weaning problems-any ideas?

[Nite Hawk]

Howdy!
I am having weaning problems this year.. I have had this issue before, but not quite this bad.. I have "thinking" cattle.. You put a plastic weaner ring in the calfs nose, and in very short order they have figured out how to go in from the sides and flip it up and then they are sucking happily. The one figured out that if she can't get it to flip up, she can ""thread the teat" through the weaner and still suck…
I have tried the old huge butterfly weaner, tried the "white plastic, with "pokies" on it.
Tried the "quiet wean" and discovered that the part that goes into the nose is so big the calf is having problems breathing..
I haven't used the crown weaner, ( pierces the nose like a bull ring ) as that is the last resort..I am short on housing space this year, so am having problems doing the "musical" calves. Would rather just put a weaner in the nose and put them back in the main barn..
The one calf is a dexter, and I haven't been able to find any "weaner" that is small enough for her, the other 2 are piedmontese , but they have tiny noses too, so finding a "weaner" that will fit and keep the calf from sucking is a joke..
The cows have been re-bred and Dexter was getting too thin even with grain, so I had to pull the calf off of her. The piedmontese cows are getting tired of the calves, but the calves are so persistent that the cows give in and let them suck. The other night I had 2 calves sucking one cow one on each side --weaner rings and all.
Any good ideas??
thanks

 

[crimsoncrazy]

Ship the calves.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

wow - shutdown lost a bunch of this post.

 

[Nite Hawk]

not sure what happened to the rest of the thread.. been quite busy, and internet was down for quite a while..so haven't visited the thread..
anyways, the calves are heifers of an agribition winner and I am in no hurry to ship them.. I have them separated for now in a decent sized horse trailer. It causes more work for me to keep it clean etc, but they have shelter from the weather, and when mommas are completely dry will try to re-introduce them again..
As for what is proper accommodations /facilities, most cattle in the cariboo are lucky if they have a few trees to hide under when the weather is bad, and maybe there is abit of left over hay to lay on,on top of the snow, so my cows "have it made in the shade" with an old shed to keep the hail off of their heads when it comes down the size of marbles, and when it is minus 40F they have a dry place to lay down out of the wind and snow...
.Not saying that most of the ranchers in this area are right the way they house their animals, ( or lack of housing) but that is the way most of the cattle are raised here, so my cows have pretty good facilities..

 

[Redgully]

The correct way to use those flaps is put them in for four days and then separate. That way they don't work out how to drink around them and once separated they don't make much noise or fret as they feel like they were already being weaned naturally. All excellent in theory...

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

With your trailer for weaning, you don't need to mess with the "flaps".

 

[Silver]

and when it is minus 40F they have a dry place to lay down out of the wind and snow...

Geez, what do they do when it gets to minus 40C?