Director
Deputy
Secretariat
Annette Pontillo
Institute of Organic Farming
Trenthorst 32
23847 Westerau
Phone: +49 4539 8880 0
ol@thuenen.de
Annette Pontillo
Institute of Organic Farming
Trenthorst 32
23847 Westerau
Phone: +49 4539 8880 0
Fax: +49 4539 8880 120
annette.pontillo@thuenen.de
ol@thuenen.de
Kontrollstellennr.: DE-ÖKO-006
Cow-calf contact in dairy farming - how does it work?
Project
Development of guidelines to introduce cow-calf contact into dairy production
A standard procedure how to rear dairy calves by cows does not exist. Every farm has to find its own system. In future, we will support this process with a guideline.
Background and Objective
On dairy farms cow and calf are usually seperated shortly after birth and the calves are raised by bucket feeding or using automatic milk feeders. Meanwhile more and more farmers get interested in raising systems that allow contact between cows and caleves and where cows nurse the calves for a longer period. Most of these farms are managed according to the standards of organic farming and every farm developed its own method of cow-calf contact.. Aim of the project is the development of a guideline that supports newcomers who intend to implement cow-calf contact on their farm. This guideline will also be fed by studies done at the farms involved in the project.
Approach
Eight dairy farmers participate in the project. Most of them practise cow-calf contact on their farms for years. Farmers' experiences will enter directly the guideline. Therefore farmers will met regularly conducting a stable school. In addition, data and samples will be collected by farmers themselves as well as by scientits to answer open questions. Animal welfare will be the main focus of the Thünen-Institiute in the project. Udder health, endoparasite infections of pastured calves and weaning stress are the issues that will be especially addressed.
Links and Downloads
Further informations concerning cow-calf contact systems
Project: Long-term effects of cow-calf-contact
Thünen-Contact
Involved Thünen-Partners
Involved external Thünen-Partners
-
Bioland e. V.
(Rendsburg, Deutschland) -
Christian-Albrechts Universität Kiel
(Kiel, Deutschland)
Duration
2.2019 - 1.2022
More Information
Projekt type:
Funding program: EU - European Innovation Partnerships (EIP)
Project status:
ongoing
Publications
hits: 4
- Barth K (2020) Effects of suckling on milk yield and milk composition of dairy cows in cow-calf contact systems. J Dairy Res 87(S1):133-137, DOI:10.1017/S0022029920000515
pdf document (limited accessibility) 127 kb - Miesorski M, Lotterhos A (2020) Operationelle Gruppe erarbeitet Handlungsleitfaden. Bauernbl Schleswig Holstein Hamburg 74(26):10
- Barth K (2019) Effects of a 3-month nursing period on fertility and milk yield of cows in their first lactation. In: Newberry RC, Braastad BO (eds) ISAE 2019 : proceedings of the 53rd Congress of the ISAE ; 5th - 9th August, 2019, Bergen, Norway ; Animal Lives Worth Living. Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publ, p 85
- Barth K, Placzek M (2018) Kuhgebundene Kälberaufzucht in der Praxis : es gibt kein Standardverfahren. Milchpraxis 52(3):58-61