Gradual weaning of 3-month-old calves from foster cows in dairy production.

When calves are reared by cows, separation can be stressful, and it is often advised to use gradual weaning to minimize this stress. In foster cow systems, one gradual weaning method is to remove the foster cows, one by one, from the cow-calf group. The response to one-by-one removal of foster cows of 32 calves housed in 5 groups was studied.

Invited review: Qualitative social and human science research focusing on actors in and around dairy farming.

Qualitative research related to humans, dairy cows, calves, and farming has been published by scientists from a variety of disciplines in many journals targeting dairy science audiences. We aimed to investigate how scientific communities other than those working in dairy science describe, analyze, and discuss dairy farming, because we found it important to bring this research to the attention of dairy scientists. In total, 117 articles were identified as involving one or more qualitative research methods in relation to dairy cattle.

Shaping cow-calf contact systems: Farmers' motivations and considerations behind a range of different cow-calf contact systems.

Most dairy farms rear calves artificially by separating the newly born calf from the dam and feeding the calf milk from a bucket. However, the general public and scientific community have begun to question the effects of artificial rearing on animal welfare. Research so far has focused mainly on dam-calf contact, where each cow takes care of her own calf.

Three years of situated social learning and development of diverse cow-calf contact systems in Danish organic dairy farms.

This study had 2 aims: first, to describe the intent of a learning process among farmers about cow-calf contact (CCC) systems using a so-called Stable School approach, where farmers advise farmers. The second aim was to identify the main themes that arose from the conversations held throughout the 21 meetings that focused on the topic of CCC. The meetings were hosted by 10 host farmers.

Invited review: Qualitative research in dairy science-A narrative review.

The use of qualitative research in dairy science has increased considerably in recent years, providing the opportunity to inform research and practice. This review aims to enhance the accessibility of qualitative research among a range of audiences and specifically: (1) provide an overview of what qualitative research is and the value it can bring to scientific inquiries in the dairy context, (2) illustrate the emergence of qualitative dairy science research in the past 15 to 20 years, (3) outline the role of the researcher and key philosophical assumptions underlying qualitative research, (4) describe qualitative research approaches and methods used in dairy science research, and (5) highlight key aspects of qualitative inquiry used to ensure research trustworthiness. Qualitative approaches in dairy science enable researchers to understand myriad topics including stakeholder relationships, decision-making, and behaviors regarding dairy cattle management, animal welfare, and disease prevention and control measures.