Editor’s note: The following was written by Grant Dewell, Iowa State University Extension beef veterinarian, and Megan Hindman, clinical assistant professor, for the Iowa Beef Center September newsletter.
Weaning is stressful for calves. Preparing your calves ahead of time can decrease stress and maintain calf health. However, vaccination alone is not sufficient to guarantee the respiratory health of calves.
Calves should be castrated and dehorned as early as possible. If castration and dehorning did not occur prior to pasture turnout, then these procedures should be performed at least 4 weeks prior to weaning.
Nutrition
Calves need to have good nutrition before and after weaning. Calves from drought areas are at risk for post-weaning health problems since Vitamin A and E intake is probably low. Creep feeding for 3-4 weeks before weaning will help all calves transition through the weaning period once milk is no longer an option. Creep-fed calves tend to maintain weight better through the weaning phase.
Minimizing the stress of diet transition will help the calf mitigate other impacts of weaning stress.
Once the foundation of good health has been established with good management and proper nutrition, the calf is ready to be vaccinated. Take time and spread vaccinations out during the suckling phases. Stacking three to four vaccines simultaneously may overwhelm the calves’ immune function and impair a proper immune response. Most preconditioning programs recommend two doses of a 5-way MLV vaccine for respiratory pathogen and Mannheimia haemolytica and Histophilus somni bacterin. Additionally, at least one dose of the 7-way clostridial vaccine is recommended.
Deworming
Most calves will benefit from being dewormed at weaning time. Calves are the most likely to build up heavy parasite loads during grazing as they have not established immunity yet. Calves with severe parasite loads may have adverse health issues and reduced gain.
Minimize stress
Finally, look for ways to decrease stress on the calf. As mentioned before, castrating and dehorning should be done early to minimize stress.
Fenceline weaning is less stressful for the calf. Additionally, acclimating cattle into the dry lot using low-stress handling practices can improve the health of calves.
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Any weaning process that makes the separation between cow and calf more gradual will reduce the stress and therefore potentially improve health and performance of the calf.