Separating calves from their dams for two weeks is not long enough to prevent younger calves (six- to seven-month-old calves) from resuming nursing their dams. If the calves are older (eight- to ten-month-old calves), then most of the cows would likely kick the calves off when they tried to resume nursing. Perhaps a better solution would be to pasture wean the calves after putting in a more substantial three-wire electric fence. This approach doesn't require driving the cows away from the calves until the cows lose interest in the calves, which usually only takes three to four days. At this point, the cows can usually be led away with some feed, thus with much less stress for calves and cows alike. If the calves and cows must be rejoined, the separation should be three to four weeks.

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