Can dairy cows have the best of both worlds - positive emotional states rearing their calf and subsequent stress-less separation?

Dairy calves are typically separated from the mother cow at birth. The practise is increasingly criticised for preventing natural nursing and bonding, but research on benefits for the cow is lacking. The stress of breaking the bond when the calf eventually has to be weaned, is often seen as an obstacle to rearing cow and calf together, but mimicking the natural gradual weaning process may offer solutions. This project proposes several novel methods to measure the benefits for dairy cows that are housed full-time or part-time with their calves, such as strength of maternal bond, positive emotional states and neurobiological functioning, compared to cows separated from their calf at birth. The project develop and integrate these novel measures to meet the overall goal of identifying how different cow-calf rearing, weaning and separation practices impact the cow, and provides scientific background for solutions to the long-standing problem of how to implement cow-calf management systems.
The project is funded by Det Frie Forskningsråd, Teknologi og Produktion, og Graduate School of Technical Sciences (GSTS).