Common welfare problems in dairy calves

Area 1: good feeding

• Hunger, malnutrition

Area 2: Good housing

• Lack of space

Area 3: Good health

• Enteric and respiratory disease – markets/ mixing/ transport
• Painful procedures : Castration, disbudding, tail-docking, branding
• Castration : rubber ring with local anesthesia
• Disbudding: thermal or chemical cautery with local anesthesia hence avoid amputating horns in old animals
• Tail docking
• Branding: freeze branding better than hot
• Ear tags
• Nose rings

Area 4: Appropriate behavior

a. Negative emotional states

• Anxiety from early separation from cow
• Frustration from social isolation or inability to suckle
• Mixing at markets

b. Inability to express species-typical behaviors

• No suckling
• No grazing/ eating roughage

c. Human-animal relationships

• Rough handling