Weaning

[ccr]

We put fly tags in 9 cows and 10 calves and dectomax injection for the calves, then we separated the cows and calves. We put the cows on one side of the driveway and the calves on the other. These photos are about 6 hours after they were separated.

Some of the cows have milk dripping from their teats.

The land across the road has been pasture for livestock for over 60 years. Now they are putting in a subdivision of 2 acre lots. Have y'all had any interactions with city folk moving to the country during weaning, mowing, or spraying.

Usually a few calves don't seem to bothered by the weaning.


These calves are 6 to 7 months old. Sure enough loud noisy cattle here. Should settle down in a couple of days.

 

[kenny thomas]

They sure look good. Signs are wrong for weaning. Next weekend would have been better.

 

[Brute 23]

Very nice cattle and place.

Wish I had some thing nice to say about the subdivision to make you feel better but I dont. Only positive is there might be a market for some direct sales if you are interested in that.

 

[ccr]

They sure look good. Signs are wrong for weaning. Next weekend would have been better.

Ya, I know next week was the zodiac or something weaning time, but it just worked out to do it today.

 

[kenny thomas]

Ya, I know next week was the zodiac or something weaning time, but it just worked out to do it today.

I agree, I live 3 miles from my barn but a cousin lives close and tells me every time I wean on the wrong signs.
What breed are your cattle? I like them

 

[Buck Randall]

Talking to the non-farm neighbors goes a long way. "Hey, I'm going to be weaning some calves next week, so they might be loud for a couple days. Sorry in advance." If they're reasonable, they'll appreciate it. I have a couple of dairy clients that will warn the neighbors when they're planning on hauling manure out, and accommodate reasonable requests. For example, if they're hosting a graduation party in their yard, not spreading until after. It cuts down on the complaints by a lot.

 

[moses388]

Sure enough loud noisy cattle here. Should settle down in a couple of days.

Calves I wean are noisy for 7 days.

 

[ccr]

I agree, I live 3 miles from my barn but a cousin lives close and tells me every time I wean on the wrong signs.
What breed are your cattle? I like them

Mamas are red angus with one simmental and the sire was a hereford. The photo of the single calf is from a first time calving heifer. He's a little smaller than the rest.

I've read wean by the moon (new moon) and others wean by the zodiac sign (when the moon is the signs of Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces).

The grass was about right, weather was good, and wife was available to help. We got er done and only one new neighbor (so far), about a 1/2 mile away, has contacted us wondering what's going on over there.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

I try to wean in the dark of the moon as the calves will to stay put and bed down at night as it tends to be pitch black.
They are usually over the hump noise wise by the end of the third night. Also seems to work better to feed in the evening and
a smaller amount early morning. It might be different if there were 2 or 3 hundred head that had never seen a human,,,,,,

 

[SmokinM]

Cattle and grass do look great.

That's another thing for the things I hate thread, neighbors! Hate to see when they plant houses where grass, trees and corn used to grow. Farm was there when they bought the house and they moved to the country.

 

[Ky hills]

I don't know anything about the signs except I never do hit right. They usually bawl for 2-3 days pretty much solid, then are usually getting quieter by the 3rd day. Then sometimes for a few more days they will occasionally bawl.
As for city type neighbors, welcome to the club. I hope that you have some good folks coming to live around there. Some folks are nice and understanding and others can be turds about everything. I've had people across the road say something to a workhand when he was spreading manure. Others have complained about our tractors getting mud on the roads in winter. The neighbors that gave us the most grief, also had a visiting relative that I believe shot one of our calves. The woman said something a while after that that led me to think that. Said that he was visiting another relative and shot an animal on an adjoining farm from the porch. The place where the calf was shot was direct in line from there porch was also. A cousin has a farm next to subdivision, and he doesn't live on the property. He has had issues with neighbors and fences. Once a kid from one of the houses came over and shot the windows out of a truck and and shot up things in his barn. I believe that at one point some kids were coming over messing with his horses. One of his neighbors would climb the fence and spray Roundup for quite a distance in his pasture that joined their yard. That neighbor eventually built a wall in place of the fence. One thing of particular concern is keep a watch and make sure neighbors don't throw brush over in your pastures after they trim shrubs and trees. Some varieties of shrubs are highly toxic to livestock and sometimes city folks think they can throw things over the fence. Dogs can be a problem too, if the neighbors let them run free.

 

[ccr]

Weaning on day 5, and all is good. A few them are taking it harder than others and now when trying to bawl, just make a squeaky sound, but overall their good, and eating at the trough.


They are fairly calm and settling down.


Mamas look like they are still full of milk.

 

[moses388]

I don't know anything about the signs except I never do hit right. They usually bawl for 2-3 days pretty much solid, then are usually getting quieter by the 3rd day. Then sometimes for a few more days they will occasionally bawl.
As for city type neighbors, welcome to the club. I hope that you have some good folks coming to live around there. Some folks are nice and understanding and others can be turds about everything. I've had people across the road say something to a workhand when he was spreading manure. Others have complained about our tractors getting mud on the roads in winter. The neighbors that gave us the most grief, also had a visiting relative that I believe shot one of our calves. The woman said something a while after that that led me to think that. Said that he was visiting another relative and shot an animal on an adjoining farm from the porch. The place where the calf was shot was direct in line from there porch was also. A cousin has a farm next to subdivision, and he doesn't live on the property. He has had issues with neighbors and fences. Once a kid from one of the houses came over and shot the windows out of a truck and and shot up things in his barn. I believe that at one point some kids were coming over messing with his horses. One of his neighbors would climb the fence and spray Roundup for quite a distance in his pasture that joined their yard. That neighbor eventually built a wall in place of the fence. One thing of particular concern is keep a watch and make sure neighbors don't throw brush over in your pastures after they trim shrubs and trees. Some varieties of shrubs are highly toxic to livestock and sometimes city folks think they can throw things over the fence. Dogs can be a problem too, if the neighbors let them run free.

Yup, people are detestable. I stopped giving them "the benefit of the doubt" a long time ago.