In every cow’s life, it’s eventually time to take a calf away from its mom. It’s part of farming, and part of raising animals. Is it mean? No. It’s a part of life.
Is It Mean To Take A Calf Away From Its Mom?
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There is really not much that is cuter than baby animals. We love our calves around here. They are adorable, and they are so much fun to watch when they run around and play in the pasture together.
But, just like in any baby’s life, there comes a time when they have to be weaned. This is one area where dairy calves and beef calves are very different. On most beef cattle farms, cows and calves are kept together for a few months. On most dairy farms, cows and calves are separated shortly after the calf is born.
When Are Beef Cows Separated From Their Moms?
On a beef farm, things work a little differently. We have a cow-calf farm, which means that our cows have a calf every year. We raise the calves until they are about 6-8 months old, and then we sell them. Actually, we let the cows raise the calves. Unless we have one who needs to be bottle fed. (Luckily, this is the exception on a beef farm, and not the rule!)
Our calves stay out in the pasture with their moms until it’s time to wean them (when the calves are 6-8 months old). At weaning time, we move the calves to a different pasture – out of eyesight of the cows. The way our farm is set up, the calves and cows can still hear each other when they are separated, even though they can’t see each other.
It’s usually pretty noisy for the few days after weaning around here.
When Are Dairy Calves Separated from Their Moms?
Dairy calves and beef calves have a very different lifestyle. On most dairy farms, a calf is separated from its mom shortly after it is born. The calf is raised on milk replacer, and lives in a hutch near other calves.
Dairy calves and cows really don’t spend much time together. They don’t have the same bond that the beef calves and cows have. Every cow is different, but most of the time there isn’t that much fuss when the dairy calves are separated.
Six-month-old beef calves are pretty independent. They hang out in little calf groups most of the day and eat lots of hay and grain. But they still know their mommas and they do still get a little bit of nutrition by nursing. When the beef calves are separated, they know something is different, and they miss their moms. They’ll talk all about it – to anyone within earshot. And the moms talk back. So it’s pretty noisy. But everyone keeps on eating like champs, and after 2 or 3 days of midnight serenades it settles back to normal around here. As much as possible, we let the calves settle into their “new normal” before we sell them and move them to another farm.
Calves all need to be taken away from their moms, at some point. If you leave them together all the time, the calf will continue to nurse from the cow long after it no longer needs milk to meet its nutrition needs. This can actually cause some developmental, nutrition, and growth problems for the calf if it is getting too many of its calories from milk, and not enough from roughage (like grass and hay).
So is it mean to take a calf away from its mom? No, it’s not mean. It is part of life, and part of raising cattle. There are ways to decrease the stress of weaning on both the cow and the calf, and we do that as much as we can.
I usually separate calves from their mothers around 7 months. If the mothers are bred the calves need to come off for their health and the mother’s health. They fuss for a few days but learn that the new normal is without Mom.
When I was a little kid I can remember my dad would take the calf from thier mothers at the right moon so they wouldn’t moo all the time is this true or not thank you for doing this blog you have some great things on here, thank you
Some people do “follow the moon” when they wean. Some farmers swear by it, others think it doesn’t matter. It’s all personal preference! Thanks for reading!
That’s a great way of putting it, “the new normal.”