Newborn dairy calves are typically taken from their mothers at birth or shortly thereafter. Some female calves are kept as replacements for individuals in the dairy herd. The other calves are sent to slaughter as babies, to veal farms, or to be raised for beef. Many are sent to stockyards when only one or two days old, even before they can walk. It is increasingly common for baby calves who will be leaving the farm not to receive colostrum, the antibody-rich milk produced by their mothers.
Colostrum helps protect calves from disease and increases their chance of survival.
They may be given no opportunity to rest or eat. Denied water and solid food, they are fed a diet consisting solely of an intentionally iron-deficient milk replacement, often containing antibiotics, which they typically lap from a bucket twice a day. Veal is a by-product of the dairy industry that owes its existence to the surplus calves delivered by ten million dairy cows every year. Burned-out dairy cows and newborn calves make up a large percentage of downed animals, who often suffer from brutal treatment at livestock markets. Baby calves that cannot walk are often dragged or thrown and are trampled by other animals.