Impact of allosucking on growth of farmed red deer calves (Cervus elaphus)

It is generally presumed that allosucking brings benefits to the allosucking infants. Nevertheless, the data supporting such a presumption are rare. The Rim of the study was to determine whether allosucking has any impact on growth rates of the allosucking calves. Fifty pregnant hinds were observed between 28 May (1st day of calving) and 2 September (abrupt weaning of all calves) on a red deer farm at Vimperk, South Bohemia, the Czech Republic. Of the 50 calves born the growth curve was calculated for 39 calves. During their 1st month of life these calves were observed in 1015 sticking bouts. In 690 cases the calves sucked from maternal hinds and in 325 cases non-maternal hinds. Only 25.64% of calves sticked exclusively from maternal hinds. The prevailing type of sucking behaviour was a combination of sucking from maternal hinds and allosucking (74.36%). Calves sucking from maternal and non-maternal hinds showed 1.6-fold higher sucking frequency than did calves feeding from maternal kinds only. Our results indicate that to some extend allonursing behaviour of the hind may affect their calves' feeding behaviour. The more non-filial calves the maternal hind nursed, the higher frequency of the sucking by their calves occurred. The groups of calves did not differ in birth weight. With increasing age, the relative body weight increased faster in calves sucking maternal hinds only than in calves sucking maternal and non-maternal hinds. This gain in body weight was not essentially influenced by the fact whether or not tire calf's maternal hind nursed non-filial or exclusively filial calves. However, at weaning (99 days), the lowest body weight occurred in allosucking calves whose maternal hinds were allonursing. The results suggest that allosucking dues not mean an extra profit to the allosucker. Instead, in our subjects, allosucking was rather attributed to compensation of nutritional requirements based on a combination of various factors, such as discrete differences in body weight at birth and also later and allonursing of the maternal kind.