The rearing period between weaning and first calving shapes lifetime dairy cow welfare through its effects on development, social skills, and disease experience.
Dairy calf rearing in individual hutches prevents the social learning and play behavior that are essential for normal behavioral development. Calves housed with peers learn social skills, play behaviors, and environmental exploration that shape their resilience and adaptability throughout life. Individually housed calves show greater fearfulness, reduced adaptability to novel environments, and impaired social integration after weaning. Group housing with appropriate management achieves equivalent health outcomes while significantly improving developmental welfare. The lifetime welfare investment of appropriate early rearing is substantial and well-evidenced.