How milk-fed dairy calves perform in stable versus dynamic groups

The objective of the present field trial was to compare calf performance among pre-weaned calves in two different group housing systems, stable groups ("all in-all out") and dynamic groups (continuous introduction). Performance data was collected from 484 calves randomly assigned to the two systems at six large (230-450 cows) commercial Danish dairy herds. All six farms had both systems simultaneously in the same stall, and under identical management and feeding regimes. Calves in stable groups had significantly higher daily live weight gain than calves in dynamic groups (870 vs. 810 g/days). The prevalence of both diarrhoea and respiratory disease were more than twice as high among calves in dynamic groups compared to calves in stable groups.