A huge advantage of belonging to the network is the sharing of information among members that can greatly improve your own operations as you adapt the learnings to your situation. Below is copies an email from Alison Livermore of Winswood Miniature Herefords in Victoria about when they wean their calves and why. 

26 April 2023 – Hi everyone.

It is very noisy here this morning as we separated the cows and calves yesterday afternoon. 

It’s an open debate as to when to wean but here we take the youngsters off at about 6-7 months. Studies I have read have shown that by this age a calf is getting all of its nutritional needs met by the pasture and that feeding off mum is more for comfort. 

Other factor to consider are : the quality and quantity of the autumn feed

          : the well being and condition of the cow

         : the sale of the weaner and when to move it off the property

We have found that weaning at this age doesn’t set the weaner back and I tend to offer it some supplementary feed. This might be a paddock I’ve reserved that has good grass, some silage, or pellets and lucerne chaff 

The nights are getting colder here – 6 deg – and cows feeding calves need considerably more feed to try and maintain their weight and milk production. I see this by the increase in hay I have to put out and the speed at which they eat out a paddock. By weaning the calf, I can put the girls up the back of the farm for the winter and they’ll come out the other end looking well. 

The opposite works here for the autumn calvers. I wean those calves at the end of spring, when the grass is slowing. 

These mums are already pregnant and I like to give them a long break between nursing babies. 

Some of the mums are looking a bit tired and thinner than I want to see going into winter. I’ll bring them into the yards and worm them and give them a Multimin injection. I find that covers them and they respond well. 

So everyone is feeling very hard done by, but in a couple of days the bellowing will stop. We fence wean which means running mums and babies in adjoining paddocks with an electric fence between. It is said to be one of the kinder ways and I do think they are less stressed. They can touch noses and have some contact which seems more compassionate to me.  Weaning rings are another option, but we have too many to use that method. I’d be forever checking that they hadn’t fallen off and then bring 20 cows and calves in to re-attach, assuming I could find them. But for small numbers I understand they work well. 

Never a dull day!