49 The Business of Prairie Agriculture Better Farming | September 2024 young cattle. Stress is demonstrated by increased vocalizations, increased walking and pacing, and decreased feed intake. It can hinder growth and predispose calves to health problems. Producers should place high importance on minimizing stress when developing their weaning protocols. “The absence of their mother is a big stressor, along with the absence of milk, maybe a new location, social mixing, and new unfamiliar pen mates. Trucking accompanies all of that as well,” says Stookey. “We initially named post-weaning sickness shipping fever and credited it to the fact that they’ve been transported. I don’t really believe that anymore. Everyone focused on transport making calves sick, but weaning didn’t get the attention it deserved.” Stookey believes that producers should consider the combined effects of the various stressors that occur during weaning. “One thing we now know is that if you put stressors together, you can have a synergistic effect. The results are worse than just the individual stressors added together.” Identifying potential stressors and finding opportunities to reduce the number occurring at any one time will help calves transition into their new life. Dr. Van Mitchell, a veterinarian at Metzger Veterinary Services, says, “With calves, the ideal scenario is that they would still be out in the same area – the same pasture, the same feed. The only thing that changes is that mom is not there. That’s a tremendous help to their overall stress.” Kotzeff’s second strategy for weaning, named the “no stress system,” focuses on minimizing stress by leaving calves in an area they know. He uses this system when he plans on weaning earlier to move the cow herd for fall cover crop grazing, to maintain cow body condition, or if he plans on selling calves to a third party for backgrounding. “I process the calves before taking them off the cows, which includes castrating, vaccinating, and deworming, and that’ll happen anytime from August to September,” explains Kotzeff. “The second step is a backgrounding system. I use a pre-weaning station, which I set up where the herd is. It’s creep gates with a creep feeder and a hay feeder with really good hay. “If I have a barn, I set up creep feed gates and give them access to the barn for bedding and so they can find water at that location. They can do everything they want before weaning, and now they know where the water and barn are and know the hay and the feed they will get.” Kotzeff explains that to make this system work as intended, the cows should be moved away at weaning while the calves stay in an environment they are comfortable with. “Instead of taking calves to a new location, I leave them Livestock
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