calf weaner question

[kenojoe]

I am thinking of trying calf weaners on a few calves . I was wondering if they stay in fairly well. How tight do you put them in? I was thinking about some I saw in Valley Vet that have the wing nut adjustment (nylon w/ points). What are your experiences with these and how well do they work. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Tealduck]

You can try them but calves are smart little critters! If the gadgets are what I'm thinking about, the calves either learn to turn their heads sideways or they learn to sort of flip it up to get it out of their way and not poke mama. We've only had one to come off of a calf, usually they stay put. They just don't work well for us. We have just found it easier to seperate the cows and calves.

Duck

 

[Roadapple]

I use the ones from "Quiet Wean". $44.00 for 25, Canadian, I believe. Work excellent. Easy to put in and take out. I leave them in a little longer than they say, usually 10 days. Separate them with a fence and you'll hear very little bawling. Never had 1 go off feed or get sick. Very seldom have 1 come out. Their web site is Quiet Wean .com.

 

[Scotty]

I have used those from VV. They work well. I had trouble getting a calve in a pen and he kept his for 6 weeks and finally lost it. One size fits all. I used them on 600 lb calves. Put them in and 4 days wean the calves naturally is how Prairy Farm report said to use them. I leave mine in for three weeks and then take the calve away.

 

[Susie David]

Good luck....in my experience the calves quickly learn to turn their heads and the device just flaps away.
The best method that I've found is to just put them in a seperate pasture or pen for five or six weeks.
Just my two bits worth...Dmc

 

[nrs farm]

I use the ones from "Quiet Wean". $44.00 for 25, Canadian, I believe. Work excellent. Easy to put in and take out. I leave them in a little longer than they say, usually 10 days. Separate them with a fence and you'll hear very little bawling. Never had 1 go off feed or get sick. Very seldom have 1 come out. Their web site is Quiet Wean .com.

Same experience here. We too let them in 10 days. They work great for us as well. Been using them for 3 years now with great success. Very little bawling, which is important for me since I live fairly close to a small town. I use to dread weaning time for fear of the neighbors complaining and losing sleep. Our calves used to bawl till they were hoarse (about 3-4 days). Cows bawled as well. Not anymore. I have not really tried fence line weaning that well. Just one time, and the calves broke through the wire. In the past, I tried to pen them with gates between them but they still bawled. I tried putting them in separate buildings with some success (it seemed to diminish the sound). Then we tried the quiet wean. We now get a good nights sleep. We used to have to give meds for Cocci and everything else it seems. No longer. I cannot speak highly enough about them...although others apparently have had bad experiences with them.

I emailed one of the researchers (Joseph M. Stookey) and he recommended the 10 days. He did not recommend much longer than that due to nose irritation.

 

[KNERSIE]

I have used both the metal type with the flap and the nylon one and from my experience the nylon ones work much better.

I seldom have lost one, but on the odd occasion it has cracked next to the wingnut. I leave mine in longer, usually about six weeks and put them in as tight as the wingnut will allow.

There will always be one calf that's to clever for the weaning ring especially if his dam has long teats, in that case you have no option but to seperate them.

 

[George Monk]

Does using calf weaners have the same effect as castration? :lol2:

 

[Muratic]

I read the topic name and I just HAD to open the thread. Sorry, I must have my mind in the gutter tonight.
:help:

 

[Tod Dague]

We use the nylon and have had good luck with them so far. We usually leave them in for 2 weeks. Maybe my calves are dumber than others. ;-)

 

[Farmgirl]

We used the plastic weaners on 2 calves and had similar experiences as others. One calf we left the weaner on for 7 weeks or so and never separated her from her mother. We checked it often to make sure it wasn't rubbing a sore. She never figured out how to suck. The cow has very short teats. I think that was key. No bawling. It was great!

The other calf was another story. He figured out how to suck pretty quick. We had to separate from the cow. This cow has longer teats than the first. Another factor was this cow wanted her calf to suck. The other cow didn't care.

All in all we will use the weaners again. Like others have said, if you put the weaner in for a couple of weeks then separate that is probably the best mix. Certainly lessens the bawling and stress of everyone.

 

[blk mule]

Seprate a minimum of 7-8 wks. works best for me.


PS tried about everything going.


blk mule