In commercial farming, young animals such as piglets and dairy calves are separated from their mothers at a very young age. The weaning age and the rearing conditions can affect the physical health and the welfare of these very young animals. 

 
Animals reared in more interesting, ‘enriched’ conditions are more settled and confident with their companions, and female animals seem to take more easily to rearing their young (when given the opportunity). For example, piglets who lived in outdoor enclosures before and after forced weaning had fewer problems than piglets in barren indoor conditions. 

Young piglets need their mum

In intensive farming piglets are removed from their mother between 2-4 weeks of age.  At this age they are still dependent on her for feeding, mothering and protection. A more natural weaning age would be 3-4 months. 

The younger the piglets are when they are removed from their mothers, the more they squeal for her, try to jump out of the pen and rub their noses against the bellies of their companions, which can cause injuries. The piglets are probably looking for their mother’s udder or to gain physical contact with her. 

This frantic behaviour is not seen in 8-week-old piglets in a semi-natural environment, but is commonly seen in commercial farms world-wide. 

Dairy calves

Dairy calves in commercial farms are usually separated from their mother at only a few hours old, but natural weaning would take place at 9-11 months old. Often a cow whose calf has been taken away will walk up and down in an agitated way, calling out and apparently looking for her calf. Calves too often appear distressed at this time.

Researchers also looked at the long-term effects on the calf of separation in this way.

If calves are removed from their mother as new-borns, they may not call out for her so much, but their health and long-term development can be affected. If they are taken away from their mother after a longer time spent with her, they may be more distressed at the time, but their long-term development may be better and they may have more confidence to cope with new situations.

Tags: animal agriculture, animal farming, Cattle, Compassion in World Farming, emotion, Natural behaviour, sentience

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Cattle, Communicating, Emotions, Family bonds, Maternal care, Pigs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.