|
Post by Clive on Oct 14, 2009 12:36:42 GMT -5
Great article Gene. I have a friend with 650 Angus and he does much the same, not all the time because he's commercial, but he does it often enough. And he leaves his bulls in quite often through the whole process, calving, everything. He's been doing it for over 60 years so he probably knows what he's doing by now . We take our bulls out when calves are getting to about 3 months of age because we've been told numerous times that they can be served at that age.
|
|
|
Post by Clive on Oct 14, 2009 14:07:15 GMT -5
Hi Gene - I have been told on the UK board, that the youngest heifer to ever get in calf was 11 weeks old. I leave them till 3 or 4 months and have not had a problem, but I've only been breeding for five minutes so I always listen to others. I also know a very old herd that leaves entire male calves and females together until they are 7 months old and has never had a problem in decades. I do not know what to think to be honest.
|
|
|
Post by ctownson on Oct 14, 2009 17:51:06 GMT -5
I weaned our 3 month old bull calf Shogun this week. Gene, you saw him at the VA State Fair a couple of weeks ago. He was already eating grain and hay a few weeks ago. Weaning him at 3 months was incredibly easy. He is big for his age, but we have never had a problem weaning at 3 months.
charles beavertree farm
|
|
|
Post by littlecowfl on Jul 2, 2010 11:55:15 GMT -5
We wean when the calves seem ready, normally between 6-8 months. I like to wean them all together to get the bawling over all at once. We also do fenceline weaning so mamas and babies can still touch. No, it's not natural to force wean, but you do see cows that don't want to wean their calves. Or, as they bag up before calving, the weanling smells the milk and goes right back to nursing. Not easy on the cow. Right now, I have three calves that are well-adjusted and back with the herd and one calf that I need to re-wean because mama bagged up due to her impending delivery. The calf and her mama were separated from the herd for a few months because mama was not getting enough feed (lowest ranked cow). As a consequence, she and her calf are very close. It's going to be a bawling weekend. *sigh*
|
|
|
Post by copperhead on Jul 2, 2010 21:13:29 GMT -5
I promise you they will keep nursing, and they will rob your new baby. Back in early times, cattle were not so well fed and didn't breed back as soon as our cows today do. It's really best for the cow to get the calf weaned off and let mom rest before the new baby. P.J.
|
|
|
Post by littlecowfl on Jul 4, 2010 4:18:10 GMT -5
I suppose if you aren't breeding the cow back you could let the cow wean on her own but it really is hard on a pregnant cow to feed two, especially when she's further along.
|
|
|
Post by prairieboy on Jul 8, 2010 11:17:25 GMT -5
Well, after much reading and following various discussions I determined to reject the modern "managed for high production" methods and simply let my cows and their calves wean as they will on their own.
I know that my cattle have been changed since the early unmanaged days that Dexters ran wild, but surely there must be some of those same traits that gave the world the Dexter.
Perhaps I came off lucky, or perhaps this really is the way they were created but my cows birthed and are now feeding some very nice and rapidly growing calves. Their yearling steer and heifer calves are still standing by their side, but I have not seen them being allowed to nurse. Everyone is happy and content in the herd and other than managing what males can breed, nature has been allowed to run as it will without my influence.
I have not seen any disadvantage to the new calves. They are as big as any I have seen in herds that insist they must be weaned at some preset age. The cows are fleshy on 100% grass and came out of winter without any signs of stress. Just as the typical cattle raiser believes that creep feed must be started at a few days of age, that corn must be feed in-order to fatten a steer and antibiotics must be routinely fed just because, I think most believe that weaning must be undertaken based on tradition and the County Agent's advice (which is based on tests with man made breeds that most us do not wish to raise anyway).
Choosing to raise little, short cows with horns is off the beaten path so choosing a weird way to raise them should be OK.
|
|
|
Post by allmuxedup on Jul 20, 2010 19:45:51 GMT -5
Lol..... I do it exactly the same way. There may be one difference. I do now keep the cows w/ heifers over 4 months old in a separate herd. Mama ought to be bred back by then & I don't want the young girls bred. The cows w/ bullocks are in w/ the bull, as are any steers that we might have. I also totally believe that my cows will self regulate when to wean their babies. As was said, today's cows are better fed, so they should be better able to handle a pregnancy & nursing a calf who really wants to do so for comfort. The calves past 6 months don't take much & the cows are all in great condition. If any of the cows has a problem w/ condition, I'll do some serious rethinking my position.
|
|
|
Post by wdd on Jul 21, 2010 10:30:40 GMT -5
I guess I bought the wrong cows to try having them wean their own calves. We have 4 calves on the ground and they all nurse off any of the cows. Often 2 at a time but I have seen 3 nursing off the same cow at the same time. We have our 17 mth old bull in with the cows to catch those that where not caught with A.I. I was out feeding & thought I had a cow coming into heat again since he was right behind her. Her calf was nursing at the time & the bull was getting the rear teats from behind. I guess my cows let anyone and everyone nurse off them. I bet the cats wish the teats were smaller for them to get a crack at the milk, then again maybe they have figured it out and I just haven't caught them yet. I wonder if my bull will be like veal since he is still milk fed? I may just be finding out this Fall.
|
|
|
Post by Star Creek Dexters on Jul 21, 2010 15:44:53 GMT -5
Gene, Lana my milk cow has fostered our 3 months old heifer for the past 6 weeks. She lets her nurse anytime. At first she wasn't very happy about it, but after she relized this was part of her job, now she doesn't blink an eye at Glory.
|
|
|
Post by prairieboy on Jul 23, 2010 11:20:29 GMT -5
Those spiked plastic nose rings would keep a troublesome older animal from nursing. Jeffers and others sell them. They are designed to be taken out after a while so nothing permanent.
|
|
|
Post by ctownson on Jul 23, 2010 15:57:15 GMT -5
We have justed weaned 3 calves in the last two weeks. Separated them from mom at 3-4 months old into an adjoining pasture. All the calves were coming to the feed trough as well as grazing and eating hay. No problems with any of them.
charles beavertree farm
|
|
|
Post by allmuxedup on Dec 20, 2010 23:57:03 GMT -5
My bull also nurses. And the steers still nurse,off any of the cows. I haven't seen any of the cows nursing. I did have a maiden cow I saw nursing. She went to freezer camp because seh wouldn't give me a calf. I don't know if the mama cows nurse off any of the other cows. I just don't see a reason to stop anyone from nursing, unless I want them milk! My cows are all sleek, fat & happy. Never any "feed". They get pasture, range cubes, various mineral mixes, sea kelp & water. The maiden cow had as much fat as meat when we processed her. Fat was snow white.
|
|
|
Post by marion on Dec 22, 2010 10:01:08 GMT -5
This year I had two first time mommas allowing older calves to nurse, so I separated them out for a while to ensure their own little calves were not getting gyped. These older calves dams had plenty of milk, so there was no reason for their calves to go to anyone else, except it was easy and convenient! Any animal that seems interested in anothers udder, I have watched and used a weaning ring for a little while just in case. In my opinion, you would have to do a lot more separating in the long run, if everyone is allowed to nurse anyone. There might also be a risk of udder damage by allowing adults to nurse..marion
|
|