Study and promotion of rearing practices for young dairy cattle, sheep and goats with an adult

This multidisciplinary project (animal welfare, zootechnics, economics, and more) aims to study and promote agro-ecological farming systems that leave dairy calves, kids and lambs under their dam or a nurse instead. The few farmers who are already practising these farming systems indicate that they are easy to implement, cost-effective, and improve animal health and welfare. This project aims to

1. carry out individual interviews with 60 farmers practising these systems in order to gain a better understanding of these systems,
2. assess animal welfare, farmer welfare and economic sustainability,
3. carry out focus groups to co-construct solutions to the difficulties still present and
4. disseminate the results to promote the diversity of agroecological systems as widely as possible, and not to promulgate a single solution.

• Institute Olga Triballat
• Foundation of France
• Four Paws Foundation (Animal welfare organisation)

• Further programmes

• Agribiodrôme (Organic farmers in the Drôme region)
• Syndicat Caprin de la Drôme
• ADDEAR de la Loire (Department for the Development of Agricultural and Rural Employment)

• Constancis Caroline (FiBL France)

• Harinck Elina (FiBL France)

Design and implementation of experiments, knowledge transfer

• FiBL France