Post by brigitte on Jan 10, 2020 8:47:41 GMT -5
I figured I would put this out there because it could benefit many who have asked and add to the science and anecdotal information I have been gathering over the years. When do you wean your calves and do you add creep or high protein calf starter to hasten the transition or just offer hay. Baby Genevieve the Guernsey heifer will be 14 weeks old on Monday (updates on the heirloom size coming) I have always favored 20 weeks as a weaning age to give a good healthy foundation, whether on a bottle or calf sharing. This girl likes milk more than any other calf I have bottle fed. She nibbles on various types of second cutting hay and is taking a few bites but nothing substantial- same with calf starter. Im wondering if her heirloom traits are contributing to her appetite for milk. If she were on pasture she's be going after the grass as she loves the pasture. - drawback of winter feeding. She's consuming a combination of milk and replacer- which is working well- mostly milk total 3.5 gallons daily split twice a day. calves do need water in addition to the moisture in milk or replacer (but Baby is again defying logic and isn't a water drinker) The water is needed in the rumen as the digestion shifts. I have a bred heifer who was tossed in with other heifers at another farm as the youngest and might have been just 8 weeks when she was suddenly weaned. She got skinny and was put back on milk and I kept her on milk when I moved her here for four months. She's been known to steal milk from udders even as she approaching freshening but no apparent deficit from her early sudden weaning. What's your experience with later milk production and weight gain for weaning at different ages.