Weight gain, milk intake, starter intake and number of days with diarrhoea
were measured for individually housed Holstein calves offered milk twice da
ily by bucket at 5% of body weight per feeding (n=11) or ad libitum from a
teat (n=12) from birth until 4 weeks of age. Mean weight gains during the f
irst 2 weeks were 0.36 and 0.85 kg/day and during the next 2 weeks were 0.5
8 and 0.79 kg/day respectively, These differences were probably the result
of higher milk consumption by teat-fed versus bucket-fed calves, which occu
rred in all 4 weeks. Starter consumption was negligible until 3 weeks of ag
e for both groups, but the bucket-fed calves consumed more than teat-fed ca
lves (0.25 versus 0.11 kg/day) during week 4. Milk drinking behaviour was s
tudied in detail for eight teat-fed calves over 24 h. Total feeding time wa
s 47 min. All individuals took their largest meals after new milk was provi
ded in the morning (4.7 kg at 6.4 g/s) and after milk was added in the afte
rnoon (3.2 kg at 5.0 g/s); 74% of total daily intake was consumed in these
two meals. Calves that drank more also drank faster (r=0.78 for morning mea
ls, 0.90 for afternoon meals). Intake rate varied little over the course of
large meals, although it tended to decelerate towards the end of the meal.
Calves consumed the first meal of the day in 13 min, during which they wer
e attached to the teat for 80% of the time. These meals comprised, on avera
ge, 25 individual sucking events of 25 s duration, interspersed by gaps of
7 s. Calves occasionally butted the teat, normally during the middle of the
meal, and the frequency of butting correlated positively with intake rate
(r=0.80). Feeding calves ad libitum from teats allows them to determine the
ir own intake patterns while improving performance compared to conventional
bucket feeding. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V All rights reserved.