A brown and white spotted calf milks a brown cow. Next to it, a black and white cow is resting in a stall. Photo
Photo: Jenny Svennås-Gillner, SLU

How calves drink milk when mum is around

Page reviewed:  30/01/2026

In modern dairy farming, the calf is commonly separated from the cow within a few hours of birth and is then fed milk or milk replacer with little opportunity for natural suckling. A new study from SLU examined two different systems where cow and calf have contact after birth.

In modern dairy farming, calves are commonly separated from their mothers within hours of birth and are then fed milk or milk replacer by the farmer, with little opportunity to perform natural suckling behaviours. Cow-calf contact (CCC) systems provide an alternative management approach, allowing calves to remain with their mothers or other adult cows and drink milk through suckling. In a recently published study, researchers at SLU’s department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare observed the suckling behaviour of dairy calves housed in two different types of CCC systems. 

The two CCC systems, which were run as separate experimental trials, differed primarily in whether it was the calves (the “calf-driven” system) or the cows (the “cow-driven” system) that could initiate physical contact. Suckling events were analysed from video recordings collected during 24-hour periods when calves were between 3 and 15 weeks old. Interestingly, calf behaviour differed between the two systems: in the calf-driven system, calves suckled less often but for longer durations as they grew older, while suckling behaviour remained consistent in the cow-driven system.

Calves in both systems were also frequently observed to suckle on cows other than their own mothers ‒ a behaviour known as allosuckling ‒ and did so increasingly as they aged. In this study, the behaviour was more common in the cow-driven system, which the researchers suggest may be linked to the design of the pen. Because cows could leave the shared area to feed or lie down in spaces that calves could not access, calves may have learned to allosuckle when their own mother was not available. Even so, calves in both systems maintained good growth and spent a similar amount of time suckling each day, suggesting that allosuckling may help calves meet their nutritional needs. Overall, these findings deepen our understanding of how calves behave in differing CCC systems during the first months of life.

Funders

Seydlitz MP bolagen Foundation, Swedish Research Council Formas 

Reference

Wegner, C.S., Chan, C.W., Rönnegård, L., Agenäs, S., Lidfors, L., & Eriksson, H.K. (2025). Suckling and allosuckling behavior of dairy calves in indoor dam-rearing systems. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 12, 1617158.

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