Housing for Growing Animals

In the previous chapter, we dealt with the effects of housing on the welfare of adult cattle. In this chapter, we deal with housing for growing cattle. We cover a diverse range of housing systems, ranging from the individual crate for veal calves, through cow-calf herds, to the outdoor feedlots of North American beef cattle. We cannot hope to cover all of the diverse welfare problems that exist within this range of housing systems. Instead, as in the previous chapters, we concentrate on those “hot” issues that have attracted most of the attention of researchers in animal welfare, such as housing for veal calves and indoor housing for beef production. As with the previous chapter, readers must remain aware that research comparing housing systems is notoriously difficult to interpret. The welfare of animals in any type of housing system will depend upon the details of the system, including the management and nutritional regimes. This makes it difficult to make general statements about the effects of housing systems per se on animal welfare.