Preparing for weaning: Don’t be tempted to delay

Poorer liveweight gains on suckler beef farms, owing to a challenging spring and a summer of below average grass growth rates, has resulted in some beef farmers being tempted to delay weaning in order to make up lost ground.

From an animal health perspective, as explained by John Donlon, Teagasc researcher and vet, on a recent episode of the Beef Edge podcast, this necessarily isn’t the best solution.

Joining host Catherine Egan on the weekly podcast, which shares the latest news, insights and advice for beef farmers, John explained: “From the start of the year, a lot of animals would have been inside for longer than they would usually be. For certain farms, that would have meant that there was an increase in disease. More calves this year might have ended up with scour and respiratory disease while they were still inside.”

Given this and the reduction in performance at grass this year, John added: “Weaning is going to be very important because we really don’t want to cause any more growth checks to these animals. We need to nurse them through this stressful period.”

Nursing per se involves insuring the correct steps are taken in advance of weaning. Some important factors to consider to reduce the stress on animals include the introduction of concentrates four weeks prior to weaning and two weeks post, a creep grazing strategy and ensuing all herd health protocols are fit for purpose and up to date.

As delaying weaning can cause such actions to be taken in a shortened period of time, thus potentially increasing stress come weaning time, John said of the risks factors associated with delaying weaning: “If we delay weaning, we are going to end up compacting all of those stresses together and stacking them on top of each other and potentially increasing the risk of disease for those animals.”

For further key advice from John on preparing for weaning, tune into the Teagasc Beef Edge podcast below: