Effects of continuous versus periodic milk availability on behavior and performance of dairy calves

Dairy calves fed milk ad libitum engage in feeding activity throughout the day and night. However, providing calves with continuous access to milk can present practical problems with milk quality, particularly during warm weather. One way to maintain milk quality in ad libitum feeding regimens is to limit the time that milk is available, but no research to date has addressed how this might affect calves. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effects of continuous access to milk (24 h/d) vs. access during only part of the day on milk feeding behavior and performance. Twenty-eight female Holstein calves were randomly assigned to treatments at 5 ± 3 d of age and monitored for 28 d. All calves had milk delivered through a teat. Treatments were 1) access to milk for 24 h/d; 2) access to milk for 2 feedings per day (each of 2 h), with water available through the teat the remainder of the day (4-h wet treatment); and, 3) access to milk for 2 feedings per day (each of 2 h), but with no water available through the teat (4-h dry treatment). Calves given 24-h access to milk consumed 11.2 ± 0.5 kg/d on average. Milk intake tended to be lower for the 4-h wet and 4-h dry treatments, averaging 10.0 ± 0.3 kg/d, with no difference between these 2 treatments in this or any other variable. Average daily gain over the course of the experiment did not vary with treatment and averaged 1.1 ± 0.04 kg/d. Calves in the 24-h treatment spent more time on the teat than those calves on the 4-h treatments, but during the 4 h/d when milk was available to all calves, calves in the 4-h treatments spent more time on the teat. These results show that individually housed calves fed milk ad libitum for only 4 h/d compensate by changing their milk feeding behavior and are able to achieve similar weight gains to animals fed milk continuously.