Fact Sheet Written by:
Kent Tjardes, Cody Wright, and Don Boggs Animal and Range Sciences Department, SDSU
And provided by
South Dakota State University http://agbiopubs.sdstate.edu
Weaning calves earlier than the normal 6-7 months of age is a management practice that should be considered when
pastures are short or quality is poor. Calves have been weaned successfully at less than 2 months of age. However,
normal rumen function is not developed until approximately 120 days of age. Research has demonstrated that calves
older than 90 days have satisfactory gains without being put on milk replacers. Calves can be placed in a drylot on a
medium energy diet (NEg ≥ 0.45 Mcal/lb), on a higher quality pasture, or a pasture with supplemental creep feed.
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