Socially sustainable calf performance for better animal welfare – how does technology contribute?

Can automatic milk feeding increase the chances that calves will receive a more biologically normal milk yield and thus better welfare?

Today, dairy calves often receive a limited milk supply, which can result in them going hungry for part of the day, producing less milk than cows, and being more susceptible to diarrhea. Experts recommend a more biologically normal milk supply of 20% of the body weight, for at least the first month of the calf's life.

In a recent interview study, participating dairy farmers agreed that calves that are given more than two meals per day, spread out over the day, consume more milk. However, few participants felt that this was practically feasible for both economic, but perhaps above all, social reasons for animal owners and calf keepers (a life outside of work). Automatic milk feeding was discussed as a possibility to achieve higher yields. Today, however, few farms use this technology. We suggest that automatic milk feeding could improve calf welfare if the technology is better adapted to the calves and the people who use it. The aim of this project is to contribute to such technological development.