Successful pair housing of dairy calves

Housing calves in pairs can benefit their health and welfare. Read recommendations to improve success following research by Dr Sophie Mahendran, Royal Veterinary College.

To achieve a first calving age of 24 months, heifers need to average 0.7–0.8 kg of weight gain per day. If you’re aiming to calve at 22 months, growth needs to be higher at 0.9 kg/day.

Improving calf management, such as housing in pairs, can maximise the opportunity calves have to reach their potential and achieve these key growth targets.

You can adapt existing housing by binding individual hutches together.

Dr Mahendran suggests placing hutches side by side with a gated area in front or using eight-foot gates to create a long run with a hutch at either end. See photos below for example set ups.

Hutches can get hot in warm weather. Be wary of heat stress and provide a shaded outside area to reduce the risk.

Cross sucking is heightened by restricted milk allowance or consuming milk too quickly.

Ideally, calves should be sucking for five minutes. To extend their feeding time, use slow feeding teats and good volumes of milk.

For a twice-daily feeding system, Dr Mahendran recommends the following regime:

Age (weeks)     Litres (total)

1–2                    6

3–5                    8

6–8                    10

9–12                  Wean down

Add environmental enrichment to housing by using items such as rope, chain, brushes, hay nets or teats screwed onto a plank of wood.

You could use bottles containing starter concentrates with a nipple feeder on the end.

It is tricky in hutches, but giving calves room to play and run (ideally more than 3m² per calf) increases enrichment.

Providing lots of bedding also helps to initiate play behaviour.

Pairing a larger and smaller calf together can impact the smaller calf, as the larger one tends to consume more feed more quickly. Try to match calves by body size, sex and breed. 

In only 10% of sick calf cases did both calves in a hutch experience disease. This shows that social contact and social stabilisation can reduce disease risk.

Retrofitting sheds is more financially appealing, but it can be difficult to adapt general-purpose sheds to be suitable for calves.

Drainage is vital, making good flooring very important. Invest in concrete with an appropriate slope (5%) to ensure effective drainage under the straw and away from calves.

Getting drainage right and keeping bedding dry helps to keep calves healthy by reducing bacteria and viruses.

Mechanical ventilation, such as positive pressure tube ventilation systems, will remove stagnant air in the shed.

Get your vet or calf advisor to calculate fan size, speed and hole location for fresh air distribution across the shed.

Keep draughts off calves by using solid barriers up to 1.2 m, which allows for fresh air circulation above the calves without making them cold.

During an AHDB and Calf Action Network webinar, Dr Sophie Mahendran presented her findings from two calf housing studies.