Winter Weaning on the Farm

It's just about the start of weaning season here on our Indiana farm.

The calves in the front of the picture are enjoying some ryegrass planted in late September of this year. They can slip under an electric fence wire that keeps the momma cows in the field in the background.

The cows are fed silage we raise and age on our farm, while the calves graze the fresh grass. We don't let the cows onto it because it would be gone in 2 days. As you can imagine, they eat quite a bit more than the calves.

In about 2 weeks, we will push all the calves out onto the ryegrass and put up a gate to keep them from going back to their mothers. The cows will moo to their calves but be content that the calves are right across the gate from them.

After about 3 days the cows are checked for positive pregnancies and hauled off to winter pastures and the calves get moved to another ryegrass pasture.

Then another group of cows and young calves are moved in to start their weaning process as the last group did.

Every season is different and new on our farm, but the gentle, natural practices we perform each day remain our constant.