Effects of Pair Versus Individual Housing on the Behavior and Performance of Dairy Calves

This study compared the health, performance, and behavior of individually and pair-housed calves fed milk ad libitum by artificial teats. Calves were separated from their dams within 24h of birth and assigned to housing in either a single pen (10 calves) or a group pen (10 pairs of pair-housed calve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of dairy science 2002-02, Vol.85 (2), p.360-364
Main Authors: Chua, B., Coenen, E., van Delen, J., Weary, D.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Animal productions
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Biological and medical sciences
calf housing, weight gain, social behavior, welfare
Cattle - growth & development
Dairying - methods
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Housing, Animal
Terrestrial animal productions
Vertebrates
Weaning
Weight Gain
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Summary:This study compared the health, performance, and behavior of individually and pair-housed calves fed milk ad libitum by artificial teats. Calves were separated from their dams within 24h of birth and assigned to housing in either a single pen (10 calves) or a group pen (10 pairs of pair-housed calves). Calves were gradually weaned at approximately 5 wk of age and remained on the experiment until wk 8. Behavior was video recorded during wk 2 to 8. Before and after weaning, calves gained weight steadily with no differences between treatments. During the week of weaning, pair-housed calves continued to gain weight normally, but the individually housed calves experienced a growth check. There were no differences between groups in the amounts of milk, starter, or hay consumed, or in the incidence of scouring. There were also no differences in the amount of time spent self-grooming, sucking on the teat, or lying down. However, pair-housed calves spent more time standing inactive, more time moving, and less time with their head out of the pen than individually housed animals. Paired calves spent approximately 2% of the day in social contact, and the incidences of agonistic behavior and cross-sucking were very low. These results indicate that housing dairy calves in pairs allows benefits such as increased space for movement and social opportunities with no disadvantages in health and weight gains.
ISSN:0022-0302
1525-3198
DOI:10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(02)74082-4