by Adam Hartfiel
It’s no secret that weaning is arguably the most stressful time in a beef calf’s life. Calves build strong maternal bonds with their mothers over the 6-plus months they are tagging along until they are weaned. Weaning can be done a variety of ways, but the ultimate goal is to minimize stress to set calves up for success in their next stage in life.
Decreasing separation stress should start in the pasture. When calves are weaned from their mothers, it helps if they know how to eat out of a bunk or feeder.
Calves start to find some food for themselves a few weeks after birth. Research has suggested that by 3 months of age, calves are likely eating between 1.1% and 1.5% of their body weight in forage in addition to nursing the cow. Cows can only provide about half the daily nutrients the calf requires at around 3 to 4 months of age (depending on pasture quality and quantity); the remainder is obtained through what the calf naturally learns to eat — in most cases, pasture — as it gets older.
Learning to eat from a bunk prior to weaning can be accomplished a few different ways. Short-duration (about 3 weeks) creep feeding right before weaning can help calves learn to eat from a bunk. To minimize digestive upsets and ensure a smoother transition at weaning, consider a diet that’s palatable, higher in digestible fiber, and most similar to the diet calves will receive post weaning. It can be as simple as corral panels, with a creep gate and a bunk with daily feeding to help manage intake and increase calves’ familiarity with people.
Another option is to let the cows teach them by providing some feed in bunks for a short time prior to weaning. Plenty of bunk space, so all cattle can get to the bunk, is needed for this to work successfully.
Plan ahead to avoid administering other stressful management practices (castration, dehorning, vaccination) around weaning to avoid compounding stress.
Weaning methods
Fence-line weaning is a lower-stress method of weaning calves from cows. When compared to abrupt weaning with total separation of cow and calf, fence-line weaning has shown to reduce stress as measured by calf behavior and gain after weaning. Fence-line weaning involves separating cows and calves into two different pastures where they can still hear, see and smell each other.
Ideally, cow-calf pairs are initially put in the pasture where the calves will remain at separation, so the calves are familiar with water and food sources after separation. Fences must be in excellent condition to keep cows and calves separated. Forage and feed availability should be similar to preweaning to maintain feed intake and reduce stress.
Two-step or two-stage weaning is another option for producers to decrease stress for cows and calves during the weaning process. It requires handling calves twice to insert nose flaps and remove them four to seven days later.
The first stage allows the cows and calves to be together but prohibits the calf from suckling milk. Stage two begins four to seven days later when calves are removed from their mothers completely.
Two-step weaning breaks the weaning cycle into two separate, less stressful four- to seven-day periods for the cow and calf. Considerations for producers interested in practicing two-step weaning include the incurred costs of purchasing weaning flaps and the extra time and labor associated with inserting and removing the flaps.
Weaning stress should not be overlooked. Proper management before, during and after weaning will have an effect on the health and performance of your calf crop and your herd in the long run. Now is the time to think about your weaning strategies so calves aren’t weaned on diesel fumes on their way down the road.
Hartfiel is a University of Wisconsin Extension regional livestock educator for Adams, Green Lake and Waushara counties.