It definantly feels like winter here. Snow has been blowing around and temperatures have been spending more time below zero. Thankfully it has been a mild winter thus far, and we haven't even had a blizzard yet, praise God!
On the first of the year we started feeding some hay to the cattle. The feed value of the grass is less during the winter, and the cattle need more calories when its cold. Also, the cows are still nursing their calves a little, which makes them more prone to losing weight if they are not getting the right nutrition.
It can be tough to decide when the best time is to wean the calves off the cows. Earlier is easier on the cows, while later is better for the calves. We like to lean on the latter side of the scale, because of the benefits for the calves. For example, calves that stay with their mothers for a portion of the hard winter will learn from her how to better forage in the snow. My favorite reason for a later weaning date is that the longer a calf is nursing, the more developed and efficient their rumens will be ( the rumen is an important part of a cows digestive system).
The conventual method of weaning calves is simply locking them in a pen away from their mothers. Our preferred method is called across the fence weaning, where you separate the cows and calves into neighboring pastures. For this to work you want to have an exceptional fence between them, and a good water supply for the calves near the separating fence. Weaning a calf will be much less stressful if it can touch noses with its mother. Method one makes monitoring the calves easier, but they may have a higher risk of illness due to the high stress level and foreign environment. Also, the calves will be more likely to stampede. When using method two for weaning it is amazing how much less the calves cry, I wonder if some of the calves even realize what happened. All in all, weaning is an important milestone in a calf's life. Maybe similar to a kid leaving for college and learning to become more self reliant. Less stress in the weaning process, contributes to better cattle health in the short term, which makes it easier to sustain that healthy trend throughout its life.
This trend of health doesn’t stop with the life of a cow, it can continue into our lives. Many factors go into our health, reducing our own stress levels and eating truly nutritious foods are two big ones. We want to thank all of you who are doing what it takes to prioritize a healthy lifestyle!
