weaning flaps

[gitnby]

do any of you use the weaning flaps on calves? if so what results do you get...? what brand or design is best,how long do you leave them in?? thanks for the help

 

[Travlr]

do any of you use the weaning flaps on calves? if so what results do you get...? what brand or design is best,how long do you leave them in?? thanks for the help

Never have and I doubt it's a good idea. My thought is that I want a cow to mother a calf, and anything that aggravates the mother while the calf is still around would probably make the cow less interested in mothering.
Separate the calf at weaning, even if it means selling it, or building fence... IMO.

 

[coachg]

I’m a fence line weaning guy . Never used the flaps and travir has a valid point why not to .

 

[GoWyo]

We use them. I usually wean the bull calves a couple weeks before the rest of the calves. Put them in a week before weaning. Pull the calves off the cow and little to no bawling from either cow or calf. I don't want to do all of them, but for 20-odd bull calves it makes things easy and less stressful for our main income source to get a smooth start. I have 2 weeks I can watch them close before the commotion of weaning and sorting the rest of the calves. Plus I can get the bull calves into their little starter pasture just before weaning the main bunch so they are out of the way for the other work.

 

[sassafras manor]

We use them and have much quieter weaning than our neighbors plus they go to feed faster vs pacing the fence line bawling at mom. We put the flaps in and leave the calves in with the herd for 5 or 6 days. Once the 5 or 6 day period is past, we pull the flaps and leave the calves in the corral for another 5 or 6 days and the cows are loved across the driveway to a further pasture. It works flawlessly and we have had the same flaps for 6 or 7 years. I hand wash them and then run them thru the dishwasher and put them away for the year. We use the yellow Quiet Wean flaps from JDA Livestock Innovations.

 

[gitnby]

thank you all

 

[Moparmaniac07]

If you do decide to use them, I would be careful on what you buy. I was going to try it this year on a bull that took back to nursing after being separated for 3 months, and bought a pack from amazon. They looked like they'd tear the septum up, lots of parting line flash and sharp edges, would need a bit of sanding to make them usable. I ended up separating that bull from that cow again and didn't use them yet, but we'll see how it goes when rejoin the herd.

 

[Brute 23]

I'm a firm believer in hard weaning calves. Meaning move the mommas far away enough they can hear or see them.

We just weaned a few calves mid July. In 48hrs they were turned out the pens in a big trap and on to a regular pasture a couple days later. If momma isn't there and on the other side, they dont walk the fence with her and talk to her. If she is gone, they attach to the group and genetics take over. The moms get back to business faster also.

It will show you which heifers are smart and settle the fastest, also. You can see who you future boss cows are. It's like a crystal ball in to the future life of her as a cow.

 

[GoWyo]

If you do decide to use them, I would be careful on what you buy. I was going to try it this year on a bull that took back to nursing after being separated for 3 months, and bought a pack from amazon. They looked like they'd tear the septum up, lots of parting line flash and sharp edges, would need a bit of sanding to make them usable. I ended up separating that bull from that cow again and didn't use them yet, but we'll see how it goes when rejoin the herd.

The orange ones have a seam from the mold they are formed in. I cleaned up all mine with a pocket knife and sand paper. The yellow Quiet Wean flaps will fall out easier. The orange ones stay in but are harder to install and take out. They can irritate or put a hole in the septum, but close up and heal in a day or two after taking them out. If you don't have the space to take the cows a mile away from the weaning pen, these will save having cows tear down fences trying to get to their calf. I don't care what anybody else does - they work if you want to basically have a virtual fence line weaning system without having to deal with a fence line.

 

[Double R Ranch]

We have used several kinds of them over the years. We still use crown weaning rings when we have a persistent nurser post weaning. We leave them in for 6 months to a year to be sure the issue is resolved. We have had the best luck with the quiet wean weaning flaps. Easy to install and easy to remove. Seem to be the most effective to date. We install them and turn the calves back out with the cows for 3-5 days on average. Sometimes 7 days. It can irritate their noses so it's not recommended to leave in longer than that. The cows still mother the calves and the calves don't get very upset. Cows may call a little when their udders get sore but it's a lot less balling all the way around. They do continue to try and nurse but settle down once they figure out it's pointless and go to grazing with the herd. We have had them get them off from time to time or figure out how to nurse around them a few times but they are still a useful tool for us. We have even better results when we use the farmers almanac and wean by the "signs" when using them. Sounds silly but gave it a try one season and was shocked at the complete lack of any excitement. When we separate and remove the flaps the majority of the calves go right to feed and are completely quiet. Occasionally we still have a baller but nothing like when we just immediately separated for weaning. It's worth it for us. We also get less weight loss since there's not much if any pacing and balling. Makes for far easier fence line weaning. Far less damaged fences. They are reusable. We just wash them up and put them away until the next use. Sometimes they get a little out of shape where it goes into the nose. A little light heat and they bend back usually.

 

[Dave]

People I bought bulls from for years would put the hose flaps in. About 5 days or so later they shipped all the calves off to the feedlot. Said it worked good for them. The calves didn't arrive at the feedlot bawling.
A lot of differences in available circumstances. Here the majority of the calves will get gathered and hauled off. Leaving the cows in the hills for another month or two. Calves go into a solid corral for 4 or 5 days and then kicked out to pasture which is generally hay field regrowth.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

If you do decide to use them, I would be careful on what you buy. I was going to try it this year on a bull that took back to nursing after being separated for 3 months, and bought a pack from amazon. They looked like they'd tear the septum up, lots of parting line flash and sharp edges, would need a bit of sanding to make them usable. I ended up separating that bull from that cow again and didn't use them yet, but we'll see how it goes when rejoin the herd.

Doesn't sound like a weaning flap would work on this bull. His behavior doesn't fit with how a flap is designed to work.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

https://www.agproud.com/articles/48761-3-crucial-things-to-remember-about-silent-weaning
I found this. In reading it, there sounds like there is a finite/optimum application time for the weaning flap. Over-extending its use might be counter-productive? Sounds as if it has a place, but as the article indicates, not for everyone.

And yes, after application, the adjusted behavior can/will totally reverse itself on occasion, just like a college graduate that ends up coming back home and living with their parents. Just don't ask how I know this about college graduates.

 

[gcreekrch]

I haven’t got the time or inclination.

 

[farmerjan]

Tried weaning flaps and it's too much work to put in then turn out again, then get back in again.
Fenceline weaning did not work with some of the cows, too much hollering, and trying to go across fences. We have a couple cows that are extremely "motherly" and they will go across or through a fence if they are within earshot of their "poor separated baby"....
We seem to wean "later/older" than what I tend to think some people do.

What works best for us is to move cows home from pastures, to be preg checked... usually they should be 5-6+ months preg... calves are pushing 7-8 months age at least. We keep all the calves at the barn lot, move the cows out to another pasture .... EXCEPT... we will keep 2-3 cows with the calves. Usually a couple cows that are open or shorter bred... They will stay with the calves for at least 1-2 weeks... usually til the opens get sold... since our cows all come to call with a bucket, they will come right in the barn to the bunk, the calves all follow along... the calves are used to staying with their buddies, and the couple of cows in there are like having their "aunt" there with them... 99% will bawl for less than 24 hrs and will come right in for some grain...

Then the shorter bred ones get moved, and/or the opens get sold and the calves never miss a beat. We have been doing it this way for about 4-5 years now... we just see what is what..

This year we had lots of grass, so sold off the steer calves from the fall calving cows without even weaning them, although they were fairly "self weaned" and eating good... put the cows back out to grass; some had the "smaller calves", we had a group that didn't calve til early Dec... for another 4-6 weeks... bringing them home now, and the calves haven't fussed at all... turned the cows out to the pasture where we calve them... Had a few that we pulled the bigger calves off, and they are getting right ready to calve now..

But I keep close track of how far along the vet says they are, so that the ones that are further along bred, get at least 2 months dry period. No sense in pulling the calves too early when it is the cow's job to raise them. Most of our pastures are rented ground, so trying to utilize the grasses for the best return and keep from feeding more hay than we need to. The only problem with that, is they are often 5-20 miles from the main farm, so we can't rotate around like if the pastures were all connected or closer together. When they get trailered to these pastures, we like for them to be there for 45 days or more... luckily, most all the cows associate the trailer with going to grass; so they think that when the truck and trailer comes in, it is "good".... not run the other way.