WEANING and Selling a Calf - BUT not how other farms do it.

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We want to share with you the things we wish we would’ve known when we started homesteading. We want to inspire you to find fulfillment on your homestead spending quality time with your family, eating nourishing food that you've raised with your own two hands, and caring for the earth while you’re at it! We also want you to know that being a homesteader doesn’t have to look like Laura Ingalls Wilder…
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[@champagnemommy]

You did this very humanely. Still sad to see momma cry for her baby 😢. Looks like the baby will have a wonderful home.

[@morethanfarmers]

Yes! Such is the circle of life.

[@mrs.broccoli4362]

Cody, this touches me so much. If only all animals could grow up and be weaned like that. The more videos I see of you, the more I admire your work and appreciate it very much. thanks for this great video.

[@kohei8061]

Me too

[@benburns5995]

Hi Cody, great and very informative video. Have to say that you are very creative to work with what you have, to get the job done. Hard to see the separation anxiety between Maddie and Maple, but it is part of life. Nice way to celebrate by having family Ice-cream time together. Congratulations on coming up on 1,000 subs, you have a great channel, so hope it grows and prospers.

[@morethanfarmers]

Thanks Ben! I posted the video on a couple cow Facebook groups and got some pretty rude comments.. so some encouraging words are greatly appreciated 😊 It’s hard for me too to see the separation thing, but I also have the upside of knowing I’m blessing another family!

[@benburns5995]

@@morethanfarmers Some people like criticizing others so you will always have haters. Just keep creating great content.

[@morethanfarmers]

Thanks 😊 I’m just gonna have to grow a thick skin!

[@tomk2147]

Cody, nope you don't need to grow a thick skin! The Reality Check for haters / rude commenters / bullies / what ever you want to call them. The reality is that at what point do you separate them where the mother cow will kick the calf off her, most likely will not happen. Like you said you have to separate them because the calf would continue to suck on the cow. Yes the reality of a farm is they must be separated and I guarantee over 90% of those commenting don't have a farm and never been on a farm. They do not know the first thing about a milk cow. Here's another reality is that calf went to a farm that wants her for milk production. But if it was a bull calf and sometimes heifer calves they could be used for veal. Wonder how many of the haters / rude commenters / bullies eat veal, drink milk. Again the reality is the grocery stores do not manufacture the milk or veal from thin air; a farmer supplied that milk and veal. Best of Success with your channel More Than Farmers. Plus you are giving your children extremely valuable life lessens and yes Ice Cream is the best treats for kids and adults too. OH BY THE WAY where was the ice cream produced it started out on several farms all the ingredients that make up ice cream. Milk or Cream, a sweetener ( hope its not artificial) sugar or alternative, spices such as cocoa or vanilla, with fruit: Bananas, peaches, etc. First time watching your channel it was a great video!!! 😁

[@TheHobbyFarmHomestead]

Hey new sub here, it sounds like you definitely know your cattle. Keep up the good work! Your videos are really well put together.

[@morethanfarmers]

Thank you very much! Glad to have you here 😊

[@kimberleychapman8416]

This was an incredible journey. Thanks for sharing ❤

[@camicri4263]

Oh, I hope she is going to be happy over with her new family!🤗 Blessings

[@morethanfarmers]

I’m sure she will be 😊

[@nomir4065]

I'm excited to see how much cream you get now! Guernseys are so beautiful. I wish they were more available in my area. Do you make cheese? I am always looking for tips in the cheese making department.

[@morethanfarmers]

Shelli makes ricotta and mozzarella.. we haven’t gotten into the hard cheeses yet. Maybe I’ll get her to do it a video about it sometime!

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

Great video Codi! You are 100 percent correct about separating them. They usually always come right back to their momma for milk even after extended periods of time. I also agree with the three month minimum rule. We calf share here so we separate at night as well and oh boy do they take hold back that cream haha! It’s worth it though in the end. Keep up the good work. God bless y’all!

[@morethanfarmers]

Thanks man! I'm just gonna come over here and hang out with my cool KZbin homies, and forget about those rude Facebook people 😉

[@OurFruitfulFamily]

@@morethanfarmers I think that sounds like a great idea!!!!

[@quailjailss]

Love this video. Also I know it’s nothing “special” per say, just your average lean to attached to a barn, but I love your set up where you pen her over night under the lean to.

[@morethanfarmers]

Thank you 😊 It does work really well.

[@francesslee194]

Cows are perfectly capable of weaning the calf themselves before they have their next calf and not go back to feeding the previous calf. If you think about it it makes perfect sense considering there's no one forcibly separating wildebeest or Buffalo. The instinct is there, you have to allow them to tap into it. I do this every single year with a mix of beef and dairy cows. In 10 years I've had one cow continue to feed a weaned calf with the new one and I think this was because the cow had been orphaned a 6 weeks. She only did it with her first calf and has had at least 5 calves since then. Also you should be giving the calf meal to develop its rumen from day two, and good meadow hay. Not alfalfa, their rumen isn't developed enough to digest it properly until after weaning.

[@morethanfarmers]

Thanks for the info! I know they would do the weaning themselves, but I don't wanna leave my calf on that long. It's takin all my cream! 😊

[@almazalmo7683]

how long would it normally take for them to wean?

[@brodaloaden1008]

@@almazalmo7683 mostly between 6-9 month

[@sheilamclaughlin963]

Put the grain and alfalfa mix with in the first week where the calf can get at it and she will learn with in a couple of weeks

[@danielcollins7588]

Why are milk calves have such big adorable ears?

[@iknowyouwanttofly]

At slu in sweden they did a study on keeping a flock together with calfs while milksharing. The calf had their own outdoor place togeter they could not leave and had a three sided sheed. The cows could go there but had to pass through a milk machine to get to the calf. The cows also had a barn they could go into with other feed that had a separator so cows could go back into the barn but calfs could not. So the cows could choose themself. They ended up takeing turns watching the calfs I think that is adorable. The calfs grow a bit more than formula calfs but the cows gave a little less milk to the machine than when not allowed to be with calfs. This is a dream set up for me but who can afford a robot milk machine. Not me!

[@morethanfarmers]

Interesting!

[@augustasimone9323]

Farmer's Almanac Best Days Calendar recommends the best date to " Wean" and each month best date To cut hair for growth etc. A ton of best dates.

[@morethanfarmers]

So interesting!

[@itzbenandmoon9510]

Sooo soo so much grass .. why don't u keep her too ..the land is enough for 10 and more .i think soo🙂😐

[@morethanfarmers]

I wish 😏 Just doesn’t work that way.

[@Texasrangersfarm970]

What type of cows do you have at your farm. Gurnsey or Aryshire?

[@morethanfarmers]

Guernsey!

[@sgrvtl7183]

I enjoy your videos, new to your channel. Thank you for sharing ~

[@morethanfarmers]

Welcome! Glad you're here!

[@samanthatalley2367]

Love this. I may be interested in your little Maple! If you still have her! We have a little farm in Cabot, Ar. I hope to start a KZbin channel soon.

[@samanthatalley2367]

Aw man! Just watched the rest of the video! Glad she got a good new home.

[@morethanfarmers]

She sold pretty quick! That's really cool.. a channel is a lot of work, but it's fun. Good luck!

[@LifestylewithMjkhan]

Beautiful cow

[@khanzadarehankhan3694]

VIP cow brother.......

[@MariaP.Jessop]

Hi do you ship heifer calves when they sell?

[@morethanfarmers]

I've never shipped any. I've only had local people either pickup, or I delivered to them. I only sell one a year.

[@superfly1111]

did you de-horn? when and how? thanks.

[@morethanfarmers]

Yes, we use an electric dehorner. We do it at about 2 months old. Not the most fun thing to do, but a necessary one for us 😏

[@augustasimone9323]

God has blessed you with wisdom ! Many thanks.

[@deltonwatts9726]

Great Video....helping others.

[@morethanfarmers]

Thanks 👍

[@markmorris8410]

Beautiful family, Brother!

[@kohei8061]

What a beautiful video 🥰

[@aubreyhudson8922]

I have a Guernsey

[@morethanfarmers]

Nice!

[@sheilamclaughlin963]

If u separate on a full moon they wean easier

[@morethanfarmers]

That's interesting. Good to know!

[@courtneyleigh-anneunderwoo2255]

Why do they wean easier on a full moon?

[@RemJuly]

I feel like I am also celebrating with your family, though I am just a new subby I feel like I have known you for a long time and been a part of your family 😁 for I am binge watching your videos for a couple of days now

[@morethanfarmers]

Wow! That's awesome! We're so glad to have you here!

[@RemJuly]

@@morethanfarmers so glad to have found your channel as well

[@danegrrlsea]

Great video. We have a Guernsey who needs to be bred.I wanted to do sexed semen but my vet said it has about a 40% impregnation success rate. Was that your experience? Thanks!

[@morethanfarmers]

Thanks! I’ve never heard of it being that low 🤷🏻‍♂️ I’ve only used it twice. First time it took two tries. Second time she took on the first try. I think the first time I just had the timing wrong. Something I’ve heard is that with regular semen you AI at around 12 hours from the onset of heat, and with sexed semen you do it at more like 18 to 24 hours.

[@danegrrlsea]

@@morethanfarmers Ok good to know, thank you. I think I’m going to stick with sexed. Her first calf was a bull and I need a heifer!

[@morethanfarmers]

@@danegrrlsea Good luck!!

[@AllOuttaSpoons]

Sexed semen is awesome. The sorting technology has come a long ways over the years. What More than a farmer said about timing is correct. That’s the key to success with sexed especially. Good heat detection is important so the timing is right. Having a healthy cow, not overweight, and not having her open (not pregnant) for too long makes a huge difference as well. We use mostly sexed on our beef herd anymore. Will do the same with our dairy cows. Good luck!

[@tubecontributor3206]

The best thing will be when people stop drinking milk and dairy products-outside the US, they don't drink milk as adults. It is cruel to take the baby away from mom. It is even worse if you have a male baby-farmers just toss them (some starve them). I realize you are a bit kinder than that. It will be good when people are all on vegetable type milks and dairy-more healthy and the dairy business will be no more.

[@morethanfarmers]

I can understand your sentiments about the dairy industry, but you do need to check your facts. People groups all over the world have been drinking milk for millennia (including adults). Dairy is a staple in most every culture. Nut and plant "milks" are extremely unhealthy, thousands of living insects and small animals are killed in the production of those nuts and plants, and ACRES of habitat are taken away from wild animals to produce all those nuts and plants. Regenerative farms that produce animals for food aren't nearly that destructive. A lot more death happens in conventional plant production than in regenerative animal production. But I do agree that there does need to be change in the conventional dairy system of today.

[@emmaDurakovich]

One day whe we all die and eave this planetearth we will realize how horrible we were and that this planet is not ours to use and everything on it.....humans the worst living thing on planet...the only god thing is novody lives forever

[@morethanfarmers]

That’s a sad way to look at life! So sorry for you. We were created for a purpose.

[@anandanand6321]

Agree with you in total that death is real God of equality.