Why We Separate Baby Calves from their Mother

Taking calves away from their mama cow is a common practice on dairy farms. As an industry, we understand this can be a bit alarming if it’s a new concept, but, ultimately, we make this animal welfare decision based on sound science and generations of animal husbandry practices.

Cows are herd animals, which means they are most comfortable with other cows their size and age. You’ll notice our heifers and mama cows are separated into different pens, which is similar to teenagers hanging out in one friend group, and twenty-something moms hanging out in a different friend group.

Our girls tend to do things together: eat together, milk together, lay in the mud together.

After a calf is born, a mama cow will lick off the calf to not only clean it up but to also help stimulate the calf to get up and take its first steps. Sometimes cows will step on, lay on, or crush their calf. To implement an added layer of safety. we remove the calf from the birthing pen and relocate to a comfortable, safe, calf area. Generally, dairy cows aren’t maternal. So if the cow abandons the calf, we step in and dry it off ourselves. (see videos below for examples)

We, also separate the calf to focus on its health. As dairy farmers, we’re not only able to ensure calfs receive adequate colostrum, we’re also able to ensure that colostrum is high quality.

Think of this like being on the offense instead of defense.

Calves, like all newborns, are born with almost no immune system, so removing the calf from the maternity area soon after birth lessens the calf’s exposure to bacteria. Having the calves in their own pens allows us to monitor them for signs of illness.

Overall, we can better monitor their water/milk/hay/grain intake and make sure they’re growing properly.

Take a look at our calf barn in the video below.