Plan B: Early Weaning
By Kristen Tribe

Whether weaning is part of your regular program or not, early weaning could be the answer to drought-riddled rebreeding rates.

By removing the calf at 8 to 10 weeks old, the cow doesn’t need the same quality and quantity of forage that is necessary during lactation. Dr. Keith Lusby, head of the animal science department at the University of Arkansas, says that when the cows aren’t suckled, they will be triggered to come into heat generally within three to four weeks even if they’re pretty thin.

"There are two conditions that will make early weaning a viable option," says Lusby. "One is where you have a drought or feed emergency and you just don’t have enough feed for the cow and calf.

"Another one, which I think comes into play more often, is heifers or cows in very poor condition and the rancher wasn’t expecting it," he continues. "That can come from drought or just a mismanagement accident."

Short on grass in the middle of a sweltering drought is a frustrating place to be. If cows are struggling just to take care of the calf they’ve got, much less gain enough condition to rebreed, early weaning may be the backup plan you need.

"If you do the economics of having a 40-percent rebreed vs. a 90-percent with the additional feed, labor, management and health risks, [early weaning] usually still pays off because you’re going to wean a calf that is probably close to what the heifer would have weaned anyway. Plus, you’ve got a good calf crop on the ground for next year," Lusby explains.

Just because early weaning may be the answer doesn’t mean it will be easy. Lusby reminds producers that you’ll be working with baby calves, which require a lot of time and attention. For the first few weeks, you’ll need to allow time to watch them closely to be sure they’re eating and drinking.

You want to keep them in small groups and even split them up according to size. Lusby says it’s also a good idea to put one or two older calves that are accustomed to eating and drinking in with them to "show them how."

"The ideal place for them is in small grass traps. Something that doesn’t have a lot of dust and something that makes the cattle more comfortable," he says. "I think the worst thing would be putting them all in some dusty pen that’s built more to receive feedlot cattle than baby calves."

Although you can wean the calves as early as 6 weeks old, Lusby generally recommends waiting until they’re about 8 to 10 weeks old. On the other hand, they do need to be weaned before they’re 12 weeks old to have any effect on reproduction and ensure the cows stay on a 365-day breeding cycle.

Most of the time you’ll want to wean all the calves in the pasture at once, which is fine, unless you yank some off the cow that are only a couple of weeks old — so you need to be sure of the calf’s age. If they’re too young, they can’t handle the stress of weaning.

Lusby says some of the biggest dangers he’s found include respiratory problems, most often in the first few days, and pneumonia. You also need to keep watch for coccidiosis, scouring and calves sorting individual feedstuffs from the ration.

"If you have a problem, it seems like they continue to get sick over a prolonged period of weeks or months and you’re just continually battling things," he says. "Vaccinate for everything that’s feasible. The question is, how much good will it do at this age? These calves are still carrying around a lot of maternal antibodies."

You want to feed something that will make a 225-pound to 250-pound calf gain two pounds a day. Lusby says what you’ll feed them will actually look more like creep feed because the calves just aren’t able to handle a lot of roughage. (See Table 1)

The starter ration should be fed for 10 to 14 days before beginning ration II in a self-feeder. The second ration will be fed for another six weeks or until the first sign of scours, at which time, ration III will be fed until the regular weaning age.

"You want to try to mimic the gain that they would have gotten on the cow. It doesn’t pay to push them any further than that because you’d probably just reduce their gain later," Lusby says.

"But at the same time, you have to feed them enough so you don’t stunt them when they’re very young and that’s going to require some protein and energy."

Lusby stresses never substituting this for a normal weaning program, but as a last resort it works. The calves will often have the same weaning weight as if they would have stayed on the cow, and there are no ill effects for the cow either. If conditions are right, you should be able to return to your regular program the next year.

"The key is – you need a plan. You’ve got to remember that potentially this is a very dangerous program," Lusby says. "You don’t have time two or three days into the program to decide what you’re going to feed them or what your health program is going to be. You need to have all this figured out before you start.

Figure out how old the calves are. Figure out if you’re going to wean in one group, two groups or three groups. Have the pens ready and feed in the bunks."

Rolled corn 64% 56.5% 50%

Soybean meal 20% 17% 12%

Cottonseed hulls 10% 20% 33%

Cane molasses 5% 5% 3%

Dicalcium phosphate -- -- .5%

Limestone .5% .5% .5%

Potassium chloride -- .5% .5%

Salt .5% .5% .5%

Vit A (30,000 IU/gm) 1 lb./ton 1 lb./ton ½ lb./ton

Reprinted from OSU Extension Facts, No. 3264, Early Weaning for the Beef Herd.