Dam-reared calves: Lessons from pioneer farmers for Danish dairy producers

Summary

In Denmark, separation of dairy calves from their dam commonly occur within the first 24 to 48 hours whereas weaning from milk occur around either 8 weeks (conventional) or 12 weeks (organic). Consumers increasingly question the practice of early separation, and there is a growing interest among Danish dairy farmers for developing new housing and management systems that incorporate a type of dam-rearing. Danish dairy farms are mostly relatively large with high-yielding cows in capital intensive and high cost systems that sets a tight margin for the milk price, which may challenge the implementation of dam-rearing. Several farmers in northern Europe practice different forms of dam-rearing, and their choices and experience may serve as inspiration for Danish dairy farmers. So far, we have visited 9 farms in Scotland, The Netherlands and Germany that represent a variety of breeds and a herd size ranging from 30 to 130 cows as well as an average of around 5,000 kg milk delivered plus 1,300 kg drunk per calf. The 5 highest yielding herds milk cows twice per day during the dam-rearing period. Six herds combine an initial period of full-time contact with a period of part-time dam-rearing. Separation occur between 4 and 22 weeks after calving, and 6 herds separate cow and calf abruptly whereas 4 herds wean calves abruptly. One case from The Netherlands and 1 from Scotland represent particularly promising systems for Danish dairy farmers. On the Dutch farm, calves are kept in separate deep litter area for the first 120 days, and a milking robot is used to gradually reduce the amount of time that the dams gain access to this area. Weaning occurs 2 weeks after separation with both separation and weaning done gradually. This farm delivers 9,500 kg of milk to the dairy per cow per year. On the Scottish farm, calves and dams are kept full-time in the same area the first 3 months and part-time the following 3 months. Weaning occurs gradually with nose flaps one week before a gradual separation. Based on these case studies, different implementation strategies will be developed and assessed for various impacts including production economics.