Whether it is Bos Indicus, British, Euro or composite cattle being bred; weaning calves involves the two phases of separation of calf from cow, and cessation of the cow’s lactation.
These events can cause considerable stress and potential weight loss but EasyWean® noserings can offer an alternative.
Feeding calves is usually necessary in conventional yard weaning and education for feeding and handling is often an objective of this process.
The net cost of time, labour, feed and possible weight loss can be considerable.
EasyWean® noserings offer a low-cost alternative with a simple plastic and stainless steel device for weaning calves without separation from their mothers.
The concept involves the quick fitting of a nosering to the calf at weaning age and putting the cows and calves back together for 4-6 weeks.
This allows the lactation to stop without separating the calf from its mother which greatly reduces stress and weight-loss.
If handling and feeding education are considered necessary, this can occur when the nosering is removed.
These reusable noserings are Australian-made and have gained popularity with stud and commercial breeders since 1999.
Early adopters Jim and Pam McGregor of Ardcairnie Angus, Maybenup, Kojonup, were attracted to EasyWean® noserings as a means of weaning the calves from heifers to take pressure off the young cows, before the feed quality in the Great Southern region of WA deteriorated.
“It gives the young cows a better chance to build body reserves over summer as they are still growing animals,” Pam said.
Jim said they decided to wean all the calves with the noserings, which proved to be of benefit to the cow and calf, without the traumatic traditional weaning process.
“This year we will install the noserings when we do the 200 day weights on the calves, in November, and hopefully there will still be some green feed around,” Jim said.
“The noserings will also allow us to creep-feed the calves while having the company of their mums if the quality and quantity of the feed during this difficult season remains an issue.”
Pam said they normally liked to separate the bull calves from the rest of the cow/calf group before there was any possibility of the heifer calves being mated. With the noserings they could wean them for about two weeks then remove them from the group.
“The noserings also enable us to do the weaning process without dramatically changing the calves’ diet,” Pam said.
The McGregor’s run over 200 pedigree Angus females and the same number of pure and commercial Angus females.
As holistic management practitioners planning their grazing, the cows are run in one mob as far as possible and for most of the year.
EasyWean® noserings are a useful management tool to enable them to achieve that objective.
Jim said they separate the young stock sometime after weaning and supplementary feed them through their first summer.
“The separated heifers are then mated three weeks before the main mob of females,” he said.
“They are calved separately until they are well through calving, and only then do they join the cow mob.”
EasyWean® is proudly Australian owned and made
