Pre-weaning nutrition in dairy calves affects both short-term welfare and long-term health, performance and welfare outcomes, with enhanced milk feeding programmes showing significant benefits.
Restricted milk feeding in dairy calves causes chronic hunger - a direct welfare harm expressed through cross-sucking, non-nutritive sucking and other frustration behaviours. Enhanced feeding programmes that provide more milk, and ad libitum access where feasible, produce calves that are healthier, grow better and show fewer signs of chronic frustration.