Weaning Question

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wlhedges

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I have a Hereford cow and her 9 month calf, the cow is due to calve in March, My question is, Should I wean the calf, or will the cow let the calf know when it is time to quit. Thanks.
 
I have heard of Hereford breeders leaving their calves on the cow & she miraculously weans them herself! I sure wouldn't depend on that. If her old calf only sucks "once in a while", she won't have any colostrum for the newborn. She needs "dry" time, so her body can build up a "quality colostrum".
Most beef producers wean between age 6-9 months old.
You can wean by totally seperating them or put a device in the calf's nose called a "weaner".
 
I have a followup question, How long should the cow & calf be separated, and can I put them back together again in a few days, or how ever long ya'll think, or should I keep them separated until the cow calves in March.
 
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I would say a month may do it, but in your case you had the calf on mom for 9 months, I would give weaning more time, maybe even 8 weeks. This last thing you want to happen is the older "weaned" calf getting the colustrum and stealing milk for the newborn calf. You'll have either a dead calf or a bottle baby.

JMO,
Alan
 
We've always used 6-8 weeks (whichever was convenient) and not had a problem. A month (in my opnion) may be just a tad too little. Not sure how we came up wtih the 6 week minimum thing because we've been doing it that way for so long. We alos fenceline wean which may make a difference.
 

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