Study on Social Housing in Dairy Calves
- A study by Marina von Keyserlingk of The University of British Columbia focuses on the impact of paired housing on the social competition skills of pre-weaning dairy calves.
- The research involved 18 3-week old bull and heifer calves divided into individual or pair housing at 11 days of age.
- The calves were tested to control for the influence of naturally bold personalities on their competitive abilities.
- After 5 days of testing, the results showed that pair-housed calves spent more time drinking from the bottle and were faster to approach the milk than individually housed calves.
- The University of Florida’s Department of Animal Sciences also examined how group housing impacts dairy calf personality traits.
- The study found that calves housed in pairs were bolder compared to calves individually before grouping, suggesting early-life social contact can influence personality traits in group-housed calves.
Recent studies have shown that early social housing can build behavioral skills, shape calf personalities, and set up animals for success in the herd. Personality is of growing interest in dairy cattle as it may be associated with outcomes related to an animal’s performance and welfare, including feeding behavior, weight gain for calves, and milk production in adults. A new study led by Marina von Keyserlingk of The University of British Columbia focused on how paired housing might impact the social competition skills of pre-weaning dairy calves. The research team looked at 18 3-week old bull and heifer calves divided equally into individual or pair housing at 11 days of age. After identifying their personalities, calves from each housing group were paired together for a competition over a single milk bottle. The results showed that pair-housed calves spent on average more time drinking from the bottle and were faster to approach the milk than individually housed calves. The second study at the University of Florida examined how group housing impacts dairy calf personality traits. The team found that calves housed in pairs were bolder compared to calves individually before grouping, suggesting that early-life social contact does have the potential to influence personality traits in group-housed calves.
· The 2 studies have been published in JDS Communications: Social housing improves dairy calves’ performance in a competition test – JDS Communications and Social contact from birth influences personality traits of group-housed dairy calves – JDS Communications
