Early Weaning Research Paper

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Pages: 3

Early weaning, defined as removal of a calf from its dam at less than 210 d of age (Barker-Neef, et al., 2010), has been shown to be an economical practice benefitting both the dam and calf particularly in situations where nutrients are limited (i.e. drought). The high nutrient requirements of a lactating cow can be drastically reduced by removal of a calf, making it easier to maintain or gain BCS for more efficient reproduction (Arthington and Minton, 2004). Furthermore, in calves, this production practice is associated with increased feed efficiency (Peterson et al., 1987) as well as improved carcass quality through the increase of intramuscular fat (SOURCE).
The primary goal of a cow-calf operation is for each cow to produce a marketable calf every year. After 280 ± 6 days of gestation there are only approximately 80 days left for a cow to return to estrus and rebreed in order to maintain yearly calving. Therefore, it is critical to adopt management practices reduce the time for return to estrus and result in acceptable pregnancy rates. Weaning before or at the
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The practice of early weaning removes the suckling stimulus and almost immediately reduces the nutrient intake of the dam sooner than in a traditional weaning system. Normally weaned cows and calves consumed 59% more total digestible nutrients and had 58% increase in dry matter intake compared to early weaned cows alone (Arthington and Minton, 2004). When combining the reduced nutrient requirements of the cow with improved efficiency of the calf that are commonly associated with early weaning, Peterson and others (1987) found that early weaned cow-calf pairs consumed 20.4% less total digestible nutrients and were 43% more effective at turning those nutrients into pounds of calf than normal weaned