Breeding comfort and welfare of dairy calves versus growth performance and health

MALÁ, G., NOVÁK, P.,KNÍŽEK, J., JIROUTOVÁ, P. & PROCHÁZKA, D. Chovný komfort a pohoda telat versus růst a zdraví. Veterinářství, 2014, roč. 64, č. 10, s. 777-781.{INTLINK}
MALÁ, Gabriela, NOVÁK, Pavel, KNÍŽEK, Josef, JIROUTOVÁ, Pavlína and PROCHÁZKA, David. Breeding comfort and welfare of dairy calves versus growth performance and health. Veterinářství, 2014, vol. 64(10), p. 777-781. ISSN 0506-8231.
Year2014
CathegoryPublication in specialized journals
Internal link14187.pdf
Abstract

The aim of the study was determine the effect of using the floor gratings in calf hutches on reduction of bedding moisture and improvement the level of rearing, health and welfare calves during the period of milk nutrition. Air temperature and relative humidity, temperature and dry matter of bedding, dynamics of weight calves and ethological observation of calves were monitored in seven of calf hutches with and seven without floor gratings for sixteen months. Obtained values were analysed by the StatSoft statistical package. The use of floor gratings in the calf hutches during mild winter and transitional of macroclimate period led to a decrease of relative air humidity, a significant increase of the bedding temperature and no significant reduction of bedding moisture. In connection with this, there was extended the length of lying calves for 1 hour per day. The results indicated that there were no significant effect of using floor gratings in calf hutches on average daily gain and health of calves.