Weaning can be a stressful event for calves, cows and the farm and ranch families who care for them.
While preconditioning prepares the immune system to better handle the stress of weaning, Taylor Grussing, SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialist shared some additional management practices cattle producers can try to aid a calf's adjustment to life without mom.
Practice
Practice makes perfect, Grussing explained. "If cows and calves are comfortable being separated, both will better adjust on weaning day."
She encouraged producers to set aside time a few days prior to weaning, to separate pairs for a few hours. Be sure to provide cows and calves with access to feed and water. For cow/calf pairs out on pasture, she suggests producers try fence line weaning for a few hours.
Pen Preparation
The traditional weaning process involves removing all the calves from the cows and starting them on feed in a pen setting.
If using dry-lot pens, Grussing said it is crucial to ensure water is available to calves at all times.
"This can be done by adding extra water tanks along the fence line where calves will likely come in contact with the tank. I also encourage producers to let those tanks over flow a bit so calves can find the water quickly," Grussing said.
Research shows that clean water enhances calf performance and helps promotes adequate water intake, as bawling calves are prone to respiratory disease.
Another tip Grussing shared to encourage water intake is to temporarily reduce pen size.
"Smaller pens increase the opportunities for calves to access feed and water, as well as reducing the potential for dust problems," she said.
One way to accomplish this is to cut a pen in half using temporary panels.
"It will only take a few days for the calves to acclimate themselves, and then producers can remove panels, so calves can spread out," Grussing said.
Calves also need to become accustomed to people. A good time to handle calves, is right after the feed bunk is filled. "Walking calves up to the bunk encourages feeding behaviors and acclimates them to handling with some positive reinforcement," Grussing said.
"If calves are used to humans, it eliminates stress when it is necessary to handle them if they are sick and need treatment," she said.
She added. "Calves that are afraid of people are surprisingly good at hiding signs of illness, at least until they become very sick. Investing time and effort to improve cattle handling skills pays dividends, especially considering the challenges in finding employees with livestock experience."
Feed bunks vs. Grass
Calves learn grazing behavior from their dams.
While cow/calf pairs spend most of their time grazing pastures in the summer, weaning time may be a calf's first experience eating from a bunk.
Grussing said one way to attract calves to a bunk is to feed long stem hay. "Along with attracting them to the bunk, long stem hay also promotes saliva production and healthy rumen function," she said. "Combining roughage with higher concentrate feeds helps calves achieve a positive energy balance more quickly."
Steers vs. Heifers
Another tip to eliminating stress at weaning is to separate weaned calves into groups based on gender.
"Diets fed to steers and heifers don't often remain the same depending on an operation's overall marketing objectives. Sorting the calves into their eventual groups right away, reduces the amount of stress caused by a second sort and eliminates the need to re-establish social groups," she said.