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1 Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lennoxville, PQ, Canada J1M 1Z3
2 Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1
This study examined effects of resistance to milk flow and the provision of hay on the duration of nutritive sucking and subsequent nonnutritive sucking by dairy calves. In a series of four experiments, 12 male Holstein calves were individually fed milk from an artificial teat. Resistance to milk flow was varied by adjusting the orifice size within the milk supply tube. Using a Latin square design, each calf was fed the same quantity of milk using four orifice sizes (one per day for 4 consecutive d). The duration of nutritive sucking (time required to finish the milk meal) was longer when calves were fed from the smallest orifice size (0.16-cm diameter) than when calves were fed from the largest orifice size (0.55-cm diameter). Calves compensated for resistance to milk flow in an attempt to maintain milk intake; however, changes in sucking rate alone were probably not responsible for observed differences in the rate of milk consumption from different orifice sizes. The duration of nonnutritive sucking (sucking of the teat following the milk meal) was significantly reduced when calves were fed from the smallest orifice compared with that when calves were fed from the largest orifice. Nonnutritive sucking was reduced but not eliminated even with the longest meal duration. The provision of hay to calves following the meal also significantly reduced the amount of nonnutritive sucking. Reduction in flow rate when calves drink milk through a teat and the provision of hay after the meal can reduce the incidence of nonnutritive sucking following the meal and may help to limit cross-sucking in group housing systems.
Key Words: behavior • calves • nonnutritive sucking • cross-sucking
Submitted on December 30, 1997
Accepted on April 3, 1998
This article has been cited by other articles:
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M. A. G. von Keyserlingk, F. Wolf, M. Hotzel, and D. M. Weary Effects of continuous versus periodic milk availability on behavior and performance of dairy calves. J Dairy Sci, June 1, 2006; 89(6): 2126 - 2131. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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M. B. Jensen Computer-Controlled Milk Feeding of Dairy Calves: The Effects of Number of Calves per Feeder and Number of Milk Portions on Use of Feeder and Social Behavior J Dairy Sci, October 1, 2004; 87(10): 3428 - 3438. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 I. Veissier, A. M. de Passille, G. Despres, J. Rushen, I. Charpentier, A. R. Ramirez de la Fe, and P. Pradel Does nutritive and non-nutritive sucking reduce other oral behaviors and stimulate rest in calves? J Anim Sci, October 1, 2002; 80(10): 2574 - 2587. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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