Calf Management: Individual or Paired Housing Affects Dairy Calf Health and Welfare

Calf Management: Individual or Paired Housing Affects Dairy Calf Health and Welfare

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Previous research has indicated that preweaned dairy calves 8 Pin Wire Harness reared in pairs compared with individually have improved performance and indicators of animal welfare.One hundred and thirty Holstein female calves completed the trial, with eighty-five being allocated to paired housing and forty-five calves being allocated to individual housing.Daily live weight gain (DLWG), treatments and mortality were recorded throughout the preweaning period.

Salivary cortisol, latency to feed and latency to approach a novel object were assessed at batching.There were no significant differences in DLWG, mortality and disease treatments between the average of the pair and the individually housed calves, although the pair-reared calves were quicker to approach the milk feed after batching and interacted more quickly with a novel object.The heaviest born calves within the pair had the GI-PRO highest DLWG from birth to weaning, with a higher percentage of calves approaching the novel object, compared with the lightest born calf within the pair.

This study shows that calves within a pair may have significantly different performance and welfare during the preweaning period, with the heavier calf outperforming and displaying less fear and more exploratory behaviour than the lighter calf within a pair.