Individual hutch rearing of dairy calves is common practice but impairs social development. Understanding the welfare trade-offs and moving to group rearing improves outcomes.
Individual calf hutch rearing was developed for disease prevention but inadvertently imposed severe social deprivation. Calves reared alone show higher stress responses, slower learning, and more fearful behaviour as adults. Research consistently shows pair housing achieves comparable or better health outcomes while providing essential social contact. The additional benefits of social rearing include play behaviour that supports physical development and social learning that improves integration into adult herds. The welfare cost of individual rearing is significant and largely avoidable.