Nurse cow husbandry

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ammenkuhhaltung is a form of cattle in the selected cows for the rearing of at least one additional calf be used other than own. The milk production of cattle, mostly from dual-purpose breeds, should be used to provide milk for two or up to four calves from one cow. The keeping method has not proven itself because of the high demand for stable space and work, as well as the problems of buying calves at exactly the right time, and is meaningless in agricultural practice.

Nurse cows

White Charolais calf with a colorful nurse in suckler cow husbandry

Foster cows are surrogate mothers who raise calves from other (dairy) cows in addition to their own calves. Foster cows of the dairy breeds can look after up to four young animals. Cows that have lost their own calf can also raise other calves.

In the rearing of calves by dairy cows, animals are often used as wet nurses who leave the regular dairy herd because they are difficult to milk, have problems with their cell content or are otherwise supposed to be eliminated from milk production . However, not every cow also accepts calves from other people or tolerates the calves suckling on the udder after it has got used to the milking machine .

Advantages and disadvantages of nursing cow husbandry

Foster calves already start nibbling on blades of grass at the age of one week and learn faster than motherless calves that there is other nutritious feed in addition to breast milk, or whole milk or milk replacer . The rumen villi develop better and the daily weight gain of the calves is better than in conventional calf rearing. Problems with changing the feed are indicated by a kink in the weight gain after (sudden) weaning from milk. However, the calves still weigh more than those raised on substitute food.

Typical behavior disorders are drastically reduced in nursing cow husbandry. The calves' need to suckle is satisfied naturally and the young animals do not suckle each other. The calves are sick less often.

proof

  1. ↑ Jürgen Wolfgang Weiß, Wilhelm Pabst, Susanne Granz: Tierproduktion , Georg Thieme Verlag, October 23, 2013, ISBN 9783830412779 ( online at googlebooks )
  2. ↑ a b c Angelika Hillmer: Reunification of cow and calf. In: Abendblatt.de. Newspaper group Hamburg, August 3, 2013, accessed on July 16, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Marianne Weirich: Foster cow husbandry - an animal-friendly variant for rearing motherless calves. In: provieh.de. PROVIEH - Association against cruel animal husbandry, December 15, 2010, accessed on July 16, 2015 .
  4. ↑ a b c Doris Fenske: dairy farming. Nurse cows for the calves. In: Our country. Bavarian television, April 10, 2015, archived from the original on April 15, 2015 ; Retrieved on July 16, 2015 ( video ( memento of April 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) by Florian Schrei (moderation), Doris Fenske (author), Margit Lendzian (editor), broadcast on April 10, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. in Bavarian television).