The characteristic of fosterage in a hungarian grey cattle (Bos primigenius taurus hungaricus) stock

Lenner, Ádám and Török, Evelin and Komlósi, István (2021) The characteristic of fosterage in a hungarian grey cattle (Bos primigenius taurus hungaricus) stock. ACTA AGRONOMICA ÓVÁRIENSIS, 62 (Ksz 1). pp. 23-36. ISSN 1416-647X

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Abstract

The concept of fosterage appears in different ways at different organisational levels. The literature mainly describes artificial fostering methods for dairy cattle. For beef cattle, it is only partly used. The aim of our study was to investigate the development, rate, and efficiency of natural fostering in a Hungarian Grey cattle herd of nearly 200 dams at the Szamárháti farm of the Tiszatáj Public Foundation in Hungary.The observation period lasted from 2018 to 2020. During the three years, there were a total of 335 calvings, 79 offspring died, sucklings was recorded in 1173 cases, 16 dams and the consequent development of foster-mothering were described. Our research seeks to reveal whether it makes sense to maintain the foster dam’s nursing activity or whether drying off is necessary in the case of natural fostering. The results show that a quarter of dams fostered offspring after losing their calves. The age of the fostered calves were between one day and one month, with their 205 day-adjusted weights 11-29% above the average of the non - fostered ones. The calves of the foster dams also died in one of the following years, which may justify the culling of these individuals. The age of the dams and the number of their calvings varied. In the future, we should also monitor the offspring care of the fostered heifers and the social behaviour of the fostered offspring.

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