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Breeding / Calving Issues
Weaning naturally
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<blockquote data-quote="Katpau" data-source="post: 1544290" data-attributes="member: 9933"><p>There aren't any cows in the wild around here, but I have noticed that cows that don't receive any supplemental hay in winter will tend to lose a lot of weight in late Fall and over the winter. As a result those cows will often dry up and their calves will be weaned before the next calf is born. That is how nature works. I prefer to sell healthy heavy calves in the Fall and provide hay as needed to the cow over winter, so that they are able to calve in good condition in the Spring and get rebred in a short window. If I keep a calf over the winter without providing enough supplemental feed (hay), they will weigh less in the Spring than they weighed off the cow in the Fall. If I left those calves on the cow without feeding, most might be weaned by the time the cow calved, but both the calves and the cows would be in worse shape by Spring. That would mean more calving problems, cows without enough milk to feed her calf and less cows cycling and rebreeding the next year. That is what happens in nature, but I think we can do better. Now it may be very different in Georgia, but it will cost you "dollarwise" here.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Katpau, post: 1544290, member: 9933"] There aren't any cows in the wild around here, but I have noticed that cows that don't receive any supplemental hay in winter will tend to lose a lot of weight in late Fall and over the winter. As a result those cows will often dry up and their calves will be weaned before the next calf is born. That is how nature works. I prefer to sell healthy heavy calves in the Fall and provide hay as needed to the cow over winter, so that they are able to calve in good condition in the Spring and get rebred in a short window. If I keep a calf over the winter without providing enough supplemental feed (hay), they will weigh less in the Spring than they weighed off the cow in the Fall. If I left those calves on the cow without feeding, most might be weaned by the time the cow calved, but both the calves and the cows would be in worse shape by Spring. That would mean more calving problems, cows without enough milk to feed her calf and less cows cycling and rebreeding the next year. That is what happens in nature, but I think we can do better. Now it may be very different in Georgia, but it will cost you "dollarwise" here. [/QUOTE]
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