When a calf is beside its mother in the paddock it is learning from her when and how to graze and how to water from a dam, creek or trough.

However, because we interfere with nature and take the calf from the cow a lot sooner than would happen in the wild, it then becomes our job to teach it how and when to water, graze, eat a strange substance from a grain bin and, also important to its survival, is how to start and stop.   

If we pause for a minute and look at the reason why we actually wean, it becomes clear as to why doing it properly is very important.  The main reason for weaning is production in our herd.  A strategic wean may increase the chances of more pregnancies in your cow herd and also give the breeder a chance to recover and prepare for the next calf.  Other reasons we wean may be due to drought, sales or to give
old cows a chance to fatten.  How you look at it is up to you, but it still boils down to production.

A funny thing is that when we wean a lot of us expect production losses in our weaners over the weaning period, and out to some three to four weeks after the calf has been taken from the cow.  So it poses the question, that if we are searching for production gains in our breeder herd by using weaning as a tool then why do we not also look for production in the weaners themselves with minimal input? 

I had the fortune of obtaining an interview with one of the leaders in the contract-weaning field, Evonne Barrett.  Her 8years experience in weaning has covered many different climates, breed, and animal type, feed and handling needs.

Mrs. Barrett said that one of the most important things in the weaning process is to make sure that they have availability to high quality clean drinking water 90% of the time, and that the cattle are split down into small mobs and shown the water separately so as they are all getting a good drink.  Mrs. Barrett went onto say that dehydration was one of the key factors for weight loss in the early stages of weaning and that the water should be cleaned daily for maximum results.  Secondly the feed is next, Mrs. Barrett said that the hay feeder is good for the reduction in waste however once the weaners have settled in the first few days the hay needs to be spread around the edge of the yard so as to allow access for all the weaners at once to the hay, so they do not have to be the strongest to gain some food.  Also Mrs. Barrett emphasizes that hay is a good stopgap until you can get the cattle out onto a fresh handy paddock as soon as possible.  Finally teaching the calf how to start and stop are vital to the success of your weaning program.  The reason for this is that if a calf has not learnt to stop themselves then they will quite often follow any movement and this leads to the common problem of weaners walking a fence line until exhaustion stops them and this is NOT productive. 

Many people boast many different ways in which to handle weaners and as far as I have seen Mrs. Barrett’s program is very complete and has the weaners out of the yards and ready to go to their new paddock on the sixth day after weaning.  Weaning is no longer a job to do on the side if you want the most from your herd, and fortunately there are schools to help your skill level if it is needed, and there is plenty of advice from contractors.

Mrs. Barrett says if you remember the four things: WATER, FOOD, START and STOP.  Then you will finish with satisfied, quiet, productive weaners.