Visual & Tactile Contact in Individually Housed Calves
This Welfare Topic aims to support Competent Authorities and other stakeholders with issues related to visual and tactile contact in individually housed calves. The documents published by the EURCAW Ruminants & Equines on this topic are not legally binding and may be updated periodically.
Legislation
The legal requirements referred to in thematic and indicator factsheets are based on EU legislation. National regulations in EU Member States may exceed these requirements.
Council Directive 2008/119/EC of 18 December 2008 laying down minimum standards for the protection of calves.
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Article 3
1. From 1 January 1998, the following provisions shall apply on all newly built or rebuilt holdings and on all those brought into use after that date:
(a) no calf shall be confined in an individual pen after the age of eight weeks, unless a veterinarian certifies that its health or behaviour requires it to be isolated in order to receive treatment. The width of any individual pen for a calf shall be at least equal to the height of the calf at the withers, measured in the standing position, and the length shall be at least equal to the body length of the calf, measured from the tip of the nose to the caudal edge of the tuber ischii (pin bone), multiplied by 1.1. Individual pens for calves (except those for isolating sick animals) must not have solid walls, but perforated walls which allow the calves to have direct visual and tactile contact.
©BOKU Schenkenfelder J
in individually housed calves
©EURCAW Hanlon A
in individually housed calves
©EURCAW Hanlon A
in individually housed calves
©EURCAW Hanlon A
in individually housed calves
©EURCAW Hanlon A
in individually housed calves
Knowledge
Housing calves individually during infancy is a common practice in dairy production, however, this routine disregards the social nature of bovines and strongly limits social contact between calves. In (near-) natural settings different, mostly affiliative interactions between a calf and other herd mates can be observed and it has been shown that calves are already motivated for social contact during their first weeks of life. Further, there is evidence that social isolation during infancy is associated with abnormal behaviour and developmental problems rendering social contact key to normal development of calves.
It is common practice in the dairy sector to separate calves from their dam shortly after birth and to keep them in individual pens during the first weeks of life. This routine, however, disregards the social nature of bovine species and strongly restricts or even rules out social contact between a calf and other adult or young conspecifics.
The Directive 2008/119/EC specifically refers to visual and tactile contact. In these Thematic Factsheets, the biological needs of calves, legal requirements and focus areas for inspection are described.
Tools for Inspection
Council Directive 2008/119/EC requires direct visual and tactile contact between calves in individual pens. Depending on structural features of partitions between pens different levels of restriction of visual and tactile contact may be experienced by calves (e.g., contact depends on body posture of calves). Two Indicator Factsheets provide methods for assessing visual and tactile contact in individually housed calves and group-housed calves as well as recommendations for inspection .
