How does your ranch wean calves?

[eatbeef]

On a normal year we precondition calves 14 to 28 days before weaning and then booster the day of weaning. Precon vaccinations include: Virashield 6, Nuplora PHM, 8way/Somnus, Ralgro on steers, Durasect fly pour on. Then at weaning: Express 5, Enforce 3, Cydectin

Since we put in fenceline bunks weaning has gone very smooth, no bunks in the middle of the pen to fall in and make racket. Got 2 pens with 100 feet of bunk. I put 60 to 65 in each pen. Since I dont have enough fenceline bunks, I usually only wean at the most 120 to 130 at a time. After they are eating good I kick out into a larger trap and feed in tires and then wean another group.

Start them on ground grass hay and Peets starter pellets, then usually grind an equal mix of grass, sudan, and alfala, and feed a mix of DDG's and corn with protien pellets with rumensin. This year i dont know for sure what i am going to feed, was hoping for wet distillers, but corn is cheaper right now and the availability of wet cake isnt good.

Usually background them for 90 days and sell in January sometime.

 

[3 M L & C]

I don't wean very many. I have pretty much all replacement heifers. The ones I do I fenceline wean. I have some relation that do this with a lot of cattle and they get a long well. Your pastures do have to be cross fenced with a good fence though. From what I have done with the few I have I really like it. The calves aren't going to a new place, they are already eating the grass. And they don't seem to stress out as much when they can look over and see mama. They deffinently don't bawl near as much. If your fence isn't tight enough, or hot, I have seen a calf stick its head through and suck the cow, so the fence has to be pretty good. I guess a lot of this theory you have to wean when there is something to eat in the pasture as well meaning the time of year you wean. I have also herd of people that don't have a cross fence bringing the cows into the corral and feeding them in the corral for a few days, until the calves calm down then move the calves and turn the cows back out. I know its more of a pain than sorting them and hauling them to a lot, but like I said earlier they don't hadly bawl so it has to be less stressful.

 

[PATB]

The last couple of years we have fenced line weaned. I usually leave several cull cows in with the weaned animals and remove them 30 days later and ship to beef. This year I am grazing the weanlings ahead of the dry cow herd with an empty paddock seperating the 2 groups. The replacement heifers will be turned back in with the dry cows around 45 days weaned. I will continue to graze the steers as a seperate group until sold.

 

[jeff in ca]

We have been putting these in for a week to 10 days prior to separating the calves completely from the cows. Cuts the stress; the bawling by a ton. Most calves just go right to eating in the bunk.[/img]

 

[loomixguy]

No tricks to weaning with Ignitor. Calves don't have to have been crep fed, know what a bunk is, or have doodads put in their nose. If it's in the bunk, they will find the Ignitor and go right to it, no experience needed.

 

[4Diamond]

No tricks to weaning with Ignitor. Calves don't have to have been crep fed, know what a bunk is, or have doodads put in their nose. If it's in the bunk, they will find the Ignitor and go right to it, no experience needed.

:???:

 

[PATB]

We have been putting these in for a week to 10 days prior to separating the calves completely from the cows. Cuts the stress; the bawling by a ton. Most calves just go right to eating in the bunk.[/img]

Used bull rings on bull canidates to wean as I did not want the young bulls with the young heifers and suprises in 9 months or so.

 

[Aaron]

We have been putting these in for a week to 10 days prior to separating the calves completely from the cows. Cuts the stress; the bawling by a ton. Most calves just go right to eating in the bunk.[/img]

Tried the same thing for the first time with my fall calves this spring. Fantastic! Only way I will wean calves from now on. No bawling from the calves. Little bit from the cows the first day, quiet the 2nd. Left for a week and no fence crawlers when I pulled them off. Two calves lost them in heavy bush (found both). One tried to suck from the side but the barbs still poke the cow, so no-go. Weaning just became a lot easier for me.

 

[loomixguy]

No tricks to weaning with Ignitor. Calves don't have to have been crep fed, know what a bunk is, or have doodads put in their nose. If it's in the bunk, they will find the Ignitor and go right to it, no experience needed.

:???:

admani.com

Ignitor is a premium weaning/receiving feed manufactured by ADM. I sell a LOT of the Super Ignitor 6 (6 pounds/head/day) product with deccox.

 

[Denny]

We just pull them from the cows and lock in the corral or ship the same day as do 99% of the local ranchers here. No sense in making an easy job into a fiasco.Looks to me like weaning is harder on the owners than the cattle.

 

[4Diamond]

Whats in it and a cost?

 

[loomixguy]

Wheat midds, soy hulls, complexed trace minerals, ADM's exclusive yeast, etc. Check out the website for more info.

Price will vary with dealers, but $700/ton is in the ballpark, considering freight. That is bagged. Bulk will run some less, again, depending.

 

[Silver]

We just pull them from the cows and lock in the corral or ship the same day as do 99% of the local ranchers here. No sense in making an easy job into a fiasco.Looks to me like weaning is harder on the owners than the cattle.

:agree:

Same here Denny, it hasn't failed us yet. Couple of days and it's all over.

 

[eatbeef]

Denny wrote:
We just pull them from the cows and lock in the corral or ship the same day as do 99% of the local ranchers here. No sense in making an easy job into a fiasco.Looks to me like weaning is harder on the owners than the cattle.




Same here Denny, it hasn't failed us yet. Couple of days and it's all over.

So you guys really dont wean your calves you let somebody else do it.

 

[BlackCattleRancher]

Denny wrote:
We just pull them from the cows and lock in the corral or ship the same day as do 99% of the local ranchers here. No sense in making an easy job into a fiasco.Looks to me like weaning is harder on the owners than the cattle.




Same here Denny, it hasn't failed us yet. Couple of days and it's all over.

So you guys really dont wean your calves you let somebody else do it.

I guess it is what the industrial world calls outsourcing.

 

[Aaron]

Denny wrote:
We just pull them from the cows and lock in the corral or ship the same day as do 99% of the local ranchers here. No sense in making an easy job into a fiasco.Looks to me like weaning is harder on the owners than the cattle.




Same here Denny, it hasn't failed us yet. Couple of days and it's all over.

So you guys really dont wean your calves you let somebody else do it.

BINGO!

 

[Silver]

Denny wrote:
We just pull them from the cows and lock in the corral or ship the same day as do 99% of the local ranchers here. No sense in making an easy job into a fiasco.Looks to me like weaning is harder on the owners than the cattle.




Same here Denny, it hasn't failed us yet. Couple of days and it's all over.

So you guys really dont wean your calves you let somebody else do it.

BINGO!

And until someone wants to pay me to do it different nothing's going to change.

 

[eatbeef]

And until someone wants to pay me to do it different nothing's going to change.

Backgrounding my calves to around 750 lbs is some of the best money that i have made. And this year with high feed costs it still is, but mainly because of some lucky marketing about 3 months ago.

 

[Denny]

So you guys really dont wean your calves you let somebody else do it.

BINGO!

And until someone wants to pay me to do it different nothing's going to change.

I've got plenty of work to do. For one I normally keep 1/2 our calf crop bulls,heifers, and the pee wee's. The other need to be sold by The end of November as there's a list of landowners wanting their Christmas cash not to mention the Bank.We stay on grass as long as possible then gather them up and wean once they are all in one group and that is normally mid november just as well wean and ship that day.No real "Marketing plan" some years we have them contracted some we don't were retaining so many heifers and good bulls that the remainder are uneven and sell best through a salebarn sorted into like size bunches.

And Aaron just because you pre-wean does'nt make it the only way.How long do you keep your calves after you wean. Minimum would be 45 days prefer 60 days otherwise you've lost plenty with shrink from weaning no matter how stressfree you think those kantsucks are.

 

[3 M L & C]

BINGO!

And until someone wants to pay me to do it different nothing's going to change.

I've got plenty of work to do. For one I normally keep 1/2 our calf crop bulls,heifers, and the pee wee's. The other need to be sold by The end of November as there's a list of landowners wanting their Christmas cash not to mention the Bank.We stay on grass as long as possible then gather them up and wean once they are all in one group and that is normally mid november just as well wean and ship that day.No real "Marketing plan" some years we have them contracted some we don't were retaining so many heifers and good bulls that the remainder are uneven and sell best through a salebarn sorted into like size bunches.

And Aaron just because you pre-wean does'nt make it the only way.How long do you keep your calves after you wean. Minimum would be 45 days prefer 60 days otherwise you've lost plenty with shrink from weaning no matter how stressfree you think those kantsucks are.

Good point on the shrink