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Journal of the Australian Rangeland Society
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of weaning strategy on performance, behaviour and blood parameters of yak calves (Poephagus grunniens)

Peipei Liu A B , Shujie Liu C , Allan Degen D , Qiang Qiu A , Quanmin Dong C , Xiaoping Jing A , Jiaojiao Zhang A , Qi Yan A , Wenming Zheng E and Luming Ding A F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, Institute of Arid Agroecology, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 73000, China.

B Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.

C National Key Laboratory of Cultivating Base of Plateau Grazing Animal Nutrition and Ecology of Qinghai Province, Qinghai Academy of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Xining 810016, China.

D Desert Animal Adaptations and Husbandry, Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel.

E Haibei Demonstration Zone of Plateau Modern Ecological Animal Husbandry Science and Technology, Haibei 812200, China.

F Corresponding author. Email: dinglm@lzu.edu.cn

The Rangeland Journal 40(3) 263-270 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ17112
Submitted: 7 November 2018  Accepted: 9 April 2018   Published: 15 May 2018

Abstract

Early weaning can improve the body condition and reproductive performance of cows, but can be very stressful to both the calf and cow. The objectives of this study were to examine and compare the performance, behaviour and blood parameters of yak calves that were weaned using different methods. Twenty-six calves (94.3 ± 2.4 days old) were assigned to four weaning treatments: (1) weaned naturally following ad libitum sucking (NW, n = 13); (2) weaned abruptly and separated permanently from their mothers (AW, n = 5); (3) separated temporarily from their mothers for 15 days and then reunited (TW, n = 5); and (4) fitted with nose plates to prevent sucking for 15 days but allowed free access to their mothers (NP, n = 3). Girth size, as a measure of calf performance, was largest in NW and AW calves, intermediate in NP calves and smallest in TW calves. This indicated that the AW calves were able to consume adequate energy to compensate for the absence of milk. The weaned calves (TW and NP) spent more time grazing and, in general, played less than NW calves. In addition, TW calves stood more but walked less, whereas NP calves lay more but grazed and stood less than NW calves. Blood insulin was lower on Day 19 in the TW calves than in the other three treatments. We concluded that abrupt and permanent weaning was an appropriate strategy for yak calves on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.

Additional keywords: early weaning, grazing management, Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, stress response.


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