The natural age at which a calf weans from its mother and feeds exclusively on grass is around nine to ten months. In the mother-bound calf rearing, however, the calves are usually weaned earlier, otherwise the milk losses are too high. 

From the second week of life, calves begin to eat grass or hay in addition to drinking milk. Most of them can feed themselves with roughly three months and quench their thirst with water. If weaning occurs in a way that the calf and mother do not suffer too much from emotional stress, we believe it is acceptable at this time. 

The separation of calf and mother can be initiated abruptly or in stages. A step-by-step process is preferred from an animal welfare point of view, so that the separation of mother and calf is first tested for a few hours and then this is slowly increased. In nursing cow husbandry, the calves are usually weaned off the cow by humans and can also occur abruptly or in stages.

A positive example from practice 

There are some farms where dairy cows are kept with their calves. Dairy farmers, especially organic dairy farmers, are increasingly dealing with the problem of mother-calf separation and the resulting suffering for the calves. Solutions are being sought to avoid separation immediately after birth and to still be able to sell milk. There is no universal system for mother-related calf rearing: some farmers leave the calves with their mothers consistently for a few months, others only for a few weeks. In some systems, the calves are kept separate from the mothers at night but can stay with them during the day. 

Calves in conventional milk production are mostly separated from their mother within the first 24 hours after birth and artificially raised using drinking buckets or automatic calf feeders. In response to the increasing demand from consumers for more animal-friendly production systems, there is a growing interest among some dairy farms, especially organic farms, to raise the calves again with their mothers. The so-called mother-bonded rearing of the calves has many advantages. The animals express their social behaviour, for example grooming each other, and the calves learn how to respect the rules of the herd from their mothers in a playful way. Furthermore, the mother-bonded rearing can ensure a very good development of the calves, which can, for instance, be measured in higher daily weight gains. The calves also show less mutual suckling – a behavioural disorder due to an unsatisfied need to suckle, which can lead to health disorders, such as inflammation of the suckled parts of the body or the formation of bezoar amongst the suckling animals.  

However, there are also disadvantages with mother-bonded rearing. Both cows and calves show strong stress reactions when the established mother-calf bond needs to be ended later during weaning. This is, because even at organic farms with mother-bonded rearing, the weaning happens much earlier – usually at three or four months – than in nature, where weaning usually takes place after more than eight months. In dairy farming, this separation often takes place not only earlier than in nature, but also more abruptly. This creates a very stressful situation for both the cow and the calf.  

FOUR PAWS supports the ongoing project of the University of Gießen², which is carried out in cooperation with the Thünen Institute for Organic Agriculture. The research question being pursued, is which weaning method causes the least stress for the cow and calf and is therefore best suited to loosening the cow-calf bond created during mother-bound calf rearing. For this purpose, two different methods are tested experimentally first in terms of their stress levels for the animals when weaning. Subsequently, different weaning methods, which are already used in practice, are examined regarding the stress load for cow and calf. The results of the study will later contribute to the development of a guideline for successful milk production integrating mother-bonded calf husbandry, in order to provide interested farmers with scientifically proven information.  

• Calves and their mothers (or nursing cows) should stay together for at least three months
• Calves should be kept in groups starting from their second week of life
• At all time, calves must have unlimited access to roughage and water
• The number of calves nursed by a foster cow should be dependent on the physiological and mental status of the foster cow
• Calf weaning from mother cow or foster cow should be done gradually (visual and olfactory contact gets restricted, slowly declining access to mother by drinking) over a time frame of at least one week
• Both options need a high degree of farmer expertise and management experience – The expertise can be achieved through a mutual exchange of knowledge, stable schools, seminars, and publications