Dairy calves are separated from their mothers within hours to days of birth, causing acute distress in both animals, and are then raised individually or in small groups before weaning — a period with significant welfare implications.
Dairy calf welfare begins with the separation event that causes genuine distress in both dam and calf — vocalizations representing mutual searching behavior that has evolutionary significance for mother-offspring bonding. Whether early separation is less distressing than later separation is contested, but it represents welfare harm regardless of timing. The solitary housing typical of individual calf raising prevents the social play behavior that calves are highly motivated to perform and that supports normal social development. Group housing allows play and social contact with accompanying welfare benefits, though disease management is more challenging. The accumulating evidence favors welfare-positive calf rearing through group housing, extended milk feeding, and graduated weaning as improvements that can be implemented in commercial systems.