As a fourth-generation rancher, Cherie Copithorne-Barnes knows what the most stressful moments in a beef calf’s early life are – the day it’s born, and the day it’s separated from its mother.
Weaning a calf away from its mother is an issue that cattlemen have had to overcome as long as ranching has been around. It’s a process that always has to be dealt with delicately, as separating a calf from its dam abruptly can increase the animal’s stress levels to the point it affects its abilities to eat, drink and exercise.
At the historic CL Ranch in Springbank, located 30 kilometres west of Calgary, the Copithorne family is familiar with the ideal way to ensure a calf’s separation distress is minimal. According to Cherie Copithorne-Barnes, this is done by using a technique called fenceline weaning – separating the calf and its mother with an electric fence, but keeping the pair in adjoining pastures.
“They can still see and hear each other, and we give them about a mile-long stretch and they can usually walk back and forth,” she said.
Once the calf and the cow are separated by the fenceline, Copithorne-Barnes said, they usually pace back and forth for the first few days, not wanting to be out of sight or smell from each other.
By Day 4, however, the calf’s separation anxiety has lessened, and it will retreat into the pasture, ready to graze away from its mother.
“We find the calves will usually walk back and forth for about three days,” Copithorne-Barnes said. “Then, they peel off and go off into the fields happily, and never look back.
“The cows, it takes them about five days to finally say, ‘OK, the calf is not coming back. I'm good to go.’”
Once the separation has occurred naturally, Copithorne-Barnes said CL Ranch likes to keep the herd out in the fields for as long as the weather will permit. The reason for wanting to keep the animals outside, she added, is to reduce the chances of any of the cows getting sick.
She likened the reasoning to a group of young school kids, where if one student gets sick, others follow.
“When you have the herd out in the field, they’re spread out, relaxed and happy,” she said. “It’s no different than your first week of school, for kids. You bring them together in tight and confined quarters, if one has a cold, they all get a cold. And the same thing happens with calves.
“Unless there's three feet of snow and it's -40 C, we'll try and keep them out, because they do a lot better out in the fields, as long as there's good grazing and water out there.”
Once the weather gets too cold, it’s time for the calves to come into the backgrounding feed-yard, where they’re fed their rations for the rest of the winter.
“That way, we control the shelter and the water and the feed that’s going to them directly,” Copithorne-Barnes said. “It’s just a little easier on them from an environmental perspective and it’s easier in ensuring everyone comes to feed. It’s better for management purposes.”
