The Impact of Group versus Individual Housing on the Performance of Karadi Calves in Sulaymaniyah Governorate Prior to Weaning

Abstract

Early housing arrangements have a significant impact on the wellbeing, health, and development of dairy calves. There is little information on how native Karadi calves in Iraq's Kurdistan Region react to various home configurations. The performance, health, behavior, and hematological parameters of Karadi dairy calves were assessed in this study in relation to individual, pair, and group housing from birth to 18 weeks of age. The study, which involved fifteen females newborn Karadi calves, was carried out at the University of Sulaimani, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Animal Science Farm during February and June 2025. Three housing treatments were randomly allocated to the calves: group, pair, and individual housing. Weekly measurements of body weight and withers height were made, clinical health factors were routinely noted, and monthly blood samples were taken to evaluate immunological and hematological markers. With treatment as fixed factor, the data were examined using least squares ANOVA. According to the results, there were no significant differences in body weight and withers height between the treatments throughout the preweaning phase. On the other hand, group-housed calves showed a significantly greater body weight compared individually-housed calves starting at week 11. In later development stages, pair housing produced the tallest withers. With relatively brief variations in fecal scores, clinical health markers were largely low during all treatments, indicating good general health condition. According to hematological research, pair housing was linked to increased counts of monocytes, granulocytes, lymphocytes, and total white blood cells at many time periods, indicating improved immunological response in both individual and group housing.