FEATURES
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• Weaned Value
• Weaned Time

On green pasture, there is no dust to irritate the respiratory system, and calves do better than when fed hay, since they are accustomed to eating grass and don’t go off feed as much. If grass is drying out, the pasture can be supplemented with a little good-quality alfalfa hay.

One way to reduce stress at weaning is to wean calves a few at a time, hauling their mothers away and leaving the weaned ones in their familiar pasture with the rest of the herd, with some adult cows for security. If mothers of the weaned ones are taken clear away where they cannot see or hear them, the calves usually don’t try to go through fences to find their mothers. If the last place a calf nursed his mother before the separation was in the field with the herd, he usually won’t look any farther than that, and soon resigns himself to her being gone. The last group to be weaned no longer has adult cows for security, but have the calm, already-weaned calves for company.

Another method that works well is to leave a few baby-sitter cows with the weaned calves in the pasture, to give calves some companionship and security until their emotional crisis is past.

FENCE-LINE WEANING
About 20 years ago a few ranchers started experimenting with fence-line weaning, putting cows and calves in separate pens or pastures next to one another. If calves and cows can be adjacent for a few days they are not as stressed. Even though they cannot nurse, the calves have the security of their mothers, nose to nose. By the third day, the pairs are not so desperate to get back together. This works well if fencing is secure enough to keep the animals from going through it. A pole fence, or netting that’s tall enough the cows can’t reach over to mash it down, or several strands of hot wire, will generally work.

Kit Pharo, a rancher at Cheyenne Wells, Colorado, has been using fenceline weaning for more than 15 years. “Properly done, it’s very low-stress for both the cow and calf. Our favorite method involves leaving them on grass, since there’s less sickness or other stress-related problems if you can keep them out of dusty or muddy lots. It’s not natural for cattle to be confined, eating harvested feed. Calves are less likely to spook and stampede if they are not penned up. We’ve never had our calves spook and try to run through a fence since we quit penning them up,” says Pharo.

“We like to move pairs into the pasture the calves will be weaned in, a day or two ahead of weaning so calves will be staying in familiar surroundings. This should be a pasture with good grass. The calves will locate all the water sources and perimeter fences while they are still with their mothers,” he says. The primary water source should be near the fence line close to the adjacent pasture where their mothers will be after the separation. Don’t have corners in the dividing fence where animals would bunch up.

“On weaning day we allow the pairs to finish their morning grazing. Mid to late morning we slowly bring them to our sorting corral and leave them there awhile to let them mother up and nurse one last time. When we come back, there isn’t any bawling and the cattle will be loafing. Then we quietly sort the cows out one gate into their pasture and the calves out the other gate into theirs. Most of the cows will be ready to file out when you open their gate, knowing they are going to a fresh pasture. If you are patient the herd will essentially sort itself. Calves are easy to hold back. After the first group of cows have left the corral you can let a few calves out the other gate. The sorting is soon finished, with no stress,” explains Pharo.

“We like to leave 2 or 3 older animals (especially dry cows) with the calves to provide reassurance and leadership. Since the calves are returning to the same pasture they came from, they usually aren’t bothered and it may take a couple hours before the cows and calves go searching for one another. As soon as they meet at the fence, their anxiety will disappear. Often you’ll see a cow and her calf lying on opposite sides of the fence, both chewing their cud,” he says. They go graze, and come back periodically to check on one another.

“After 3 days, fewer cows come back to the fence. They know were their calves are, but are less concerned about them. Likewise, the calves begin to realize they don’t need their mothers anymore. We always wait at least 4 days before we move the cows away from the calves. By this time they are usually so eager to go to fresh pasture that all we have to do is open the gates ahead of them. Very few want to turn back for their calves. If the cows are not ready, leave them another day or two,” says Pharo.

One of his bull customers started using this method of weaning a few years ago, and one year he weighed the steer calves at weaning and again 10 days later. “Those steers gained 1.5 pounds per day while being weaned on native grass pasture across the fence from their mothers. He suggests you avoid riding or driving through the calves for the first few days of weaning. Whenever the cows see you out with their calves they all come running to the fence.” To avoid this disruption and stress, observe the weaning process with binoculars. You don’t need to go out there; the calves don’t need fed, don’t need doctored, and don’t need you.

In a study of fenceline weaning in California, the calves gained 31 percent more weight (after 10 weeks) than the average calf weaned away from its mother. In a Nebraska feedlot, another study showed that fenceline weaned calves had 29 percent better daily gains and 35 percent lower cost of gain than groups of calves weaned the traditional way.

EARLY WEANING BENEFITS
Optimum time of year for calving and weaning will vary from region to region (depending on climate and growing season) and ranch to ranch. In general, however, traditional fall weaning for spring-calving herds is often later than what’s best for cows and calves.

Earlier weaning, while there’s still green grass and good weather, can often benefit both the cows and calves. The calves will generally gain faster after weaning than they would if left on the cow in a fall pasture situation where feed is no longer green. They also stay healthier, with fewer setbacks, than calves weaned in feedlots and corrals during bad weather.

The cows especially benefit from weaning early, so they can regain body condition. There is no reason to keep the calf on its dam for the traditional 7 to 8 months. Feeding the weaned calf is more efficient than trying to feed the cow enough to maintain milk production through late lactation.

Fall is the most economical time to improve cow condition for spring calvers, while grass is still available and cold stress is not yet a factor in nutritional needs. Weaning decreases nutritional demands on the cow, enabling her to regain weight before calving. Cows that are still milking on mature grass pastures, with forage quality declining, tend to lose weight during late summer and fall, since lactation requires 50 percent more feed, 70 percent more energy, and twice as much protein as pregnancy.

One extension research project showed that cows on unsupplemented pasture, continuing to nurse calves until December, lost about 150 pounds and 1.5 points in body condition score by the next calving. If calves are left on the cows this late, pastures must be supplemented with adequate amounts of energy and protein to keep the cows from losing weight--and this is money out of the rancher’s pocket.

Extension livestock specialists at Kansas State University did an economic analysis of weaning dates, looking at body condition scores at calving, calf prices and calf weaning weights. Keeping calves on the cows may look best for weaning weights, but the economic toll comes later. When cows are pulled down to calve at a body condition score of 4 or less, the next year’s calf crop percentage is lowered (more weak and sick calves, and greater chance for calf losses) and replacement costs increase--with higher rates of open and culled cows the next year.

Whether to wean early or not is a decision best made on a year-to-year basis depending on an individual’s situation regarding quantity and quality of feeds available, and weather conditions. Early weaning can be a way to save feed costs (saving your best pastures for the weaned calves and putting the cows on rougher pastures) and also keep cows in better body condition.
Results from a 3 year study in South Dakota showed that cows with higher body condition scores at calving tend to return to heat earlier in the breeding season and are also most likely to settle. Thin cows have the poorest chance of cycling and becoming pregnant. Heavy milking cows are often thin if calves are left on them a long time.

Young cows tend to lose the most weight during their first lactation because they need extra nutrition for growth as well as for lactation and reproduction. The 2 year old, especially, is at a difficult age. She’s growing, milking, and hopefully pregnant again, and also shedding the last of her baby teeth, which may make eating more difficult for awhile. If you wean her calf early, it gives her a better chance to do justice to her next calf and be in adequate body condition after calving to rebreed. Weaning calves off 2 and 3 year old cows early is often the most effective management tool you can use to ensure these young cows stay in the herd and don’t come up open. By contrast, mature cows can feed their calves longer without detriment to themselves. They can get by on plainer feed or fall pasture after weaning, with no adverse effect on their productivity, as long as they have adequate nutrition just before and after calving.

Feed costs generally make up more than half a cow’s total expenses, but you can save on feed costs by timing weaning to take advantage of natural feeds early enough in the season to put weight back on cows before winter. Then the cows can “coast” through winter on lesser amounts of expensive feeds (hay, supplements) than it would take if you are trying to feed the weight back on.

Roughage is always the most economical energy source, especially if cows harvest it themselves (pasture, cornstalks, rough forage). You can use supplemental protein on rough feeds to increase digestibility and intake, but this gets expensive if you are trying to meet the requirements of a lactating cow. Dry pregnant cows, with calves already weaned, won’t need supplemental protein, unless they are on very low-quality forage. The post-weaning period, if you time it right for your calving season and climate conditions, is the best time to cut feed costs, since cows at that time have the lowest nutritional requirements of their production year. They can utilize poorer-quality roughages, crop residues and by-products, and you can find numerous ways to reduce the feed bill.

EARLY WEANING
BENEFITS CALVES
With early weaning, it is possible to finish feedlot calves during the peak of the fed cattle market in winter or early spring. The University of Illinois did several early weaning studies about 10 years ago. In the first study, one group of Angus-cross steers were weaned early at 168 days (5.5 months) while another group was weaned at 222 days (7.5 months), some with free choice corn creep and some without. After weaning, all calves were placed on a 90 percent concentrate finishing ration until reaching a certain stage of finish.

The early weaned steers had higher gains overall and better feedlot conversions than the average normal-time steers with or without creep. All calves were about the same age at finishing (about 14.5 months) but the early weaned calves had significantly higher marbling scores, resulting in a greater percentage grading average Choice or higher than the normally weaned steers.

In the second study, Angus-cross calves were weaned at 117 days of age. Some were fed an 87 percent concentrate diet and the others were grown on pasture (with 2 pounds of corn per day for 82 days, then a concentrate diet similar to the first group). The two groups had similar carcass weights and total concentrate consumption was the same.

A third study compared 3 weaning ages of Simmental-British cross calves, weaned at 90, 152 and 215 days. After weaning, all calves were given a high concentrate finishing diet and butchered as they reached the same finish point. The number of days on feed was different for each group (number of days diminished as weaning age increased) but there were no significant differences in weight when finished. Daily gain and feed efficiency declined as weaning age increased. Carcass traits were not much different, but the steers weaned at 90 days of age had higher marbling scores and a greater percentage graded average Choice or higher. Cow body condition improved as weaning age decreased, and pregnancy rate improved 12 percent in cows whose calves were weaned at 90 days.

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TIPS FOR CORRAL WEANING

If calves will be weaned in a corral, sprinkle it with water ahead of time to settle dust, if it’s dry. Use a small pen, to cut down on frantic pacing and running. Dust control is important, along with ways to keep the calves from walking/running themselves to exhaustion.

Put big bales of straw or grass hay in the pens, as obstacles to slow down the calves. If they have to walk around those bales, they don’t travel as much. Confine the calves in small areas, in small bunches, if possible. This cuts down on the dust, and stress. Smaller groups are always less stressed than cattle in large groups, and calves do less running and pacing.

If the water supply is a tank rather than a ditch or stream, let it run over. This helps them find the water if they are not accustomed to drinking from a tank. It also keeps the water cleaner. According to Dr. Pat Hatfield (veterinarian and rancher at Brothers, Oregon), a calf with a runny nose leaves mucus in the water when he drinks. The snot floats on the water and can infect other calves. But if you let water continuously run over the tank (ditching the flow out of the pen so it doesn’t create a mudhole and create risk for foot rot or for coccidiosis if calves try to drink from it), this infective material is flushed away.

Feed small amounts of hay several times a day instead of just one or two large feedings. Calves will eat more and waste less. They don’t like feed that has been slobbered on or walked on. They waste a lot of hay if you feed on the ground, because they will be walking and pacing; it’s better to have feed bunks to keep hay off the ground and cleaner. Take time to turn the feed over in the bunks between feedings, so there is always fresh hay on top. Your actions will also stimulate the calves’ curiosity and they’ll usually come see what you are doing, and eat again. Since they spend a lot of time pacing around in a corral, and very little time eating, the more often you can get them to eat for awhile, the better.

Feed your best quality hay--fine and palatable, not coarse or stemmy. Calves are very fussy eaters, and during this time of stress they are not eating enough anyway, so you want every mouthful to be nutritious. If calves are not used to eating hay, it helps to have a baby-sitter cow with them in the corral. A gentle old cow will not only show them where the feed is and encourage them to eat by following her example--she will also help them feel less frantic and alone, since they still look to adults for security.



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Our Own Experiences with Weaning

During 40 years of running cattle on summer range, we noticed that calves accidentally weaned on the range are never stressed as much as calves weaned in a corral. If a calf gets separated from its mother or is orphaned on the range, it still has the security of the herd. The calf does very little wandering or bawling; it stays with the herd. It may hang around the last place it nursed or saw its mother, but it won’t quit eating nor waste energy frantically searching. Soon it resigns itself to her absence and takes up with other cattle.

About 30 years ago we started weaning replacement heifers in a pasture rather than a corral. We put them in a well-fenced small pasture overnight, then the next day in a larger pasture with net wire fence. They were happy for the lush green grass and did very little traveling or bawling, and we had no sickness.

We started weaning the rest of the calves o pasture a few years later, during an 8-year drought. We had so little green feed in the fall (due to lack of irrigation water and poor regrowth on our hay meadows) that we decided to save our small amount of grass for the calves instead of having it gobbled up by the pairs we brought them home from summer range. We weaned earlier and took the cows back to dryland pastures. This enabled us to extend our green feed until we sold the calves. It also proved less stressful for the calves. We found we could wean and vaccinate calves the same day, without problems, since this type of weaning is so non-stressful. We had no way to process our calves prior to weaning, since they were still on summer range in the mountains until brought home to wean. With pasture weaning, the calves have no set-back, no stresses, and vaccination works well at this time. They are able to establish good immunity since their immune systems are not compromised by stress. After experiencing the ease of pasture weaning, we’ll never go back to corral weaning and its dust, accompanying setbacks, problems and risk of sickness.