Today I’m going to talk about the importance of weaning calves to ensure they are given the very best chance to succeed later in life.
Weaning is the process of moving a young mammal off its mother’s milk. When calves are born their rumens aren’t fully developed and need to be gradually accustomed to digesting feed. The type of food a calf receives when it’s young is very important. You are what you eat! And this is certainly the case for dairy cows.
By introducing calves to calf starter feed early in life, they are able to munch on it little by little, even while they’re still drinking milk. Calf starter contains a lot of starch, which is great for the rumen and encourages beneficial starch-eating bacteria to grow and flourish. Once the calf begins to eat starter feed, it will take about 2-3 weeks for the rumen to have enough beneficial bacteria to be able to properly digest grain.
Once a calf is able to eat 1-2 pounds of starter per day for a few days in a row, it can safely be weaned! Many farms will wean their calves anywhere from 6-9 weeks old, but it’s up to what the farm thinks is best for the calf. After a calf is weaned, it will usually experience a slight drop in weight, but it will quickly put the weight back on by eating tons of feed, hay, and water. Making sure calves are weaned properly will lead to happier, healthier cows and plenty of delicious milk!