Winter 2026

Highlighting farmer views about social housing for dairy calves in Canada

The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) and Dairy Farmers of Canada published the first Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle in 2009, setting national standards for dairy farms in Canada. In 2023, the Code was revised and now includes the requirement that, by 2031, indoor-housed calves are housed in pairs (Figure 1) or groups (Figure 2) by four weeks of age. This change in the Code reflects research showing that social housing of calves during the milk feeding period improves solid feed intake and learning ability. While many farmers have already transitioned to social housing, including about 40% of BC dairy farms, this change in management practice may be difficult for some farmers.

To better understand dairy farmer views on calf housing and the new policy, researchers working at UBC’s Animal Welfare Program interviewed and visited dairy farmers in British Columbia and Alberta from 2023-2025. This Research Report combines key findings from two studies: 1) farmer interviews on social housing as a practice as well as a Code requirement, and 2) interviews with farmers who have transitioned from individual to social housing.

What are farmer views about implementing this new practice?

Given the proposed changes to the Dairy code calf housing section (see page 13), we interviewed farmers in British Columbia and Alberta to hear their views on social housing for calves. Some of the farmers we talked with were still using individual housing, and others had already made the transition to social housing. For those using individual housing, negative views regarding social housing included concerns around cross-sucking and calf health. For those using social housing, farmers described seeing calmer calves, improved growth and spoke about the calves being able to play and exercise.

During the interviews we also asked farmers about their trust in the Code development process, and what they had heard about the requirement for social housing. Some farmers expressed distrust in the Code development process, stating that the views of farmers were not adequately reflected in the Code. Indeed, some explicitly stated that they would not comply with the requirement. However, other farmers we spoke with relayed their participation in the Code development process, discussing their active participation in the public comment period and other outreach events. Overall, our conversations with farmers indicate that more could be done to improve understanding of how farmers are represented in the Code development process and other aspects of dairy farming governance.

What do farmers need when transitioning from individual to social housing?

In another study, we interviewed BC farmers who had either already adopted social housing or had tried it in the past and asked them about their experiences when making this change. Participants' reported that adopting social housing could take considerable lengths of time, and that it was not always a smooth, linear process. Sometimes, farmers needed to build new facilities, and needed time to work through challenges such as cross-sucking, disease management, and competition between calves. However, the large majority who made this transition persisted with the practice, due to perceived benefits from social housing, including improved growth rates, easier weaning, and easier cleaning of calf facilities. Although we only spoke to a few individuals who had tried social housing and then abandoned it, these participants reported that their lack of success in managing issues such as cross sucking contributed to the decision to returning to individual housing.

How can farmers be supported during this transition?

Our results indicate that the transition to social housing requires can require time and patience to resolve different challenges that emerge in adjusting to a new management system. We recommend that farms considering this transition see this as a process that will likely require a series of changes and ongoing problem solving. Access to trusted advisors can help. For example, a number of farms that successfully transitioned to social housing reported that they had discussed challenges such as cross-sucking with their veterinarian, and implemented the advice on their farm.

For further information, please contact Daniel Weary (danweary@mail.ubc.ca) or Marina (Nina) von Keyserlingk (nina@mail.ubc.ca). The information in this article is based on the following studies:

Katherine E. Koralesky, Taylor Dyck, Christine Kuo, Marina A. G. von Keyserlingk, Daniel M. Weary. (2025). Social housing for dairy calves: Farmer acceptance of Canadian industry-led requirements. Journal of Dairy Science, 108, 12438-12449. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-26881

Christine Kuo, Daniel M. Weary, and Marina A.G. von Keyserlingk. (2025). Dairy farmers' experiences with adopting social housing for milk-fed dairy calves. Journal of Dairy Science, 108, 13425-13438. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2025-27248

General funding for UBC’s Animal Welfare program was provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council’s (NSERC) Alliance-Mitacs Accelerate grant awarded to DMW and MvK with contributions from our industrial partners, including the Dairy Farmers of Canada (Ottawa, ON, Canada), British Columbia Dairy Association (Burnaby, BC Canada), Alberta Milk (Edmonton, AB, Canada), SaskMilk (Regina, SK, Canada), Dairy Farmers of Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB, Canada), Saputo Inc. (Montreal, QC, Canada), Agropur coopérative (Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada), Vitalus Nutrition Inc. (Abbotsford, BC, Canada), Intervet Canada Corporation (Kirkland, QC, Canada), Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health (Burlington, ON, Canada), British Columbia Cattle Industry Development Fund (Kamloops, BC, Canada), The Semex Alliance (Guelph, ON, Canada), and Lactanet (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, Canada). None of the listed industrial partners played a role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Research Reports

Research Reports are published throughout the year by UBC’s Dairy Education and Research Centre (DERC), a centre affiliated with the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, to share applied aspects of research from published articles in refereed scientific journals. The Dairy Education and Research Centre is used by several research groups on campus including Animal Reproduction and Animal Welfare and Behaviour. Other groups interested in conducting research at the Centre are encouraged to contact the UBC DERC Manager of Research, Health and Animal Welfare – Dr. Julia Lomb (Julia.Lomb@ubc.ca).

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