The housing of cow and calf: An overview of barn design, management and behaviour in cow-calf housing systems.

Abstract

Introduction: The number of farms in Switzerland with suckler cow and dairy dam-calf contact housing systems is increasing, but basic knowledge on the needs and behaviours of cattle under these systems is lacking. This study offers an overview of cow-calf housing and management systems in Switzerland to provide insight into cows and calves' behaviour and use of barns' functional areas and to identify potentially problematic aspects of animal welfare within these systems. A total of 39 suckler cow farms and six farms with dairy dam-calf contact in Switzerland were each visited once. Welfare-relevant aspects of barn construction were measured, and the farmers on each farm were surveyed regarding their management and experiences. Animal behavioural observations were made using scan sampling (18 times every 10 minutes over a 3-hour time span) to analyse the animals' distribution and use of a barn's functional areas. Considerable farm-specific variance was found in how the farms managed and housed their livestock. About half the farms had drinking troughs over 60 cm in height, wich raised questions about the ability of these farms' young calves to access water. All farms had installed lying areas for calves, which varied in size, number and location. In the systems with a calf creep area separated from the lying area, the number of cows lying during observation was 10 % less (n = 11; 34,5 %) than the number of cows lying in the systems with a calf creep area in front of the cubicles (n = 13; 44,6 %; p = .063). The calves used the separate calf creep areas for lying (30,0 %) less than they used the calf creep areas in front of the cubicles (41,4 %; p = .001). This study does not provide a complete picture of cow-calf housing in Switzerland but contributes to the generation of new research questions.