Leistung von Milchkuhen: Silagefreie Futterung erreicht mit einem geringeren Kraftfuttereinsatz vergleichbare Milchleistungen wie die Futterung inklusive Silage. Dies in Kombination mit hoheren Eiweisgehalten in der Milch weist auf eine gute Heuqualitat und eine gute Verdaulichkeit hin. Bezuglich der Gesundheit wurden keine klaren Ergebnisse gefunden. Es gab aber Hinweise auf ein erhohtes Azidose- und ein geringeres Ketoserisiko bei silagefreier Futterung.

Worauf muss ich beim Stallbau achten? Wie werden die Kalber abgesetzt? Welches System passt zu meinem Betrieb? Welche Kuhe eignen sich als Ammen Interessierte Landwirt*innen konnen sich in den drei online Seminaren uber unterschiedliche Aspekte der kuhgebundenen Kalberaufzucht informieren. Silvia Ivemeyer und Christel Simantke (Uni Kassel, Witzenhausen) werden jeweils in einem kurzen Vortrag einen Uberblick uber das Thema geben. Anschliesend stellen drei Landwirt*innen vor, wie sie die kuhgebundene Kalberaufzucht auf ihren Betrieben konkret umsetzen. Es gibt wahrend des Seminars zudem viel Raum fur Erfahrungsaustausch und Fragen.

Worauf muss ich beim Stallbau achten? Wie werden die Kalber abgesetzt? Welches System passt zu meinem Betrieb? Welche Kuhe eignen sich als Ammen Interessierte Landwirt*innen konnen sich in den drei online Seminaren uber unterschiedliche Aspekte der kuhgebundenen Kalberaufzucht informieren. Silvia Ivemeyer und Christel Simantke (Uni Kassel, Witzenhausen) werden jeweils in einem kurzen Vortrag einen Uberblick uber das Thema geben. Anschliesend stellen drei Landwirt*innen vor, wie sie die kuhgebundene Kalberaufzucht auf ihren Betrieben konkret umsetzen. Es gibt wahrend des Seminars zudem viel Raum fur Erfahrungsaustausch und Fragen.

Within the Core Organic Cofund project ProYoungStock, an experimental multi-site study was performed to investigate the effects of an increased level of milk feeding (10-12 l/d, ≈ 14-16% milk per body weight, enhanced milk feeding, EMF) compared to common milk feeding (6-8 l/d, ≈ 10-12% milk per body weight, restricted milk feeding, RMF). Data from 10 organic dairy farms, originally applying RMF by bucket-feeding in Austria (dual-purpose breed Fleckvieh; 4 farms) or Germany (Holstein Friesian, partly crossed with other dairy breeds; 6 farms) were analysed concerning calf welfare including health. Per farm, 6-14 female rearing calves were randomly allocated to the two feeding treatments RMF and EMF, which were applied over the milk feeding period of 13 weeks. Assessments of welfare were carried out during the milk feeding period in weeks of life 3/4, 7/8, 11/12 (±2 days) as well as after weaning in about week 15/16. Farm visits took place from October 2018 to April 2020. Welfare measures related to behaviour, observed from video recordings (manipulating other calves, manipulating objects, vocalization, duration of feeding solid feed), to health (clinical scoring during farm visits), and to performance (weight gain). Preliminary results showed that EMF led to higher weights and daily weight gains in rearing calves, especially in Austrian Fleckvieh calves. Manipulating objects was not related to milk amounts but to the feeding duration of solid feed. Analyses are still in progress; final results will be presented at the congress.

To date, little is known about influences on cows’ physiological stress levels on farms. The present study explored associations of fecal cortisol metabolite concentrations (FCM) with (1) farm factors including human–animal contact, (2) cows’ fear behaviors towards humans, and (3) milk production and udder health, involving 25 dairy farms and repeated fecal samples (n = 2625) from 674 focal cows. Farm factors via interviews and observations, avoidance distance (AD) and qualitative behavior assessment (QBA) during a human–animal interaction were recorded. Milk yield and somatic cell scores (SCS) were calculated from milk recordings. Levels of FCMs were in general relatively low. No associations with AD and milk yield could be detected. Correlations between FCMs and QBA and SCS were significant, but on a low level. Against expectations, FCMs were higher, when the farm provided concentrates by hand and habituated heifers to milking, in part possibly due to reversed cause–effect relations. Decreased FCM levels were found on farms that did not separate diseased cows, possibly due to the avoidance of social stress following changes in group structure. Additionally, straw yards compared to raised cubicles and generous compared to suboptimal lying space were associated with decreased levels, underlining the importance of comfort around resting. Moreover, FCMs were decreased with increased human contact time per cow. The different associations detected in this study provide a basis for further experimental investigations that moreover might provide insights into causal relationships.

Niniejszy poradnik zawiera prezentacje szeregu metod odchowu cieląt przy matkach oraz opis niezbednego wyposazenia do jego wprowadzenia we wlasnych stadach.

Different measures reflecting the cows' behavioural responses towards humans are used for the assessment of the human-animal relationship (HAR). Besides the established avoidance distance (AD), different handling tests, such as the tolerance to tactile interaction (TTI), release behaviour after restraint (RB), and qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA) during a human-animal interaction are used. However, uncertainties still exist regarding the measures' validity, vulnerability to confounders or risks of observer bias. These aspects are addressed in the current study. AD, TTI, RB, and QBA were investigated on a research farm regarding (1) their relationships with an expected HAR improvement due to rewarding human-animal contact (here: manual provision of concentrate), (2) potential confounding effects of lactation status (before/after calving), (3) or an expectedly aversive event of claw trimming, and (4) the occurrence of expectation bias. Concerning objectives 1-3, different samples of cows (n = 13-29 out of 102 in total) were assessed repeatedly and differences in behaviour before and after manual concentrate provision, calving, and claw trimming were analysed using paired Wilcoxon tests; for the latter blinded videos were used. For objective 4, both for non-blinded live and blinded video assessments it was tested separately, whether assessments before and after claw trimming differed. After a 6-days period of manual concentrate provision, cows had lower ADs (p = 0.013, n = 27), responded less fearfully in TTI (p=0.045, n = 27) and QBA (p = 0.026, n = 14), and by tendency in RB (p = 0.052, n = 27), supporting the measures' construct validity, i.e. that all of them reflect changes in the relationship to humans after the cows experienced rewarding routine interactions. Neither blinded assessments before and one day after claw trimming (p = 0.489-1.0, n = 29), nor assessments before and after calving (p = 0.244-1.0, n = 13) differed significantly, suggesting that single routine procedures and physiological changes around calving do not confound assessments. Numerically, in non-blinded QBA after claw trimming cows were assessed less fearful than in blinded, possibly because the observer tried to avoid bias. Nevertheless, non-blinded live assessments did not yield any significant differences between HAR measures before and after claw trimming (paired Wilcoxon: p = 0.151-1.0, n = 15-29).

11:05 - 14:00 Uhr Austausch und Diskussion zu folgenden Themen in parallelen Kleingruppen Fleischqualitat und Vermarktung sowie praktische Losungen in der kuhgebundenen Aufzucht, Anja Frey, Volkleswaldhof Betriebswirtschaftliche Betrachtungen: Erfahrungen aus Praxis und Fachberatung der kuhgebundenen Aufzucht; Soren Binder, Bioland e.V. / Bioland, Beratungsdienst GmbH, Martin Haugstatter, Demeter e.V. Systeme der kuhgebundenen Aufzucht – Schwerpunkte auf Losungen fur Haltung / Stallbau und das Absetzen der Kalber, Dr. Silvia Ivemeyer, Universitat Kassel/Witzenhausen, Fachgebiet Nutztierethologie und Tierhaltung. Austausch uber das WERTKalb Projekt in Baden-Wurttemberg, Dr. Christoph Reiber, Universitat Hohenheim Initiative zur Entwicklung eines Mindeststandards der kuhgebundenen Kalberaufzucht; Rolf Holzapfel, Demeter Milchbauern Sud w.V.; Saro Gerd Ratter, Schweisfurth Stiftung

Although the use of local breeds is recommended by organic regulations, breed comparisons performed under organic production conditions with similar production intensities are scarce. Therefore, we compared data of local and widely used Holstein dairy cattle breeds from 2011 to 2015 regarding production, fertility and health from German and Swedish organic farms with similar management intensities within country. In Germany, the energy-corrected total milk yield tended to be lower in the local breed Original Angler Cattle (AAZ, 5193 kg) compared to the modern German Holstein Friesian breed (HO, 5620 kg), but AAZ showed higher milk fat and protein contents (AAZ v. HO: 5.09% v. 4.18% and 3.61% v. 3.31%, respectively). In Sweden, the widely used modern Swedish Holstein (SH) breed had the highest milk yield (9209 kg, fat: 4.10%, protein: 3.31%), while the local Swedish Polled (SKB) showed highest milk yield, fat and protein contents (6169 kg, 4.47%, 3.50%, respectively), followed by the local breed Swedish Red (SRB, 8283 kg, 4.33%, 3.46%, respectively). With regard to fertility characteristics, the German breeds showed no differences, but AAZ tended to have less days open compared to HO (−17 days). In Sweden, breeds did not differ with regard to calving interval, but both local breeds showed a lower number of days open (−10.4 in SRB and −24.1 in SKB compared to SH), and SKB needed fewer inseminations until conception (−0.5 inseminations) compared to SH. Proportion of test day records with a somatic cell count content of ≥100 000 cells per ml milk did not reveal breed differences in any of the two countries. German breeds did not differ regarding the proportion of cows with veterinary treatments. In Sweden, SRB showed the lowest proportion of cows with general veterinary treatment as well as specific treatment due to udder problems (22.8 ± 6.42 and 8.05 ± 2.18, respectively), but the local breed SKB did not differ from SH in either of the two traits. In Sweden, we found no breed differences regarding veterinary treatments due to fertility problems or diagnosis of claw or leg problems during claw trimming. Our results indicate a stronger expression of the antagonism between production and functional traits with increasing production intensity. Future breed comparisons, therefore, need to consider different production intensities within organic farming in order to derive practical recommendations as to how to implement European organic regulations with regard to a suitable choice of breeds.

Interest in dairy calf rearing systems with cow-calf contact during the milk feeding period is increasing among farmers, advisors and researchers, but socio-economic consequences have only scarcely been investigated yet. In this research reflection we develop a suggestion for a socio-economic methodical framework that is suitable for the wide variation of cow calf rearing systems, farm, market and societal conditions. Based on a literature based, system-theoretical structuring of involved elements, and on full cost accounting in an exemplary case study concerning two model farms, we itemize monetary factors, and additionally important non-monetary factors, that should be included in a socio-economic evaluation. This process also revealed further research needs. We propose as a next research step to gather a greater number of real farm data including different rearing systems and to perform individual full cost accountings, in order to identify input and output patterns on this basis. This might not only help to provide a robust basis for economic decision making, but also help to fill research gaps concerning long-term effects of calf rearing with cow contact. In addition, ways should be explored on how to take non-monetary effects into account.

La guida descrive il rapporto naturale tra la vacca e il suo vitello e trae conclusioni per un allevamento dei vitelli adatto alla specie. Tra i diversi sistemi di allevamento dei vitelli con la madre o una balia vengono presentati 10 metodi selezionati attraverso esempi pratici.