In conclusion, cows do not seem to miss suckling when
they are separated from their calves soon after birth, but
they are disturbed when the separation occurs later, after
10 wk of suckling. Similarly, suckled calves are disturbed
when they are separated from their dam at weaning, and
this separation can reduce their growth rate. Calves that are
suckled by their dam later display fewer oral non-nutritive
activities than artificially fed calves. The presence of the
dam may orient the oral behaviour of the calf to the point
that the calf is less ready to develop abnormal behaviours
(in this case non-nutritive oral activities). We conclude that
suckling may be beneficial to calves, but that the weaning
process requires a special attention in order to minimize
separation-induced stress.