Group sizes effects on growth performance and behavioural characteristics in Korean native calves

Figures & data

Figure 1. Fifty-four calves (23 steers and 23 heifers) were assigned to 3 group size treatments, with either 4 (G4), 3 (G3) or 2 (G2) animals per pen, with 3 pen replicates per sex.

Table 1 Chemical composition of feeds (DM basis)

Items (%)	Concentrate		Rice straw
	Heifer calves	Steer calves
Moisture	11.27	10.91	7.37
Crude protein	14.96	15.15	4.31
Crude fibre	3.61	4.76	27.98
Crude fat	3.46	2.88	1.84
Crude ash	7.14	7.48	8.36
Nitrogen-free extract	59.56	58.82	50.14
Calcium	1.02	1.23	0.35
Phosphorus	0.53	0.56	0.14
Neutral detergent fibre	25.45	25.72	66.06
Acid detergent fibre	11.22	11.16	41.33
Total digestible nutrients	68.73	69.87	45.02

Table 2. Effect of group size on feed intake and growth performance of heifer calves.

Age		FI^1) (kg/head)		BW^4) (kg)	ADG^5) (kg)	FCR^6)
		Con.^2)	RS^3)
8 mt.				ns	*	*
	G4	2.5	2.5	171.63 ± 4.85	0.52 ± 0.04^a	7.89 ± 0.62^b
	G3			168.50 ± 6.61	0.47 ± 0.08^ab	8.87 ± 1.46^ab
	G2			165.50 ± 7.07	0.40 ± 0.04^b	10.39 ± 1.08^a
10 mt.				ns	ns	ns
	G4	2.5	2.5	192.25 ± 5.24	0.34 ± 0.14	14.58 ± 4.65
	G3			190.33 ± 2.84	0.36 ± 0.08	12.81 ± 2.42
	G2			189.00 ± 4.95	0.39 ± 0.04	11.64 ± 1.05
12 mt.				*	*	*
	G4	3	3	218.75 ± 3.97^a	0.44 ± 0.03^a	10.31 ± 0.64^b
	G3			214.17 ± 5.06^ab	0.40 ± 0.04^ab	11.50 ± 1.09^ab
	G2			209.75 ± 2.47^b	0.35 ± 0.04^b	13.22 ± 1.58^a
14 mt. (Final)				*	*	*
	G4	3	3	242.13 ± 4.09^a	0.39 ± 0.01^a	13.97 ± 0.38^b
	G3			236.67 ± 4.65^ab	0.38 ± 0.01^a	14.51 ± 0.32^b
	G2			230.50 ± 3.54^b	0.35 ± 0.02^b	15.75 ± 0.81^a
Time				**	**	**
Time × group				ns	ns	ns

Notes: Values are the mean ± standard deviation. ^ns: Not significant. *P < .05. ¹⁾Feed intake, ²⁾Concentrate, ³⁾Rice straw, ⁴⁾Body weight, ⁵⁾Average daily gain, ⁶⁾Feed conversion rate.

^a–bMeans within a column followed by a different letter are significantly different.

Table 3. Effect of group size on feed intake and growth performance of steer calves.

Age			FI^1) (kg/head)		BW^4) (kg)	ADG^5) (kg)	FCR^6)
			Con.^2)	RS^3)
8 mt.					ns	ns	ns
	G4		3.5	2.5	213.00 ± 9.94	0.77 ± 0.08	6.55 ± 0.71
	G3				210.33 ± 9.41	0.72 ± 0.11	7.06 ± 1.19
	G2				208.25 ± 10.25	0.68 ± 0.14	7.56 ± 1.58
10 mt.					ns	ns	ns
	G4		4	2.5	258.63 ± 4.48	0.76 ± 0.11	7.27 ± 1.07
	G3				255.83 ± 4.25	0.76 ± 0.17	7.41 ± 1.58
	G2				253.25 ± 4.60	0.75 ± 0.09	7.31 ± 0.92
12 mt.					*	*	*
	G4		4.5	3	315.88 ± 1.89^a	0.95 ± 0.05^a	6.66 ± 0.33^b
	G3				309.67 ± 3.55^b	0.90 ± 0.06^ab	7.09 ± 0.46^ab
	G2				303.75 ± 2.47^c	0.84 ± 0.04^b	7.54 ± 0.32^a
14 mt. (Final)					*	*	*
	G4		5	3	366.00 ± 3.03^a	0.84 ± 0.02^a	8.13 ± 0.22^b
	G3				359.00 ± 3.00^b	0.82 ± 0.01^ab	8.26 ± 0.13^ab
	G2				351.50 ± 2.12^c	0.80 ± 0.01^b	8.53 ± 0.06^a
Time					**	**	**
Time × group					ns	ns	ns

Notes: Values are the mean ± standard deviation. ^ns: Not significant. *P < .05. ¹⁾Feed intake, ²⁾Concentrate, ³⁾Rice straw, ⁴⁾Body weight, ⁵⁾Average daily gain, ⁶⁾Feed conversion rate.

^a–bMeans within a column followed by a different letter are significantly different.

Table 4. Effect of group size on behavioural characteristics of heifer calves.

Items		Grouping			Time	Time × group
		G4	G3	G2
Time (min/12 h)
Feeding	Con.^1)	19.63 ± 7.86^ns	21.75 ± 6.44 ^ns	21.00 ± 7.62 ^ns	**	*
	RS^2)	40.75 ± 13.66^ns	37.48 ± 11.15^ns	45.31 ± 15.36^ns	**	*
Standing		389.59 ± 30.29^ns	373.50 ± 35.36	397.25 ± 34.66	**	ns
Lying down		256.47 ± 21.30^ab	272.38 ± 36.95^a	240.41 ± 33.11^b	**	ns
Walking		13.56 ± 2.94^ns	14.90 ± 3.87^ns	16.03 ± 3.85^ns	**	*
Count (number/12 h)
Drinking		13.25 ± 4.30^a	11.81 ± 3.73^a	8.22 ± 3.77^b	**	*
Self-grooming		23.50 ± 6.27^a	24.35 ± 8.56^a	18.22 ± 7.05^b	**	*
Scratching		2.51 ± 0.87^ns	2.26 ± 0.97^ns	2.18 ± 0.95^ns	**	**
Rubbing		15.49 ± 2.94^ns	16.99 ± 3.24^ns	15.22 ± 3.05^ns	**	**
Pairwise Grooming		15.25 ± 3.49^a	16.21 ± 3.75^a	8.72 ± 3.83^b	**	**
Leaning		8.77 ± 3.29^ns	8.71 ± 1.97^ns	9.63 ± 3.77 ^ns	**	*
Fighting		5.63 ± 1.90^a	3.23 ± 1.14^b	1.41 ± 1.10^c	**	**

Notes: Values are the mean ± standard deviation. ^ns: Not significant. ¹⁾Concentrate, ²⁾Rice straw.

^a–cMeans within a row followed by a different letter are significantly different (P < .05).

Table 5. Effect of group size on behavioural characteristics of steer calves.

Items		Grouping			Time	Time × group
		G4	G3	G2
Time (min/12 h)
Feeding	Con.^1)	25.03 ± 9.43^ns	28.92 ± 5.88^ns	28.13 ± 5.57^ns	**	*
	RS^2)	43.16 ± 17.23^ns	47.92 ± 12.51^ns	48.00 ± 9.98^ns	**	*
Standing		362.53 ± 24.83^ab	368.00 ± 24.53^a	345.97 ± 27.34^b	ns	ns
Lying down		274.72 ± 20.95^ab	264.65 ± 26.60^b	290.66 ± 25.04^a	ns	ns
Walking		17.69 ± 2.33^a	14.27 ± 2.35^b	10.38 ± 1.57^c	*	*
Count (number/12 h)
Drinking		13.89 ± 3.33^a	11.19 ± 3.74^b	9.03 ± 3.06^b	**	*
Self-grooming		19.38 ± 6.00^ns	18.65 ± 3.21^ns	18.19 ± 4.35^ns	**	*
Scratching		3.38 ± 0.95^ns	3.24 ± 1.17^ns	2.94 ± 1.81^ns	**	**
Rubbing		13.83 ± 2.55^a	12.69 ± 2.64^ab	11.59 ± 1.87^b	*	*
Pairwise grooming		15.42 ± 3.60^ns	14.44 ± 2.42^ns	13.38 ± 2.58^ns	*	*
Leaning		8.47 ± 3.17^b	10.63 ± 2.68^a	6.41 ± 1.39^c	*	*
Fighting		8.06 ± 2.10^a	6.16 ± 1.51^b	4.13 ± 1.82^c	**	**

Notes: Values are the mean ± standard deviation. ^ns: Not significant. ¹⁾Concentrate, ²⁾Rice straw.

^a–cMeans within a row followed by a different letter are significantly different (P < .05).