Dairy calves are typically separated from their mothers within hours of birth and housed individually. Growing evidence shows that social housing produces significantly better welfare outcomes for calves.
Calf welfare science has undergone a quiet revolution. For years, individual housing was justified on disease control grounds, but research has repeatedly shown that social housing - keeping calves in pairs or small groups from an early age - does not increase disease risk when managed properly and produces dramatically better welfare outcomes. Socially housed calves are less fearful of novel situations, learn more quickly, and express more play behavior. These benefits matter beyond early life - they may influence how well the animal copes with the social challenges of later group housing in the adult herd.