Having calves weaned early is often something that occurs during periods of low forage quality. Early weaning typically happens during extremely dry periods, such as what typically happens in many Western states. But what exactly does it mean to wean early?
Early weaning is usually defined as weaning calves before they are 150 days old. In some extreme cases, they can be weaned even earlier, at 45 days. Weaning that early rarely happens, so more commonly, early-weaned calves are over 80 days old.
Early weaning is a valuable tool that can bring significant benefits to livestock producers, particularly during drought or when cows are in a confinement system. It serves as a body condition management tool for old and young cows, offering a ray of hope in challenging times.
It is a valuable tool because once you take the calf off of the cow, her nutritional demands go down. Once she no longer has the demands of lactation, a producer can maintain her on poor-quality forages with little to no supplement needed.
