Weaned calves....

[eric]

From what I gather, most folks wean calves at about 7 mos. Is this to allow the already rebred cow a couple months to get her act together and prepare to nurse the coming newborn calf? If so, then what if the cow wasn't rebred right after giving birth, is it still necessary to wean the calf or will the mama do it naturally? My specific situation is this: I have 2 calves I bought as pairs in November. The calves are now 6 1/2 mos old, and the cows were just recently rebred, like within the last 2-3 weeks. So the cows are'nt due again until Feb or March of '04. Do I still need to wean the calves at 7 mos or will the mother do it when it comes time. And what are the consequences for not weaning, any longterm effects on mama or calf?

 

[hillbilly]

I would just leave them on there if you got plenty of grass, cows are still milking good, cows are staying in pretty good condition[4+],prices dont start to go down.
Cows really only need 3 months to get ready for their next calf, but you dont want to run them down too much.
Hillbilly

 

[Anonymous]

If you have a bull with your cows you might want to wean or take the bull out, depending on the breed, but some calves will breed at seven or eight months, and you don't want that. I don't know if there is a bull with them or not, but it's something to think about.