Dairy cows form stable social bonds with preferred companions. Management decisions that respect these relationships reduce stress and improve welfare throughout the production cycle.
Dairy cow social bonds are real, stable and welfare-significant. A cow that loses her preferred companion to a different group or to culling shows measurable distress - reduced intake, changed activity patterns, and elevated cortisol. Modern dairy management practices that move cows between groups for milking efficiency routinely break these bonds, imposing repeated welfare costs that are invisible in productivity data. Recognising social bonds as a welfare variable - and making management decisions that minimise unnecessary bond disruption - is both a welfare improvement and a proxy for better overall management quality.