Factors associated with indicators of calf rearing during the lactation period in small-scale dairy farms

: The objective was to evaluate the impact of factors associated with the management of the mother and the quality of colostrum on the calf rearing during lactation, in the small-scale milk production system. In 13 dairy farms, information was obtained on body growth, colostrum feeding and information associated with the mother of 220 Holstein calves. The variables of interest were: morbidity, concentration of immunoglobulins in colostrum (CIC; <110 mg/ml), serum protein concentration (SPC; <6.6 g/dL), daily weight gain (DWG; <0.650 kg/d) and daily height gain (DHG; <0.222 cm/d). The study factors were: body weight at birth (BWB; <42 kg), height at birth (HB; <82 cm), colostrum consumed on the first day (CCFD; <4 l), colostrum consumed on the first day/kg of LW (CFDLW), body condition at calving (BCC; <3), length of the dry period (LDP; >68 d), primiparous cows (PC) and cows without a challenge diet (CWCD). To determine the impact of the study factors on the events of interest, the odds ratio was obtained from multiple logistic regression analyses. The factors identified for morbidity were CCFD and PC ( P <0.1). The factors for CIC were LDP and CWCD ( P <0.1), while for DWG, it was CWCD ( P <0.1). Finally, the factors for DHG were CWCD, BWB, HB and CFDLW ( P <0.1). These results suggest that the mother’s nutrition during late gestation has an important impact on the health and body development of calves during lactation. Further studies should determine long-term effects.