Planning
Planning for successful weaning from milk to solid food starts from the time the calf first arrives on the unit – seemingly trivial matters such as fresh water and small handfuls of fresh starter feed can be offered from one week of age. Solid feed intake should be gradually increased as the calf grows so that the weaning process becomes much more straightforward.
Bucket fed calves can be weaned abruptly provided they are at least 5 weeks of age and consuming a minimum of 1kg (2lb) of concentrates per day. Weaning off ad-lib machine, or cold ad-lib, calves is more difficult and is discussed in depth in our Calf Management Guide. Effective ways of restricting milk intake to encourage concentrate consumption are best discussed on an individual basis with your local Volac Business Manager.
Avoiding too many lifestyle changes at one time will help your calves cope more readily with the stress of weaning. Try not to alter accommodation, feed, water and social group all at the same time.
Timing of Weaning
By nature, calves consume milk from the dam on a little and often basis for the first few months of life. Generally speaking, reared calves are fed less frequently using formulated milk replacers and solid starter diets. This helps condition the digestive system to accept the bulk nutritional requirements from solid rather than liquid feed at an earlier time than would happen naturally. As a result, we are able to consider removing milk from the diet after a period of weeks rather than months.
Rather than weaning at a fixed time, it is best done when the calf consumes a minimum daily target of 1kg of solid feed for 3 consecutive days. Some calves achieve this at around 5 weeks, whilst others will take almost 8 weeks to consume this amount. Remember that your calf is designed to function on milk for at least this length of time and that many of our best calf rearers would not even consider parting the calf from its milk before this point.
No two units are the same, so consider all options, taking into account your particular circumstances and overall objectives, when deciding which weaning policy is best for you.
The Key Factors for successful weaning are fresh water and fresh specialist starter feed both available 24 hours a day and eating minimum 1kg of solid feed daily.
Weaning on an Ad-Lib system
Success here requires stockmanship skills of a very high order. To successfully alter a diet from liquid to solid without incurring stress, loss of condition and health status demands attention to the numerous small details that collectively complete a very important exercise. These key factors are even more critical to success when ad-lib feeding.
The Key Factors for Successful Weaning are:
- 1 Fresh water and fresh specialist starter feed both available 24 hours a day.
- 2 Eating minimum 1kg of solid feed daily.
Development of the Digestive System of a Calf.
- An in-depth look at Weaning is contained in our Calf Management Guide. If you would like more information getting higher performance from your calaves or advice on improving the lifetime performance of your calves, then please contact us on Freephone 0800 919808.
Back to Top
Rearing for a reason
Rearing systems
Choosing a system
Colostrum management
Tips on feeding whole or surplus milk
Housing