Calving

Unlike beef cattle - which give birth between April and June - dairy cattle do so year-round. 

While conducting research on Johne's disease in Holstein Friesians near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta this week, I was lucky enough to observe a calving.

After giving birth, the dam removed amniotic fluid from the calf by licking, a behaviour that strengthens the cow-calf bond (Figure 1; Whalin et al., 2021). 

Sometime later, the dam delivered her placenta and ate it. Researchers speculate that placentophagia ensures that predators are not alerted to the presence of the susceptible neonate (Edwards and Broom, 1982).