Author: Tad Campbell
Planning Unit: Entomology
Major Program: Beef
Plan of Work: Livestock Production
Outcome: Long-Term Outcome
The weaning process for cattle is a stressful time for young calves. The stress can lead to other problems such as respiratory infections, depression, unease, and constant walking which leads to lower returns over costs associated with those problems. Mason County has held an on-farm demonstration for two years with implementation of fence-line weaning project. The Mason County Extension Service, UK Beef specialist team, and local producers have implanted the project to provide data on weaning calves with only a temporary fence between cows and calves. Mason County had one farm participate in year one and two farms participate in year two. Results from the new farm in year two had technical issues that allowed for a specific check list when using temporary fence for weaning due to issues from that location. The other farm has participated for two years with positive results. Calves were not creep fed prior to weaning, just grazing and eating along the cows. Calves were removed from cows and moved to the weaning lot (an area of about 1.5 acres of decent grass). With only a temporary fence separating calves and cows a game camera monitored the interactions over the first week of weaning. During first year none of the calves escaped back to the side with cows, during year two only two calves got back with cows. Each year had a group of 30 calves being weaned. Weights were recorded at day of weaning, 7 days later, and 45 days weaned showing that calves did not lose as much weight with fence line weaning compared to neighboring farm calves that were traditionally weaned with cows removed from calves and out of sight. The lower weight loss during week 1 of weaning allowed for more pounds to be gained from the group in the same time frame per calve as compared to the traditionally weaned group. When weaning calves for short periods of time, gaining as many pounds as possible is the goal to profitability. Calves weaned with less stress offer producers more potential to gain pounds in a specific time frame compared to traditionally weaned calves. An on-farm mini field day was offered to local producers to discuss the benefits of the two year project. Both the farmer and agent conducted a video interview for specialist use to reach a broader number of farms in the state with details of the project.
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