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Early Weaning for the Beef Herd

Last Updated: March 23, 2010

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Fact Sheet Written by:

David Lalman, Assistant Professor Beef Cattle

And Provided by

Oklahoma State University


Early weaning of calves at 6 to 8 weeks of age is an effective way to get high rebreeding rates even in very thin cows. Although, early weaning is certainly not advocated for all producers all of the time, it can provide an attractive alternative in certain situations such as drought, when large amounts of purchased forage would be necessary to maintain a cow herd through to normal weaning time or when cows are already too thin to rebreed. Studies at Oklahoma State University show that early-weaned calves can be efficiently raised to a normal weaning weight with minimal labor and facilities.

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Early Weaning

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