Sickness and mortality in calves is a problem in modern dairy production and more than ever, feasible solutions are needed on how best to manage calves to promote health and welfare in a sustainable way.
This project will investigate tactile stimulation and its links to oxytocinergic system promoted by e.g. social licking in different housing conditions but also manual brushing on calf immune capacity, stress responsiveness, social and cognitive abilities.
Tactile stimulation occurs naturally if calves are kept with their mother. Identifying effective modern rearing strategies involving procedures that promote these same beneficial effects will have practical implications for the industry. The experiment will be conducted at Wagenigen University, Netherlands in the spring of 2018. We will assess the effects of the different handling/housing treatments on behavioural, physiological and immunological parameters. Furthermore, this study will investigate deeply the social interactions between mother and offpring and be the basis for a larger longitudinal study that will evaluate cognition, social abilities and health in a long-term perspective. The project is financed by Formas.
Welcome with your reply to Daiana de Oliveira if you are interested to do a student project within this project!
Prefekt: Anna Wallenbeck, tel. 018-674504.
Ställföreträdande prefekt: Anders Karlsson, tel. 0511-672 10.
Biträdande prefekt för forskarutbildning: Katarina Arvidsson Segerkvist, tel. 0511-671 44.
Biträdande prefekt för grundutbildning: Lisa Lundin , tel. 018-671650.