Group Housing Without Autofeeders is Possible
After raising dairy calves in individual isolation for decades, there’s now a growing body of research that indicates calves actually fare better when they are reared with their peers. Specifically, the results point to better social learning that supports quicker development of eating and drinking habits. Group-housed calves also have been shown to have higher milk and starter-grain intakes, improved average daily gain, and earlier rumination compared to individually raised calves. Finally, calves raised with their peers have been shown to experience less stress at weaning.
There is a common misconception that the only way to achieve group housing of preweaned calves is to invest in a high cost autofeeder system. While autofeeder barns can work very well, I have experienced first-hand that you can also raise healthy, well-grown calves in group pens using bottles. For more than 5 years, I managed the calf enterprise for a 10,000-cow Idaho dairy that built a system to raise their heifer calves starting at birth in pens of 9 animals each. When all the pens were full, each barn held about 300 animals, and all were bottle-fed until weaning at approximately 8 weeks. When they were weaned, their 9-calf “family” stayed together and was commingled into larger groups.
The dairy switched from raising calves in individual hutches to group housing in pens to capture the research-proven advantages of companion rearing. It also brought both the calves and their caretakers under a roof and out of the elements. The barn design with head-lock stanchions allowed for efficient and low-stress handling during tasks like dehorning and vaccination. The downside of group housing is that calves definitely do “share” diseases, which is offset in part by the other health-related benefits of companion housing. But it took us a while to work the kinks out of the system and restore order to our calf health program. Along the way, we learned many important fundamentals of group housing, including:
“ I think the most important thing I have learned through the process of raising calves in both individual systems and group housing is that there is definitely more than one way to raise healthy, productive herd replacements. ”
(1) Space – Calves need enough dry, well-bedded pen space to comfortably lie down and rest. Each pen also should provide enough space for every calf to drink their bottle at the same time, and line up to eat starter grain simultaneously as well. Finally, they need access to fresh, clean water, and those waterers should be at an appropriate height so they can drink comfortably.
(2) Ventilation – When you put a roof and walls over calves, you need curtains and fans to keep air fresh and regulate the atmosphere. If there are 50-mile-an-hour winds, the sidewall curtains definitely should be down. But if the outside air is still, well-fed calves can tolerate a lot of cold if the air is fresh and fans are moving it.
(3) Feeding support – After calves received their colostrum in the maternity area, they were moved directly into the group pens. Those newborns usually didn’t jump up and take a bottle right away and needed special attention by patient caregivers to get started. It typically took about 3 days to get them off and running. Interestingly, they almost always went to the same feeding stanchion in which they were trained for the rest of their bottle-feeding days.
(4) Nutritional consistency – We fed the same calf milk replacer formulation for the entire milk-feeding phase. For group housing, I advise at least 24% protein and 20% fat. Calves were fed 2 quarts of milk replacer twice a day for the first week. For the next 2 weeks, we bumped the milk replacer to 3 quarts twice a day, and added a 3-quart electrolyte feeding midday to support them through the age period in which they typically are challenged by scours-causing pathogens. For the next 3 weeks, they were fed a gallon of milk replacer twice a day, then dropped back to a 3-quart feeding once a day for their final week before weaning. Free-choice starter grain also was offered immediately after birth, starting with a “sprinkle” and increasing incrementally as they consumed more. We fed no hay in the preweaning period.
(5) Sanitation dedication – We learned the hard way that everything that touches those calves must be meticulously clean, from the feeding equipment to the concrete floors to the stanchions they put their heads through every day. It actually only took us about an hour twice a day to feed the calves. A good share of the rest of the work day was spent cleaning and sanitizing the entirety of the calf environment.
(6) Eyes on the calves – Autofeeders are equipped to signal changes in calf behavior based on their contact with the computerized feeders. In the absence of that technology, human observation is critical. That means looking at every calf as it approaches its bottle, watching it drink, and viewing its behavior and physical appearance in non-feeding times. We watched for scours, depression, eye expression and discharge, energy level, and playfulness. If any of those observations were off, our first line of defense was electrolyte therapy.
(7) Documentation – Without computerized autofeeder records, another system needs to be in place to identify and track animals, their performance, and management steps like vaccinations and treatments. We used a scannable RFID tag system to enter computerized documentation, coupled with a manual chalk-marking system to facilitate individual care of animals needing extra attention.
My experiences with group housing were in a barn setting, but many operations are also successfully raising calves in groups using hutches. I think the most important thing I have learned through the process of raising calves in both individual systems and group housing is that there is definitely more than one way to raise healthy, productive herd replacements.
Some people have the notion that it is “easier” to raise calves in groups. I can testify that it absolutely is not easy. But when it is done well, it definitely can be better for the calves and their caretakers.
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There is a common misconception that the only way to achieve group housing of preweaned calves is to invest in a high cost autofeeder system. While autofeeder barns can work very well, I have experienced first-hand that you can also raise healthy, well-grown calves in group pens using bottles.