Farm Animals

Cattle Welfare: Pre-weaning Calf Growth and Health

Pre-weaning nutrition management for dairy calves significantly affects both early welfare outcomes and lifelong health and productive performance.

Key Facts

Enhanced early nutrition programmes feeding more milk or milk replacer improve calf welfare and lifetime performance
Calves fed restricted amounts of milk show hunger behaviour and stereotypic oral behaviours
Pre-weaning morbidity from respiratory disease and diarrhoea is the leading welfare and economic concern
Passive immunity from colostrum is the most critical welfare determinant in the neonatal period

Welfare Considerations

Pre-weaning calf management is an investment in lifetime welfare and performance. Enhanced nutrition programmes that allow calves to grow at rates closer to natural suckler calf rates reduce hunger-based stress while improving metabolic programming for adult health and welfare.

What You Can Do

Support dairy producers implementing enhanced early nutrition for calves
Advocate for restricted milk feeding to be recognised as a welfare concern in dairy calf standards
Engage with research on optimal pre-weaning nutrition for dairy calf welfare and lifetime performance