Is it a good idea to remove the young calves that are still nursing from their mother in order for the mother to have enough milk for her new calf. Also, I have calves that are still nursing at about 10 months old, and it seem that they are pulling down the mother as to her weight and health. Your opinions please.
Pregnant Hiefers that are still nursing calf
- Thread starter Tripple C
- Start date
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iowafarmer
Well-known member
They should of been weaned months ago. Especially if they are on hefeirs. You don't want to let them on an old cow let alone a hefeir becasue a heifer is still trying to grow and mature themselves. And yes they will definaitly make the heifers loose body condition.
rockridgecattle
Well-known member
What's done is done.
Learn from this big mistake
When are these cows due to calve? I hope you have a few months here.
Get them on a higher protien, grain, pellet ration so they can gain before they calve. Becasue the cows are in poor condition I would have dried colstrum with close to 100 Immuglobulins on hand for each calf born. This is because their colostrum will more than likely not be worth much (this will be costly).
When they calve continue feeding heavy so they can gain and feed a calf.
This mistake will cost big time. You are going to see the $ losses for probably 2 years +
Poor doer calf this coming year, could cost in drugs if not great colostrum and poor milk resulting in a poor quality calf at the next weaning.
Poor or no breed back for the next season, resulting in...
late or no calf the following year
add to that the extra feed to get them growing again and gaining weight...end result...
ouch to the bottom line for two years minimum
Learn from this big mistake
When are these cows due to calve? I hope you have a few months here.
Get them on a higher protien, grain, pellet ration so they can gain before they calve. Becasue the cows are in poor condition I would have dried colstrum with close to 100 Immuglobulins on hand for each calf born. This is because their colostrum will more than likely not be worth much (this will be costly).
When they calve continue feeding heavy so they can gain and feed a calf.
This mistake will cost big time. You are going to see the $ losses for probably 2 years +
Poor doer calf this coming year, could cost in drugs if not great colostrum and poor milk resulting in a poor quality calf at the next weaning.
Poor or no breed back for the next season, resulting in...
late or no calf the following year
add to that the extra feed to get them growing again and gaining weight...end result...
ouch to the bottom line for two years minimum
I would check with the feed store and use a dairy mix when the neww calves come. Probably even 1 month before. It will have nonrumenable protien and rumenable protien. Rumenable helps break down the forage so they can eat more and get more nutrients. Non rumenable stays with the cud and goes into the rest of the stomach and helps the Milk BIG TIME. This is also very good for 1st calf heifers. Corn gluten pellets has good rumenable protien. Soybean meal has very high nonrumenable protien. PM me if you wish and I could try to find the recipie we used to use.
bigbull338
Well-known member
if you have any calves 7 months old or older on cows wean them now.a cow has to have some time to rest an get ready for the next calf.if she isnt in good flesh she will take longer to breed back.
very few cows will wean thier own calves. i know people who try to let it go, but the next calf suffers for it. like has been stated calves need to be pulled at 7 months so the cow can get back in shape, especially if it is this time of year cows go down fas tin the winter months.
Nebraska Sandhills
Well-known member
It is not uncommon in our area to leave the calves on the fall calving cows for an extended period of time. We actually leave our late August and September calves on our cows until the middle of July. If we don't, the cows have a tendency to get too fat, and are more apt to get played out when they are trying to calve on hot August and September days. We have found the bull calves to easily gain 3 lbs/day from the time they go to grass (Mid May) until we pull them away just on good grass and mamma's milk.
This setup is based solely on our calving season in relation to forage availabilty--it wouldn't work for our spring calving cows, but it does work for fall calving and has proven to be in our best interest to do so.
This setup is based solely on our calving season in relation to forage availabilty--it wouldn't work for our spring calving cows, but it does work for fall calving and has proven to be in our best interest to do so.
Jeanne - Simme Valley
Well-known member
Basically, what everyone has said is correct. Beef producers generally wean their calves around 7 months of age, and probably sooner, off of first calf heifers.
As mentioned, fall calvers would still be nursing their calves thru winter, but they require good feed. I know I wouldn't be keeping them on til July - I wean fall calves around April.
But, this depends on the individual operation, and the available feed, AND the condition of the dams.
As mentioned, fall calvers would still be nursing their calves thru winter, but they require good feed. I know I wouldn't be keeping them on til July - I wean fall calves around April.
But, this depends on the individual operation, and the available feed, AND the condition of the dams.
