Time To Wean Elsie

We've reached a point well past the time for weaning.  We want to wean the calves and dry off the cows so that we can bring them to a neighbor down the road that has a registered Jersey bull.  There we'll have our cows bred, have them calve and allow them to freshen.  In about 6 months we'll do the same for our yearling calves - Elsie and LuLu.

So we're weaning Elsie first.  We use a weaning device.  We did use this one several years ago.  It is called a nose thorn.  That doesn't sound pleasant, does it?  You put it in the heifer's nose (ouch!)  The object of this device is that when the calf tries to nurse the momma cow, the pointed thorns poke her bag and she kicks the calf off of her udder and won't let her nurse.

We've also used this weaner.  It has the same general idea.  You put it in the calf's nose, pull the two pieces together and then tighten up a wing nut. You bend the pointed things outward and when they try to nurse, the pointed things poke the momma and she kicks her off.  Over time, the calf gets tired of getting pushed away and she stops trying - meanwhile the momma cow "dries up."

This was a new weaner available at the feed store.  It was a little more pricey than the other two, but we wanted to try this one out.  It works the same way the other two work.

With much fighting, we were able to get the weaner in Elsie's nose.  After much kicking, dust flying and rodeoing in the corral, we finally got the weaner in.  At this point, amidst all of the chaos, we didn't realize that we put it on BACKWARDS!  I tell you, they say you learn by your mistakes.  It seems like we should be really smart, because we make a lot of them.

If you could capture this photo, It'd say, "What did you just do to me and how am I supposed to eat??"

To answer the eating question, it is amazing how quickly they learn that you must stretch your head out, pull your head forward, and the weaner lays flat against the ground, allowing you to eat grass while pulling your head back to you.  In the photo below, Elsie's momma, Clarabelle, is wondering what that contraption is on her daughter's nose.

Elsie looked at us as we left the barn.  She had mischief on her mind.  She went out to the pasture.  The next morning we found her without her weaner on.  Tricia and I walked up and down the pasture until we found it laying on the ground.  She had apparently found a way to pry it out of her nose.

In losing the weaner, she was able to get to Clarabelle and drink all of her milk!  Oh no.  So, we resorted to the old tried and true weaner.  You'll see below, we have it installed.

We have this one installed properly!  So far she hasn't pried this one out of her nose.  We'll keep a close eye on old Elsie, though.  She is cunning and crafty.  If we can keep this in her nose, we'll be successful in weaning her.

Clarabelle's Bad Day

Have you ever had a bad day?  Most people would answer in the affirmative that there are sometimes days where perhaps one thing goes badly and then things keep getting worse - one bad thing follows another.  Clarabelle, our little seven month old Jersey heifer, had one of those days this last week.

For starters, Tricia had our veterinarian drop by for a farm call and give Clarabelle a brucellosis vaccination.  Brucellosis is a serious disease that infects ruminants and can be transmitted to humans through consumption of their milk.  Brucellosis is incurable and highly contagious and it is for this reason that when herds test positive, they must all be slaughtered.  Although there is no cure, there is a vaccination.  Our veterinarian came and administered the injection.  Animals who have received the brucellosis vaccination must get an ear tag, or in the case of a show animal, an ear tattoo to show that they are vaccinated against the disease. More information on brucellosis can be found At this APHIS link.

The injection is not a pleasant experience for the animal and neither is the tattoo. You can see the green dye in Clarabelle's ear below from her brucellosis tattoo.

Not a happy day

If you are wondering about the metal plate hanging from Clarabelle's nose, well, that leads us into the discussion of how Clarabelle's day continued getting worse from there.  Clarabelle was still nursing on her mom, Rosie.  Each day they spend the day together and she gets to drink Rosie's rich milk.  At night we separate them and Rosie makes milk all night for us.  Well, at seven months old, we wean our calves. That means that Clarabelle's days of drinking her mother's milk are over.

Weaning calves can meat separating them in separate pastures, but this sometimes causes undue stress on the momma cow and the calf.  We like to try to keep them together, but to do this, we put a weaning plate in the calf's nose.  That is what you see hanging in her nose.  There are many different styles.  Below is a primitive weaner that was used to wean calves.  You can see the philosophy of the devices. The device is placed in the animal's nose.  When the calf tries to nurse, the points irritate the momma cow and she won't let the calf suckle because it is uncomfortable.

Image Credit

Installation of the weaner is painless, though.  If you look closely below, you can see a tinge of orange in Clarabelle's nostril.  The weaning plate has rubber balls on the ends of each curved metal piece that is inserted in the nose.  Once in the nose it is tightened down by a wing nut, the rubber balls keeping the weaner from causing irritation.  It doesn't pierce the nose, but it still must annoy her.

Side view of the weaner

Not to mention the fact that she's now unable to get Rosie's teats in her mouth and drink the delicious milk.  She misses the milk and for the first few days, she'll moo and moo.

"Got Milk?"  NO, No I don't, unfortunately!

It doesn't take long, though for her to figure out how to stretch out her neck, extend the plate, and pull her head back across the grass or hay to eat.  Gravity, however, makes it impossible to do the same on Rosie's udder to get milk.

So all in all, it was a bad day.  An injection, a tattoo, a strange, uncomfortable device inserted into her nose, and then being cut off from ever drinking milk again! A bad day indeed.  Take heart, Clarabelle.  At least you're a milk cow and not a beef cow.!