Show calf weaning & feeding advice

[simba]

I have a bull calf born Feb 10, that I think is gonna turn out pretty cool and I plan to show him at the end of July. He's been started on creep feed but is not weaned yet. I've tied him up a few times as well. I won't be showing his dam in the summer, so what I'm wondering is: When would be the best time to wean him and get him on feed to have him looking the best by my show, the last weekend of July? I want him to look as good as possible, but I don't want to burn him out by feeding him too much at such a young age. Also, what would you feed him? Right now he's just getting a home mixed oat creep ration free choice with two other bull calves and I generally feed my summer show animals a similar oat ration, but I'm open to trying something different. Any advice is welcome!

 

[gary89]

For a September show I have day weaned mine for about a week before fully weaning. Fed them a creep ration along with Purina receiving chow before putting on a ration of 50% oats, corn, protein, and cottonseed hulls. I fed receiving chow thru show and am still mixing it with regular ration. My calves were mid March for birth dates. Really worked well and I plan on doing the same this summer.

 

[simba]

For a September show I have day weaned mine for about a week before fully weaning. Fed them a creep ration along with Purina receiving chow before putting on a ration of 50% oats, corn, protein, and cottonseed hulls. I fed receiving chow thru show and am still mixing it with regular ration. My calves were mid March for birth dates. Really worked well and I plan on doing the same this summer.

Thanks for the info, when did you fully wean your calves?

This is what I have finally decided that I plan to do, let me know what you guys think: Day wean him for a week, starting right away (he's just under two months old). He'll be with my steer in the barn all day, with his momma outside in the corral, then every night when I tie my steer up at 5pm I'll blow out the little guy, then put out some feed and hay for him and let him relax until 9pm, which is when I will let him out for the night with his dam. Then after a week I plan to fully wean him and continue the routine.

Am I jumping the gun by wanting to wean him so early? If so, at what age would you wean him? I just want him to look really good at the show, but I definitely do not want to burn him out.

 

[GoWyo]

Unless you are in a hurry to do something with the cow, I think waiting until they are 100-120 days old before fully weaning them is better.

 

[gary89]

Unless you are in a hurry to do something with the cow, I think waiting until they are 100-120 days old before fully weaning them is better.

I agree, wait a while and let him be a calf. The day weaning will help a lot.

 

[RyanChandler]

If your concern is having him separated so that he'll be on a denser ration and gain weight more quickly, I would have the calf on full feed but also allow the dam in with him so that he can nurse.  Really all I would limit was his access to roughage as its not nutritious enough for your goals.  I've heard back in the day, it wasnt uncommon to have a jersey nurse cow in the show barn.  I imagine that milk keeps a nice finish on them.

 

[JTM]

As a rule of thumb, never ever wean a calf under 90 days old... Here are my thoughts. For the best results day wean your calf and work with it. I wouldn't day wean longer than 6 hours at that young of an age. Make sure to have fresh creep feed mix everyday available as free choice for the calf. Make sure the calf can get to the creep feed at all times so that it doesn't over eat and bloat. Also, if you really want to push the calf then get the cow some grain too. I would then probably wean the calf about mid June(130 days). Slowly switch the feed over to a good show ration feed like Rowe Nutrition Jackpot .49. Feed grass hay free choice at that point, no alfalfa or clover in it. Good luck to you!

 

[Barry Farms]

As a rule of thumb, never ever wean a calf under 90 days old... Here are my thoughts. For the best results day wean your calf and work with it. I wouldn't day wean longer than 6 hours at that young of an age. Make sure to have fresh creep feed mix everyday available as free choice for the calf. Make sure the calf can get to the creep feed at all times so that it doesn't over eat and bloat. Also, if you really want to push the calf then get the cow some grain too. I would then probably wean the calf about mid June(130 days). Slowly switch the feed over to a good show ration feed like Rowe Nutrition Jackpot .49. Feed grass hay free choice at that point, no alfalfa or clover in it. Good luck to you!

I think this applies to both me and Larissa. Why would you not start day weaning it as soon as it is 90 days old so that it is more tame fair time? Also why would you not want to feed alfalfa/clover hay to the calf? I feed a blend of corn, cotton seed hulls, beet pulp, oats, and some other things to my steers and heifer I am breaking now, could I feed the calf that? Thanks

What I am doing is similar to what Larissa is doing, I have a February 1st calf that I would like to show Mid July. I was thinking the first of May start day weaning for 2 weeks while trying to halter break her. After 2 weeks fence line wean her for 1 more week all the while she is eating grain and hay then after she is fence line weaned for a week take her to a lot with my other show calves that are 13-15 months old.