Heal with Ease can help with the weaning process

I have been involved with the production of both beef and wool all of my life. Sometimes in country that is not easy management. I have always be watching and looking for better ways to wean stock for future production. I have tried several processes to get these young cattle or lambs off to the best start as possible.

We all know that the quicker that we can get these young stock producing the better. Now in some country you can get ewe lambs in lamb by in 7-8 mths but in some of the lighter wool producing country you would not think about joining a young ewe until they are 18- 19 mths of age.

It can be the same with cattle. In some country you join them by 14 mths but in other country and with some breeds you would not even consider joining the heifers until they are 24- 30 mths. Whatever you do reaching joining weight is only half of the equation. The other half is how can you get these young animals grown out to a satisfactory size and weigh before calving or lambing. We know that it is the reserves that they carry into birthing that will drive the fertility for the next joining.

This is the same for the males you produce. How quick can you get them grown and into the market that suits your stock and country?

Now there is no right or wrong and there are too many variables to look at to come up with a ultimate decision that is right for all country. Whatever you do, it is always good to look at it from time to time and ask the question.

Can I get my young stock into producing quicker?

And of course the other side of that is.

What would I need to do with in my production system to reach these goals?

Once you have asked these questions it is then time to work out what are the extra things that you would have to do to get to where you need to be.

The question would be – Do I have the resources in both time or feed to reach these outcomes?

Let’s assume that you have looked at your calving time to suit your country or environment. By this I mean that you have matched your calving to the average season for your country. I know that no one can do any more than this. Once you have done this then you need to look at weaning times, eg. Age, Season and Market.

So this brings us to the question:

Can I improve my weaning process to help with the production of my property?

Now I know that there are a lot of different ideas out there with regard to weaning stock. The ultimate goal has to be to wean the stock with as little stress as possible. Taking into consideration that stress is one of earliest factors that will limit your production system.

The goal should be to have your stock as quite as you can to handle, with the ability to eat in a confined environment as quickly as you can. This will give them the ability to handle being feed either in a feedlot situation or on the farm if the season goes bad.

Blueprinting lambs to eat grain/supplements with their mum is a big advantage when it comes to weaning.

Weaning time with any animal is a highly emotional time. Both the mum and the baby show us this with their noise and their persistence about coming back to the yards. The baby’s show us they are emotionally stressed in other ways too like being slow to get on and eat. We all know the sooner we can get the young eating and settled the better. This is when you minimise the stress.

Stress lowers the immune system and slows the digestive system, which all relates to compromised production both in weight gain and animal health costs. Signs of a lowered Immune system are pink eye , respiratory infections, worm burdens, runny noses, constant walking, not eating, ill-thrift.

Use a selection of our homeopathic preps and at the right time during the weaning process you can work on both the mothers and the babies to help them through the emotional problems that lead to stress. It can be done quickly and cost effectively.

Over the years of running weaning programs one thing that I have always noticed is that we always wean going into a tough period of the year, in regards to the season ie. feed quantity and quality. So any set back or stress at this time can quite often take a few months to get over. The longer a stress event lasts the more weight is lost and the longer it takes animals to get over it. It is at this point that the Heal With Ease weaning process has shown the best results. Allowing the young to get over the weaning quickly therefore maintaining weight.