Less Mooing and More Chewing with Gentle Weaning

A few weeks ago, we started weaning last Fall’s calves from their moms. Under Michael’s watchful care, our calves and momma cows are weaned humanely with a temporary wire between them. The calves and momma cows can touch noses without the calves being able to nurse. They are also near each other for support as the calves adjust to eating only fresh grass and clover on pasture. After two days of some mooing back and forth, the quiet chewing returned to our pastures.

Some people wean their calves at 6 months. However, we prefer to wait until the calves are more mature at 8 months before we start weaning. We feel waiting and using a gentle weaning technique is less stressful and healthier for both calves and momma cows. Yes, us humans also benefit with better sleep from our gentle weaning process...less mooing and more chewing.