Weaning

[Jogeephus]

I was just wondering how and when most of you wean their calves. Do you do it on a set day or a target weight or when the notion hits you and you have the time. Just curious.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I usually wean by the signs
alot of people says it makes no difference but I have seen it make a difference on castrating
do it when the signs are right and they won't hardly bl;eed at all do it when they are off and you will look like you have butchered several people

I don't beleive that is the only time to do it but I have seen differences in it

 

[dun]

We usually have a date that they are due at the backgrounders so we wean 45 days or so before that.

 

[SRBeef]

I've been considering early weaning of spring calves, especially last year when the rain just stopped after July 4th and I had no hay backup.

However as I get a bit more experience, and built up a wrapped hay backup, I am pretty much settling on 205 day weaning which for my March calves is about Nov 1.

This gives the calves the maximum time on the cows - let the cows do the work, not me - yet gets the calves off of the cows long enough before the cold winter weather usually hits so the cows can put on some condition if needed. Calves are also big enough they can pretty much go straight to hay and whatever grazing is left without supplement and not lose weight.

With the bull going in in early June, this 205 day weaning also gets the calves off of the cows just ahead of starting their last trimester with next years calf.

I'm looking for a compromise between maximizing the calf's time on the cow and giving the cow some open time before winter and peak demands of the new calf inside of her. jmho.

As for the "how" I fenceline wean. My vet and I will do our fall working: weighing, pour on, booster shots, bangs for retained heifers and coming out of the chute the calves go to the right back to the paddock they have been in and the cows to the left to a new adjacent paddock.

For about 8 weeks they are on opposite sides of a fence with a hot wire on the calves side but the two past years I've done it like this there is really minimal fuss and noise. They can rub noses through a gate near the shared waterer but pretty soon everyone sort of goes about their own business.

Jim

 

[john250]

I usually wean by the signs
alot of people says it makes no difference but I have seen it make a difference on castrating
do it when the signs are right and they won't hardly bl;eed at all do it when they are off and you will look like you have butchered several people

I don't beleive that is the only time to do it but I have seen differences in it

I've been doing some reading, and it seems there is now a level of food production above and beyond "organic". I forget what they call it, but it's like you are not only organic but you use the signs of the zodiac in your planting, harvesting, weaning etc.
Seems to me that method should fetch some fantastical prices at market if you promote yourself vigorously.
I think there is some truth in the zodiac, but I cut the calves when I have help and time.

 

[SRBeef]

I usually wean by the signs
alot of people says it makes no difference but I have seen it make a difference on castrating
do it when the signs are right and they won't hardly bl;eed at all do it when they are off and you will look like you have butchered several people

I don't beleive that is the only time to do it but I have seen differences in it

I've been doing some reading, and it seems there is now a level of food production above and beyond "organic". I forget what they call it, but it's like you are not only organic but you use the signs of the zodiac in your planting, harvesting, weaning etc.
Seems to me that method should fetch some fantastical prices at market if you promote yourself vigorously.
I think there is some truth in the zodiac, but I cut the calves when I have help and time.

Mine are cut in the spring when the vet is here for spring herd workup. I don't know anything about the "signs" but have they seem to heal very quickly when the vet does it. Jim

 

[dun]

Mine are cut in the spring when the vet is here for spring herd workup. I don't know anything about the "signs" but have they seem to heal very quickly when the vet does it. Jim

We also do fencline weaning.
We cut (band) 99.9% of the calves at spring workup. In the fall at weaning any that didn;t make the grade as (potential) bulls get cut and go out with the steers and non-retained heifers.

 

[cfpinz]

We wean now (first group got thrown in the pen around 5pm) thru Labor Day, calve in late November and thru December. Some go straight to the market, some get weaned and sold/butchered later and the heifers get weaned now and sorted later. If a cow can't make it on a 3 to 4 month vacation, she can find a new home.

 

[HOSS]

I wean at 180 to 205 days depending upon weight and the market. The last couple of groups were weaned at 180 days +/- a few. The market was better for 6 and 7 weights and they fell into this catagory at about the right time. 205 days puts me around mid to late October when prices seem to bump up but the drop down soon therafter so it makes timing critical. Until this year I was not set up very well for fenceline weaning so I sold right off the cow. My calves are bunk and water trough trained however. This year I may fenceline wean as I have done some more cross fencing.

 

[bigbull338]

all of our calves are pasture weaned with the cows.an weve had no problem doing it that way.nor does it affect the cows next calf.we haul the calves to the sale weighing from 550 to 850lbs.

 

[alacattleman]

wean my replacements labor day weekend

 

[dieselbeef]

pasture weaned...meaning they just give up on nursing thier mommas...cant git none o mine to do that..i gotta run em to another pasture where they cant knock the dam fence down tryin to git back....if ididnt the momma wouldnt get no rest right into another calf

 

[bigbull338]

yepp the calves wean themselves.

 

[dieselbeef]

i aint ever seen that werk at my place..momma never gits a day off

 

[alacattleman]

i aint ever seen that werk at my place..momma never gits a day off

it dont work well,,, and is he'#@ on the cow and usually results in weak babies with a low immune system

 

[bigbull338]

well guess we are real lucky.because thats the way weve been doing it for years.an the cows always breed back quick.an have nice healthy calves.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

when they hit 7 months I wean them

 

[MO_cows]

We weaned our very first calf at 6 months of age by hauling his mother off. It went well, there were other calves to share the misery with and there was very little bawling. Usually we wean by sort of a fenceline separation. One year due to winter starting early and trouble keeping water to the calves we had to put them back together in 4 or 5 weeks. The little turds all went right back to sucking. Their mothers all tried to brush them off at first but they were persistent so eventually all the cows gave in. Those calves all got sold so I guess they got truly weaned on the trailer at 7 to 8 months. One year things were a mess when FIL was dying, and nobody got weaned at all, we just had to let nature take its course. The cows didn't go downhill over the winter and none of them looked like their teats got chapped, a pleasant surprise. As spring came, we worried the "calves" would try to nurse again as the cows freshened and rob the colostrum from the new calves, but it didn't happen. Another nice surprise. Wouldn't do it that way every year but it wasn't a big wreck when we had to do it.

 

[angie1]

i aint ever seen that werk at my place..momma never gits a day off

it dont work well,,, and is he'#@ on the cow and usually results in weak babies with a low immune system

I am glad it works for bb, but I would not advise it. Too many calves don't know when to quit. I agree it is hard on the cows and compromises the calf in utero and out. New baby needs to not have to compete for colostrum and then milk.