Abstract
Factors affecting calf morbidity and performance were studied in 319 Norwegian dairy herds. Morbidity could not be evaluated by means of statistical analyses, but the farmers'' observations clearly indicated that disease problems, particularly diarrhea, were related to changes in feeding and other environmental conditions. Least squares technique was used to study effects of various factors on chest girth (CG), thriftiness score (TS) and cleanliness score (CS) of a total of 2491 calves up to 180 days of age. The following individual calf factors had a significant effect on CG; sex, breed and parity of cow, with parity as the most important. District had a highly significant effect. For calves older than 30 days CG was largest in the mountain valley districts Osterdalen/Gudbransdalen and Valdres. A superior quality of the hay fed to the calves in these districts was suggested as an important causal factor. The following house factors had significant effects: location within cowbarn, type of confinement and floor/bedding. For 91-180 day old calves CG was smallest when they were located in a separate room apart from the cows. CG was smallest for calves confined in individual boxes and largest for calves in individual stalls. Housing calves on solid floor without use of bedding had a negative effect on CG. The negative effect of individual boxes was related to behavioral patterns. For calves aged 0-30 days CG, was largest in herds where they were fed whole milk > 20 days. For calves older than 30 days CG increased with increasing feeding level. Cleanliness of the cowbarn also had a significant effect on CG. For calves older than 30 days CG was smallest in barns with the highest cleanliness standard. TS was only a rough estimator of the condition of the calves. For several factors there was correspondance between effects on TS and CG, and for others between effects on TS and CS. The housing factors location, confinement and floor/bedding had all significant effects on CS. The calves were dirtiest when they were located among the cows, confined on individual stalls and housed on slatted floor or solid floor without bedding.