After some delay, we have finally taken steps to wean the calves.  Rather than separate them from their mothers, with all the associated balling and shouting, we decided to try QuietWean flaps for the calves…

We’ve been running the animals through the new Rotex cattle handling system and crush for the last few days, so it was all pretty stress-free. When we bought the crush and Rotex, we didn’t buy the sliding shut-off door (crush extender) that fit ahead of the crush.  When we ran them through the system the first couple of times, it was clear that we needed this to control the flow.  We now have one (courtesy of Brian Llewelyn again) and it made life so much easier.

The plastic flaps (QuietWean) fit easily enough to the calves noses and they don’t seem even slightly bothered by them.  Let’s hope it stops them suckling (the supplier says it only takes about a week) as the cows need a dry period before their new calves arrive at the end of March/early April.