Effects of Alternate Weaning Methods on Behavior, Blood Metabolites, and Performance of Beef Calves

Abstract

Beef calves traditionally are weaned by abrupt remote separation from their dams. Alternate weaning strategies have been suggested to reduce stress and improve performance of calves after weaning. Two such strategies were compared with abrupt remote separation weaning in spring-born, Angus-crossbred steers. Cow-calf pairs were allotted to 3 treatments 7 d before (d−7 to 0) weaning: fence-line (FL, calves separated from dams by a fence), nose-clips (NC, placement of antisuckling device on calves which then remained with dams), or control (CTRL, calves remained with dams until d 0). All steers were transported away from their dams on d 0, placed on pasture on d 1, and maintained within weaning-method treatment groups. Behavioral observations were conducted from d−7 to−4 and d 1 to 4. The NC calves spent less time eating, more time idling, more time close to dams, walked less, and had reduced ADG compared with FL or CTRL calves before transport (P < 0.05). The CTRL calves spent less time eating, more time idling, and walked more than FL or NC calves (P < 0.05) after transport. Average daily gain of FL calves was greater than NC calves (P < 0.05). On d 0, NC calves had reduced (P < 0.05) creatine kinase and BUN concentrations and greater nonesterified fatty acid concentration. There were no treatment effects for any blood metabolite detected after transport. Nose-clip weaning did not seem to be a comparable method to FL weaning, whereas FL weaning may be an alternative to traditional weaning.