Influence of early separation from the dams on behavioral developement and its neural mechanism in calf

2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23580382
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Zootechnical science/Grassland science
• Research Institution: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
• Principal Investigator: YAYOU Ken-ichi 独立行政法人農業生物資源研究所, 動物生産生理機能研究ユニット, 主任研究員 (40343967)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2014-03-31
• Keywords: 早期母子分離 / グルーミング / ウシ / 日増体重 / 社会的ストレス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The early maternal deprivation has long-lasting negative effects on growth and behavioral development in several animal species. Though early cow-calf separation has become popular in dairy and even in beef industry, people are less concerned about the negative effect. We have developed a mechanical brush, an automatic rotating brush, for calf as an alternative for mother's grooming (patent-pending) and examined its effects on calves' growth and behavior.
The calves continuously utilized the brush until grouping. The average utilization time per 1 day was 25.3 min. Although the daily weight gains during 3 months after group introduction were not different in female, male calves using the brush gained more weight than control suggesting its appeasing effect for social stress. These data suggest a strong motivation of calves for the usage of the mechanical brush, further research is needed to investigate possible benefits of this device.

Free Research Field

農学