After a little practice, separating calves from mum overnight becomes a happy routine for us all. Bovines seem to flourish with a good routine but can be thrown when the routine is broken. The calves seem to enjoy going off together with their peers for the night into cosy stables with their own little yard and feeders stuffed with fresh hay. The mothers can still nuzzle their calves through/over the gates although after the first week they are more settled and less bothered by the separation and seem happy to have distance between themselves and their calves.
These are both heifer and steer calves from 4 months - 1 yr old. Any pushy animals are kept separate from the more timid to avoid bullying in an enclosed space. This separation process may start from a couple of months old when the calves are introduced to the separation area with their mum & they are tempted to try her feed from the bucket - usually grass or lucerne pellets as we are purely pasture fed, just a few so their digestive system can start to make the adjustment. Then we will start to take mum out of the separation yard leaving the calf behind just for a few minutes usually they are not at all bothered and the calf seems to enjoy his/her own special little area for much of the day. It's great when a couple/few calves buddy up naturally as they do and they start to approach the separation area of their own accord without being enticed.
When they are older maybe about 4 months old (at the very youngest) we start the overnight separation so we can have just some of mums milk for the morning milking, mother and calf are re-united after milking for the rest of the day - until tea time during the winter months.
We'll show you how it works during summer time which can be more challenging for the Calf at Foot Dairying system. Fiona Provan (Owner/founder of The Calf at Foot Dairy).
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