Short- and long-term effects of temporary early cow-calf separation or restricted suckling on well-being and performance in zebu cattle.

Information on weaning techniques in the tropics is scarce, particularly regarding the long-term effect of temporary early cow-calf separation or restricted suckling. Therefore, we studied the effects of these two handling practices on well-being and performance at 150 days postpartum in fifteen zebu cow-calf pairs randomly assigned to three treatments. Continuous suckling (CS) where calves remained with their dams from birth to weaning; restricted suckling (RS) calves were allowed to suckle 30 min/day from Day 34 until weaning at Day 150 and kept separated the rest of the time; temporary separation (TS) calves were separated for 72 h from their dams from Day 33 to 36 but remained with their dams the rest of the time. Blood samples and behavioral data were collected on Days 32-36 (1st period) and 149-153 (2nd period). In the 1st period, a greater percentage of RS and TS calves were observed close to the fence line (<10 m) that separated them from their dams (P < 0.0001) and vocalized more than CS calves (P < 0.0001), while in the 2nd period, RS calves had the highest cortisol concentration and vocalization rate (P < 0.05). Similarly, during the 1st period, a greater percentage of RS and TS cows were observed close to the fence line than CS cows (P < 0.0001), with TS cows vocalizing the most (P = 0.001). In the 2nd period, RS cows had greater cortisol concentration than TS (P = 0.037) and CS cows (P = 0.003). More TS and CS cows than RS were observed close to the fence line (P = 0.03 and P = 0.05). On Day 150, TS calves and cows vocalized more than RS and CS animals (P < 0.0001). Before calf-cow separation, 27 out of 45 cows were cycling (CS = 10; RS = 6; TS = 11). After separation, 12 of the remaining 18 cows resumed ovarian activity (CS = 3; RS = 5; TS = 4), and all cows were cycling after estrous synchronization treatment. The pregnancy rate was similar between CS, RS, and TS (60, 53, and 60% respectively). In conclusion, temporary separation increased calf distress response to definitive weaning even four months later, while restricted suckling seemed to reduce it.

Evidence of cooperative calves' care and providers' characteristics in zebu cattle (Bos indicus) raised under extensive conditions.

Communal rearing has been reported in several mammals, including wild ungulates. However, until now, there was no evidence of any alloparental care in the Bos genus. To test the hypothesis that calves' groups are formed under the care of specific cows, a herd of 31 peri-partum zebu cows raised under pasture conditions were used. Groups of ≥ 3 individuals within a 10-m diameter were estimated using aerial pictures taken every other day at 7:00, 10:30, 13:30, 16:00, and 18:00 h, during 6 weeks. Temperament (exit speed, flight distance, intensity of reaction), age, and parity of each cow were registered. A total of 142 groups were observed, and in all of them, at least one calf was present. A total of 75% of the groups were more calves than cows, and in 65.4% of the cases, there were 1 to 3 cows with 2 to 32 calves. While there were no groups integrated only by cows, there were 3.5% integrated only with calves. The most frequent group was formed by 2 calves and 1 cow (14.8%). Parity was positively related with the number of times that a cow was observed in a group (R2 = 0.19, P = 0.01) and with the number of groups in which her calf was present (R2 = 0.16; P = 0.03). The results of the temperament tests were unrelated to the total number of groups in which a cow was observed nor the number of groups with or without its calf. It was concluded that zebu calves congregate in newborn groups in companion with one or more adults, preferably high parity cows, regardless of their temperament.

Maternal protective behavior of zebu type cattle (Bos indicus) and its association with temperament.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the maternal protective behavior of zebu-type cattle (Bos indicus) and its association with temperament. A total of 40 cow-calf pairs raised under extensive conditions were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups (n = 10), which were evaluated at 30, 60, 90, and 120 d postpartum (dpp), respectively. Measures obtained were defense responses of cows protecting their calves assessed by categorizing the behavioral response of the dams during handling of their calves and chute exit score and facial hair whorl (HW) position as indirect measures associated with temperament. No association was found between protective behavior and exit score or HW measures (rs < 0.22 and 0.13, respectively; P > 0.05). At 30 dpp, 90% of the cows responded to the stimulus of calves being handled, 40% reacted exclusively to alien calves, and 50% responded to their own or alien calves. Sixty days later, the proportion of cows responding to alien calves decreased (P < 0.05) to 10%, and at 120 dpp, cows responding to any calf decreased (P < 0.05) to 20%, while the nonresponding cows increased (P < 0.05) to 60%. Similarly, as dpp increased, the intensity of the reaction of the cows to the manipulation of their calves declined. The intensity of the response was exacerbated (P < 0.05) when a human being was less than 1 m distance from the calf, also when the calf was its own or when the calf vocalized. Furthermore, independent of the sex of their own calf, cows reacted more to male than female calves (P < 0.05). It was concluded that zebu cows may display maternal protective behavior to their own or alien calves, which weakens about 120 dpp and is not influenced by individual temperament.