title: Impacts of self- and cross-sucking on cattle health and performance.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Improvement of dairy farms economics requires intensification, automatic milking, and artificial rearing methods. The ability to express normal behavior is one of the five freedoms to achieve animal welfare, whereas the display of abnormal behaviors is considered as an indicator of poor welfare. Cross-sucking is defined as sucking any body parts of pen-mate calves, whereas inter-sucking in cows is defined as sucking the udder or udder area. Previous studies showed that self- and cross-sucking during the calf-hood period could be a causal factor of milk sucking in adulthood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of cross-sucking among calves and inter-sucking in cows on animal health status and performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gathering information from customized questionnaires, the study of the breeding records, recording of self- and cross-sucking behaviors, and health status of calves till weaning, and dairy cows before milking were performed in two governmental farms under the same managemental conditions in Sohag and Qena governorates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cross-sucking appeared in calves at the 2ndweek of age followed by abscesses at ears and navels that were observed within cross-sucker calves. Milk sucking was higher in primiparous than multiparous cows during the second lactation period, as primiparous cows start to suck mostly around the 4thmonth of milking. Mastitis and elongation of the front teats were observed in sucker cows. Suffered animals had body condition scoring 3.5 or less. Interestingly, most of the cows displaying self-sucking were sucking another cow and were experienced self- or cross-sucking in their calf-hood. The use of pronged nose-rings was ineffective in preventing milk sucking and all cows were ultimately culled at the end of the season.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study demonstrate the health problems of abnormal oral behaviors in terms of developed ears and navels abscesses in cross-sucker calves, and mastitis and teat deformities in milk-sucker cows. Furthermore, indexes that lead to oral satisfaction should be taken in priorities of farm managers to effectively reduce or prevent cross-sucking in calves. Culling of cows and heifers suffering from sucking would be the ultimate uneconomic alternative in case of persistent suckers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Behavior and Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sohag University, 82524 Sohag, Egypt.
authors.forename: Motamed Elsayed
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mahmoud
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Behavior and Husbandry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sohag University, 82524 Sohag, Egypt.
authors.forename: Fatma Ali
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Mahmoud
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
authors.forename: Adel Elsayed
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ahmed
keywords: animal welfare; culling; inter-sucking in cows; self-sucking in calves; teat deformity