We’re fast approaching the time of year when calves are ready to be weaned. Before you start, it’s worth taking a longer‑term view: who is your target market, and what can you do at weaning to set those cattle up for success?
If your target is the feedlot, research completed by NSW Agriculture has compared different weaning methods – yard weaning, abrupt separation, gradual separation, and creep weaning – and followed the calves through to the feedlot. Yard weaning came out on top, with better weight gain and fewer cases of respiratory disease.
The research highlighted four key aspects to effective weaning:
- Well‑built, weaner‑proof yards with good‑quality water (not small paddocks).
- A pen stocking density of around 4 m² per head for 180–260 kg calves.
- Good‑quality hay or silage fed ad lib (ME 8.5 or better, protein 12% or better).
- Cattle kept in the yards for 5–10 days.
Weaning is also an ideal time to implement your animal health program, including external and internal parasite control, dehorning and vaccinations. At Bindaree, we pay a premium for cattle vaccinated with Bovilis MH + IBR (15 dollars per head). This vaccination can be given from two weeks up to six months prior to delivery. Completing and recording this at weaning not only supports animal health but it gives you more flexibility with marketing decisions if circumstances or weather conditions change.
Prioritising your weaning strategy helps cattle settle into the feedlot faster, perform more consistently and meet the specs on our feeder grid, which benefits your business and ours.
