Weaning can be stressful for calves and their mothers, but in recent years ranchers have found better ways to wean than putting calves in a corral and taking the cows away. Jon and Breezy Millar have been fenceline-weaning their purebred Angus herd near Sturgis, S.D., since 2012.

“It was dry and dusty that year, and pastures were short,” Jon says. “We knew we’d have to wean early, but it was so dusty I didn’t want those calves in a corral.”

They gave fenceline weaning a try. It worked. Now, they keep a native-grass pasture ungrazed through the summer to use as a weaning pasture.

“We have two pastures side by side, about 800 acres each. They were divided by a barbed-wire fence, so we put a hot wire on each side of that fence,” he describes. “On the weaning pasture side, the hot wire is nose-high for a calf, and on the cow side it’s on top of the fence.”

He moves pairs into the weaning pasture about a week before sorting calves off to allow calves to become acquainted with that environment. For a couple of days before weaning, he drives the feed truck into that pasture and puts out a little feed.

“The cows know what it is, and calves remember from when we fed them earlier, so they all come,” Jon says. “On the day we wean, we pull the cows into the adjacent pasture and leave the calves. It’s easy to move the cows because we drive in with the feed wagon and the cows follow us.”

Two riders on horseback hold back the calves, which are more timid, as the cows go through the gate following the feed wagon.”

“Then we shut the gate, and the sorting is done,” he says. “With the hot wire, they don’t try to go through the fence. The cows throw a bigger fit than the calves. By the next day, most of the calves are grazing in the pasture or lying next to the fence, but for a couple days all the cows are pacing the fence.”

Their udders are full, and they are upset, he notes, but the calves aren’t stressed much.

“I love this way of weaning and would never go back to doing it the old way.” — Jon Millar

“I love this way of weaning and would never go back to doing it the old way,” Jon says. “With fenceline weaning at pasture, calves stay healthy. We’ve had no sickness doing it this way.”

He weans in two bunches. The herd is in two groups when they go to summer grass — cows with bull calves in one group and cows with heifers in another. Bull calves are weaned first, followed by heifers a week later.

During the first years, a couple calves got through the fence to get with their mothers, but after they were put back in the weaning pasture, they didn’t try to go through the fence again.

“One time I watched it happen,” Jon says. “The calf went up to the fence and wasn’t used to electric fence yet. When he touched it, instead of jumping backward, he bellered, leaped forward and jumped through the fence. A calf that touches it will never try it again. I’ve never had a cow get in with the calves. Now we turn the hot wire on when we put the pairs in the weaning pasture, and calves start learning about it.”

After about two weeks, calves are fully weaned and brought home.

“We’ve tried to bring them home sooner, but it works best if we let them stay there for two weeks,” he says. “The cows are dried up and not worrying about the calves anymore.”

There are corrals a mile from the weaning pasture. Calves get preconditioning vaccinations three weeks ahead of weaning.

“When we take the herd to the weaning pasture, we go through the corrals and give calves their boosters and get weaning weights,” Jon describes. “This is done about a week prior to weaning, which occurs after they’ve been in the weaning pasture as pairs for a week. After we sort off the cows, calves stay in the weaning pasture another two weeks, and then we haul them home.”

There’s not much stress, and they stay calmer than with corral weaning, he says.

“It takes more management, but they keep grazing and stay healthier,” Jon says.

Most years there is plenty of grass for the calves, but if it’s a dry year he may start feeding a little in that pasture. If it’s a wet year, the grass is good enough they don’t need any additional feed.

Editor’s note: Heather Smith Thomas is a freelance writer and cattlewoman from Salmon, Idaho. [Lead photo courtesy Jon and Breezy Millar.
Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, Vol. 16, No. 7-B
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