Calf Weaning

Traditional calf feeding practice limits milk fed to encourage early intakes of concentrates and promote earlier weaning, to cut feed costs and labour. Recent research however has shown that feeding higher volumes of milk can boost lifetime productivity, but this can make weaning more difficult. This Farming Note discusses how different calf feeding approaches can manage the weaning period successfully and overcome any issues.

This Farming Note looks at:

• Rumen development
• Deciding when to wean
• Weaning off higher milk input systems
• How to transition the calf off its milk

Issued July 2015

About Kingshay Farming Notes

Since 1991 Kingshay has been publishing Farming Notes on issues critical to the success of a modern dairy farm business. These briefings provide dairy farmers, large animal vets, farm consultants and other interested parties with the most important and timely information in a concise two-page format. The information contained in our Farming Notes is written and updated by our experts to ensure accuracy and save you time.

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