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Tag Archives weaning

By wintering with their mothers, calves learn skills such as bale grazing.
Cow-Calf, Features, Livestock

Wintering calves with the cow herd

Keeping calves on the cows over winter offers many benefits, these ranchers say, but producers may need to adjust their herd genetics and management practices

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Winter feeding is one of the highest costs of raising cattle. Some ranchers who keep calves over winter are finding they can winter those calves more efficiently by leaving them on the cows, while also reducing illness and stress in the calves. Canadian Cattlemen talked to two ranchers to find out what it takes to […] Read more
AgriProfit$ key indicators for cow-calf operations are referred to as GOLD: Growth (weaning weight), Open (rate), Length (of calving period) and Death (losses). Photo: Canada Beef.
Livestock, Nutrition

McKinnon: Tips for starting newly weaned calves on feed

Nutrition with John McKinnon

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It is Thanksgiving weekend as I write this column, which implies that across the country, cow-calf producers have or are looking to wean calves. While some producers will retain ownership and either background and/or finish their calves, the majority will be marketed either through an auction market, satellite/video sale or directly to a destination feedlot. […] Read more
Hereford calves eating corn from a feed bunk. Introducing calves to a feed ration while they’re still on the cow helps ease weaning stress.
Features, Livestock

Backgrounding basics – easing the transition from weaning to feeding

Backgrounding calves can add value, but does come with more risk. Learn how to manage those risks and shepherd calves through the post-weaning phase

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Adding weight to calves through backgrounding can be an effective way to increase the worth of both lower-value cattle and feeds. However, beef producers have to do their homework to make sure cattle transition successfully from weaning to feeding. “If you have a good source of cheap feed, you can put a lot of pounds […] Read more
Calving date shifting in Ontario
Cow-Calf, Features

Calving date shifting in Ontario

The onset of calving season often depends on the individual operation, says an Ontario cow-calf producer

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The vast majority of Ontario producers calve their cows either in the barn or very close to it early in the year, but the current trend is toward later calving dates on grass, according to Craig McLaughlin, a Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) board director and cow-calf producer in Renfrew County. A survey conducted in […] Read more
Softer steel cables fence off the trough and stretch without snapping.
Features, Livestock

Hopper-bottomed calf feeder cuts labour

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A relatively simple system replaced hauling feed with five-gallon buckets on this ranch

Hauling five-gallon buckets to feed the weanlings was a regular chore for the Bowie family, until a fire gave them a chance to do something different. Originally the Bowie family, who ranch in the Great Sandhills of southwestern Sask­atchewan, used an old wooden-wheeled grain wagon to hold feed for the calves. They filled their pails […] Read more
Tips for starting calves on feed
Livestock, Nutrition

Tips for starting calves on feed

Nutrition with John McKinnon

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Retained ownership is a marketing strategy that is used to manage market risk. As opposed to selling weaned calves into a potentially depressed market, retaining ownership and selling at a later stage of production (i.e. as short or long yearlings, or even finished animals) offers the possibility to sell into a more favourable market, as […] Read more
Cow-calf producers can also ease stress by practicing low-stress animal handling.
Cow-Calf, News, News Roundup

Tips for weaning calves

Animal Care: News Roundup from the September 30, 2019 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

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Canadian Cattlemen reader Christine Pike of Waseca, Sask., wrote to us to share her strategy for reducing weaning stress. We’ve outlined her method with her permission. Pike makes a “calf door” by creating a small opening into a pen with a rail across the top that is a couple of inches higher than the tallest […] Read more
Low-stress weaning for calves
Cow-Calf, Features

Low-stress weaning for calves

A less stressful weaning process makes for healthier calves

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Weaning time has traditionally been traumatic for calves, mama cows and ranchers, but it doesn’t need to be. “There are better ways to wean calves, says Bart Lardner, a beef and forage research scientist at the University of Saskatchewan. “Abrupt weaning is the most stressful, for both the cow and calf. The question has been […] Read more
Canadian and U.S. calf preconditioning trends
Cow-Calf, Features

Canadian and U.S. calf preconditioning trends

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Conventional preconditioning programs generally include at minimum — castration, dehorning, vaccination against clostridial and bacterial diseases, parasite control, weaning for a period of 30-plus days, and acclimation to feedstuffs, bunks and water bowls prior to sale. The term itself is not narrowly defined and can mean different things to different people including a combination of […] Read more
The driving factor behind creep feeding calves is to increase weight gains while on pasture.
Cow-Calf, Nutrition

Creep feeding – What side of the debate are you on?

Nutrition with John McKinnon

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Creep feeding is a management practice where nursing calves are fed supplemental feed while on pasture. Its economic benefits have been hotly debated by those in industry and academia alike. Those in favour point to the increased value of heavier calves at weaning, the potential sparing of summer forage supplies, and the health benefits associated […] Read more

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