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Weaning suckler calves can be very stressful for both the cow and calf, not to mention the poor farmer.
Over the years, I have tried a lot of different methods to try to reduce the stress for all concerned.
I used to leave the calves on the cows until they went dry naturally, which took a long time, and it was very hard to make this profitable.
After that, I tried abrupt weaning. This was the most straightforward method, but it was the most stressful for man and beast. So in recent years, I have tried to be smarter about the whole situation.
Impact on calves
In my experience, the stress of weaning doesn’t really do the cows much harm, but it can seriously affect the calves, so it is important to ensure that they are fit and healthy.
I have started to vaccinate the calves for pneumonia, and aim to get this done well in advance of weaning, alongside other tasks such as dosing for worms.
I also try and encourage the calves to forward creep ahead of the cows, and will force them under the electric wire from when they are young.
Then one seems to remember how she did it when she was a calf, and manages to slip under the wire
This has several benefits. It helps to break the cow-calf bond and it makes sure that the calves have access to the best grass.
In the past, I have fed meal on the other side of the electric wire, but the last couple of years the weather has not allowed me to do that.
The problem is that in wet weather the cows are very unsettled, and they tramp up and down along the electric wire watching the calves eating the ration.
Then one seems to remember how she did it when she was a calf, and manages to slip under the wire.
Remove cows
A few years ago, I read an article about weaning where the suggestion was to take a few cows away from the batch every week. The thinking was that, with the calves still with other cows, they would remain more settled. That was basically correct.
Every time that you added cows to the weaned group there would be an almighty row, with cows fighting to re-establish dominance
I tried it for one year but, to be honest, it was one of the silliest things I have done. It meant you were dragging the weaning process out for over a month, and every time that you added cows to the weaned group there would be an almighty row, with cows fighting to re-establish dominance. You would have lame cows and others aborting. It was definitely one of those things that you do once, but never again.
Flaps
About four years ago, I was speaking with another farmer and he told me about his experience with the “Quietwean” nose flaps. To be honest I thought that it was too simple to work.
But they were not very expensive so I thought that I would give them a go. I have now used them for four years and I think they are superb.
The way that I work them is very straightforward. I put the nose flaps in for four or five days, then remove the cows and put them into the house, and leave the calves out on the land that they were on.
There is practically no stress on the calves and any setback is very minimal
The cows do a bit of roaring as they fill up with milk, but the calves do not seem too annoyed. Their mothers are beside them even though they cannot get any milk. After four or five days, they have forgotten about the milk.
When the cows are removed they do not miss them at all, and you can start to feed some meal. There is practically no stress on the calves and any setback is very minimal. There is an old saying “sometimes the simple things are the best”. Well, this is one simple thing that is working really well here.
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