Calf weaning age

golemkennels · #1 08/13/07, 03:40 PM

I'll be purchasing a steer calf this winter or spring to train as an draft ox. This will be my first adventure in cattle (dog/poultry/sheep/goat person).

What would be a good compromise age for weaning a calf that would take into account:
wanting it to be as healthy as possible
wanting it to be as small as possible for ease in transport and training
wanting it to be taught some things by mom, such as foraging, proper behavior, etc.
wanting to NOT bottle feed it or give it milk when it arrives here - just hay and green woods forage.

Thanks for your thoughts in advance...so excited, been waiting waaay too long for this.

sammyd · #2 08/14/07, 07:52 AM

If you're purchasing a calf, how do you intend to accomplish

Quote:

wanting it to be taught some things by mom, such as foraging, proper behavior, etc.
wanting to NOT bottle feed it or give it milk when it arrives here - just hay and green woods forage.

?

golemkennels · #3 08/14/07, 08:31 PM

Well, I'm not sure what the cut off point for use of the word "calf" is - to me puppies are 3 yrs and younger, so I'm using the word calf as - less than a year? That's part of my question - how old does it have to be to have these things accomplished?

travlnusa · #4 08/14/07, 09:45 PM

I wean calves at 6 months. Keep them apart for 8 weeks, then all back together.

By then, cows have dried up, and will tend to kick the calf off if it were to try to return to the udder.

Dexter_Cattle · #5 08/14/07, 10:08 PM

We have Dexter Cattle, and wean at 3 to 4 months old, it allows them to be healthy and be on mom, and learn things, but I tell you it is sooooo much easier to work on halter training, and leading and everything else if they are still in that age bracket. When you wait until 6 months I have found they are much harder to tame.

Hope that helps!
Thanks
Dan
www.GrandmasDexters.com
www.DexterCattle4Sale.net

golemkennels · #6 08/15/07, 05:42 AM

Would a non-dairy ( Pineywoods ) cow dry up ok without supervision or milking if we tried to wean him at 4 mo?

Sunraven · #7 08/15/07, 08:15 AM

You stated you're wanting this calf to train as an ox, right? You want be successful at this if you leave momma to raise it. If you want an ox start with a very young calf, from a few days to a few weeks and bottle feed it- this is when you start you're training, teach them they get petted and rewarded for being around you. You can introduce them to the goad and yokes at this time also, teaching them to move away from you on command, halter them and teach them to lead and tie. You won't have much luck trying to take a big four month old calf off it's momma and trying to tame it down. Visit www.ruralheritage.com You can find lots of info and links on that website about raising and training oxen.

golemkennels · #8 08/15/07, 08:32 AM

I love Rural Heritage's site, watch it all the time - thank you for the reference though, since it is the site for draft animal knowledge. This will be my first calf, but I'm very paranoid that I don't have the knowledge to bottle raise it, and finding one of the breed I want that would be available to raise early is very difficult - most place an emphasis on natural foraging abilities and calving, and don't seem to have calving difficulties that would result in a bottle calf, and the cows aren't dairy, so I'm not sure that the cow owners would apreciate having to milk out a cow to make sure she dries out ok if we took the calf that early. I don't mind bottle feeding once a day, or every other day, but I don't think I can do 3 times a day.

Sunraven · #9 08/15/07, 09:12 AM

Calves are no big deal, they're tougher than people think. Bottle raising is easy and doesn't require much time. Also, you don't bottle feed three times a day, you do it twice a day- every twelve hours. And the calf gets grain and water free choice also. They'll begin to eat and drink at a few days old to a week old. Also, you don't have to milk out a cow to dry her off, if you milk her she'll just keep producing milk, if you don't milk her she'll dry off. What breed are you looking for?

-Nicole

SHELBY · #10 08/15/07, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunraven

Calves are no big deal, they're tougher than people think. Bottle raising is easy and doesn't require much time. Also, you don't bottle feed three times a day, you do it twice a day- every twelve hours. And the calf gets grain and water free choice also. They'll begin to eat and drink at a few days old to a week old. Also, you don't have to milk out a cow to dry her off, if you milk her she'll just keep producing milk, if you don't milk her she'll dry off. What breed are you looking for?

-Nicole

Bottle raising calves is not easy for the novice. If you don't know what you are doing, then you can and will lose the calf.

It is also not just giving it a bottle 2x a day.

I'm sorry but your statement didn't set right with me.

Sunraven · #11 08/15/07, 09:44 AM

I've raised hundreds of calves, it's one of the things I like least about working on a dairy, but I still do say it's very simple. Maybe you didn't read my statement correctly. There is more to it that giving a bottle twice a day, but I never stated that was all there was, I did state that you feed a bottle twice a day as opposed to three times a day as the original poster thought. So what is wrong with my statement?

SHELBY · #12 08/15/07, 10:25 AM

Maybe your right, about reading your statement wrong,
We raise calves also, and currently have one that was fine doing great the last few days and last night, go out their this am to feed them and he is scouring and is dehydrating.

I guess the part of your statement was "Calves are no big deal. bottle raising is easy and doesn't require much time. "

I will be in the barn every 1-2 hours checking on the rest of them now, to make sure no one else gets whatever is taking this one down so fast.

Dexter_Cattle · #13 08/15/07, 10:27 AM

They sure should, Dexters are dual purpose, and they dry up at 3-4 months with no problem at all.
Dan
www.GrandmasDexters.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by golemkennels

Would a non-dairy ( Pineywoods ) cow dry up ok without supervision or milking if we tried to wean him at 4 mo?

Sunraven · #14 08/15/07, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SHELBY

We raise calves also, and currently have one that was fine doing great the last few days and last night, go out their this am to feed them and he is scouring and is dehydrating.

LA200? Good luck with your calf. You never know the things that will crop up.

golemkennels · #15 08/15/07, 10:53 AM

I think I've narrowed it down to Pineywoods or Florida Cracker - was also looking at Milking Devons - but I am favoring the Pineywoods and Crackers as being made for the south and for being efficient foragers, and being a bit more colorful and a breed that could use some PR. I'm looking to make the raising part a bit easier on myself as a novice, while the training part isn't scary at all to me - the successful raising of a youngster nutrition-wise is a little hairy for me. I don't have pasture, and my goats and sheep range in the woods and get hay, so I wanted a calf old enough to be able to be supplemented but have no problem running with them in the woods and getting hay as the mainstay of his diet. I'd like the calf to be about as adjusted to getting most of his calories from greenery as possible before I get him. I also don't want to make the cow ill, since likely it will be from a free ranging cow that isn't seen every day and won't be able to be milked after I get the calf. Sorry if I'm not being clear - I'm just trying to make it easy on the cow owner, easier on myself on the nutrition end.

Sunraven · #16 08/15/07, 11:07 AM

Golemkennels, I don't think you'll be very successful at making an older calf into a reliable ox. A calf raised on it's mother is not going to be tame, it will also be big enough at that point to drag you around if you do get a halter on it. Nutrition wise, you'd need milk replacer (medicated, non-soy is best) and grain (local feed stores will have a mixture suitable for young calves) and water. When it gets closer to two months old and weaning time add in some good quality hay. And again, the owners of the cow will not have to milk the cow at all, if she isn't being milked by a person or calf she will dry off on her own with no problems.