"In many ranches and farms that raise cows, conventional wisdom holds that calves should be separated from their mothers as quickly and cleanly as possible. Though calves naturally wean themselves around ten months, on beef farms calves are weaned when they are around six months old; for dairy farms, this happens just 24 hours after they are born. However, some farmers are beginning to experiment with new, more humane methods for weaning new calves that leaves them both happier and healthier.
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Eight years ago, farmer Janet Steward of Greenfield Highland Beef in Vermont started weaning calves using a process called “fenceline” or “nose to nose” weaning. The method allows mother and calf to interact through a slatted fence while keeping them separate. Steward and her husband, Ray Shatney, gave it a shot because they believed it was more humane. But soon, she says, they started seeing a change in the calves’ health.
“We began to notice that the calves don’t lose as much weight,” Steward tells Abel.
Gradually weaning the calves off of their mothers’ milk wasn’t just easier on both cows, but the calves were healthier, too. Not only did they keep on more weight after the weaning process was over, but they had better appetites, letting them put on even more weight and becoming more valuable as livestock."
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-way-wean-calves-leaves-them-happier-healthier-180957919/
...
Eight years ago, farmer Janet Steward of Greenfield Highland Beef in Vermont started weaning calves using a process called “fenceline” or “nose to nose” weaning. The method allows mother and calf to interact through a slatted fence while keeping them separate. Steward and her husband, Ray Shatney, gave it a shot because they believed it was more humane. But soon, she says, they started seeing a change in the calves’ health.
“We began to notice that the calves don’t lose as much weight,” Steward tells Abel.
Gradually weaning the calves off of their mothers’ milk wasn’t just easier on both cows, but the calves were healthier, too. Not only did they keep on more weight after the weaning process was over, but they had better appetites, letting them put on even more weight and becoming more valuable as livestock."
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-way-wean-calves-leaves-them-happier-healthier-180957919/