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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:35 pm
by PeterO
Ann
Most commercial dairy calves are raised on feeders/buckets - what do you mean by 'weaned'.
Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 8:57 am
by Martin
Hi all,
Before purchasing my first Dexter I reared calves and sold them at 12 to 16 months old, they where always weaned at 6 weeks. some where ready earlier, few where not ready for weaning at this age. What the calf is eating at weaning is the key, 1kg of concentrate and adequate hay is the rule. If the rumen is working well there is no reason in my mind why any calf cannot be weaned early. I am not saying that the calf will achieve the same growth rates as with a suckled calf (what most of us Dexter breaders do), but with adequate nutrition it could come very close, but you would have to feed plenty of concentrate which most of us do not want to do. I believe the youngest that a calf can be offered for sale at a market is 4 days. So is a calf ready for sale at 2 1/2 months, I would say yes it could be ready and probably is, but most of us in the Dexter world prefer not to do it this way, and prefer the traditional methods instead.
I do not leave my calves for 8 months, I prefer my cows to have a longer 'holiday' before their next calves arrive. I feed concentrates to young weaned heifers only (in winter to keep them moving forward) my cows eat only grass, hay & barley straw, with this system I believe you have to look to your cows & give them extra time to recover from the stresses of raising a calf.
Martin
Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:23 am
by Penny
Whilst, of course, many calves are "weaned" at a very young age and brought up without their mothers, I think the danger in this situation is that it is only one calf. Over the years I have been approached by people who like the idea of them or their children having a young dexter calf to rear. More often or not they are people who have no livestock background and do not have much knowledge on the health and nutritional requirements of such a young animal. I accept that most will then take the time to find out, but it is a " dog is for life not just Christmas" scenario.
I knowof a similar situation, where two very young heifers have been sold to some one who has an acre "backgarden" that also has to support a horse, and the owner is now talking about breeding from these heifers................
I personally agree with Ann in applying the same rules as at sales. My cows wean their calves themselves, which they nearly all do at approx 10 months of age. Result is a happy, naturally existing herd, with healthy mothers and really strong youngstock. The only time I intervene is if the mother is losing condition or, as is sometimes the case, first time calvers not weaning their offspring. The herd is well fed on grass and haylage only, without the cost of concentrates. In these post-subsidy days, anyone wanting to make a living out of dexters is better off keeping their youngstock on mothers milk than concentrates!!
If you are wondering, my cows tend to be on the plump side, not emaciated wrecks, so it is also good for the mother not to have too much weight on her before calving again.
I have been meaning to put something on this site re weaning, for a while. Many newcomers to dexters do seem to get advised to wean at six months, as we were. The stress for animals and owners alike is totally unnecessary unless there are either health reasons or if the mother is to be shown and does not have a good enough udder for the wet classes. Ooops, should I have said that?!
Penny
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:14 am
by Inger
Because of our poor grazing, we have to wean our calves at 5 - 6 months, depending on the condition of the mother. I give the calves a grain mix and hay for a month after weaning, which prevents any post-weaning weight loss. But they haven't suffered for it. They still look fine and come Spring, we'll have the new grass growth to bring them along nicely.
You're lucky to have such lovely grazing land where you are. Our farm is on fairly steep (but scenic :D ) hills, so we just have to make the best of it. Fortunately Dexters are an adaptable breed and most of them manage quite adequately on our mean fare.