[CowboyRam]

I have been thinking of trying fence line weening next year, but I have some fence to rebuild first; I have been thinking of building a five wire, maybe even six wire electric fence with every other wire hot. Should I put a hot wire on both sides of the post?

 

[SCtrailrider]

I'm getting ready to wean my 2, I have 1 cow without a calf, I will leave her with them, fence line is best I can do, 5 strands of electric might hold them...

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I fenceline wean across 5 stands of high tensile, 2 of which are electric. Been doing it for 8 years now and have yet to have one go thru the fence.

 

[CowboyRam]

I fenceline wean across 5 stands of high tensile, 2 of which are electric. Been doing it for 8 years now and have yet to have one go thru the fence.

What side of the post do you put the wires, cows side or calves side?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Had calves on either side depending on the year and which pasture we wean in. Everything on the farm is fenced the same even the interior division fences. So I can fenceline wean anyplace on the farm.

 

[Edd in KY]

I am surprised none of you (that I saw) mentioned weaning by the "moonsign". I have been weaning horses by the moonsign for 20 years and it seems to help. I know it is stupid, unscientific, mumbo jumbo....but it is also free.

I have had several good vets tell me they do the same. Don't know why, but why fight it. It's free.

 

[CowboyRam]

I am surprised none of you (that I saw) mentioned weaning by the "moonsign". I have been weaning horses by the moonsign for 20 years and it seems to help. I know it is stupid, unscientific, mumbo jumbo....but it is also free.

I have had several good vets tell me they do the same. Don't know why, but why fight it. It's free.

Enlighten us on this weaning by the moonsign you speak of, inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Edd in KY]

Moonsigns is a belief, that bodily functions are affected by the phases of the moon. I find it an outlandish concept, but my grand father who was an old German and my aunt ( a great gardener) carefully adhered to moon signs for planting their crops and harvesting their crops. All you need to do is refer to the farmers Almanac for the best time to wean children or animals. I don't think there's any way to prove this scientifically. But because I have had good luck weaning my high-strung racehorse babies by the moon sign, I figure why not just go to the Almanac 2020 November weaning and get recommended dates

Look, I am a scientist by training, and find this concept to be odd, but I have had good success and easy weaning using this calendar, so why fight it?

 

[SCtrailrider]

So far so good, my cows are still laying where they can be close to their calves and everyone is respecting the electric fence.

How long will I need to keep them separated so they won't nurse again ?

 

[r82230]

I wouldn't put them back together for at least a couple of weeks or a month. I wait much longer than that, but I can do so easily enough. Mine have been off momma for 3 weeks now and still have a couple of mom's, hanging around the calves, even crying once in a while.

if I'd seen your question yesterday, I could have ask a friend/neighbor, how long he waits too. But he doesn't do fence line. He moves his calves across the road, they can't even see one another. But can hear each other easily enough. I just had a thought, maybe he doesn't like his son & DIL, their house would be smack dab in the middle of that singing.

Larry

 

[IH 1586]

So far so good, my cows are still laying where they can be close to their calves and everyone is respecting the electric fence.

How long will I need to keep them separated so they won't nurse again ?

As long as possible. Had one that never quit. Longer than a month if you can do it

 

[SCtrailrider]

I can do it as long as I want, they are corralled and have free choice hay and I'm feeding them 16% feed...

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Retained heifers or butcher steers that get kept are kept separate from their mothers until they are ready to breed next year. So I wean calves now and keep them separate until next July.

Even then there is one that will go and try to nurse from time to time.

 

[r82230]

I've been intrigued with some newer research on 'quiet weaning' method of weaning of calves. Just don't know if with my small herd, my age and having the labor available it is feasible in my case. But I wouldn't mind the lack of 'bawling' close to my house. Maybe I could get a couple of better night sleep every year. I suppose I could move, that would also be a solution. Here are a couple articles on the subject.

https://www.americancattlemen.com/articles/quietwean-low-stress-way-wean-calves

https://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/features/low-stress-weaning-for-calves/

Larry

PS as Chevy, mentions sometimes one will still go back to nursing, especially it seems if the cow enjoys it for some odd reason. Then I use the spiked tooth anti-sucking devices, but even had one that started nursing again, months later after she wore the points off the device (she's hamburger now).

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I've seen calves learn to nurse around the nose flap. Turn their head just right and suck away.

 

[Tim/South]

We wean at home, put the calves in the catch pen with hay, water and a self feeder. After 4 day to a week, we move the calves to another pasture. The other pasture is where some were born and the momma cows are moved here when we wean. It is more work moving them but I like how it has worked out. All of the calves are moved to the same pasture to finish weaning. That allows us to use a self feeder with out the momma cows eating it. Have one old dry pet cow there to keep an eye on them.
I do not mind feeding calves. I believe it makes us money.

 

[IH 1586]

Any weaning issues I have mentioned has been narrowed down to a Jersey issue with the calves unable to break the bond. Even after 6 months. The one jersey I milked, her calf had no contact with her or nursed on any other cow he was with from October to May. When I put the herd back together briefly I caught her calf nursing. It's interesting and I'm sure the why will never be figured out.

The weaning process works otherwise.

 

[CowboyRam]

Well I went and did today, we weaned and weighed the calves, and turned the cows back out on the alfalfa field. Turned the calves in the pasture next to the cows. There should be plenty of feed for them, as we saved this for them; well until the snow covers things up. So far not snow, and I hope we don't get any until the end of December. So far everything is looking good, the cows seam to be more upset about the situation than the calves. I put out my Sweet-pro Cattle Candy tubes for the calves, and filled up the loose mineral feeder for the cows. We will see how things look in the morning, see if my new electric fence keeps everyone where they were put. I plan on taking them to the sale barn after the first of the year, by that time they should be weaned for 45 days. I am hoping they gain well over the next 45 days. The weather was not all that warm today, I think our high was about 35 for the day, but at least the wind was not blowing.