Weaning Calves Early

Ask any rancher in western North Dakota and this year isn't shaping up to be a good one. Tonight...  More »

Ask any rancher in western North Dakota and this year isn't shaping up to be a good one. Tonight Reporter Sarah Gustin takes us into a corral that is already filled with calves. Mooing nats. The sound says it all... (Tim Doll / Rancher) Well I guess it is chore time again...haha. It's weaning time at Tim and Micheal Doll'sand it's not by choice. Doll estimates all summer they didn't even receive 4 inches of rain. (Tim Doll / Rancher) The pastures are just in tough condition, we are hauling water to a couple of pastures, we got some wells pumping but we are just kinda out of water and out of grass now, so that is why we are doing what we are today. This is the earliest for Doll's to have calves in the corral in his 10 years of raising beef. Doll only made 1/3 of the hay he did last year. So now to keep the calves healthy...it's time to supplement to make the hay supply last a little longer. Because these calves will be eating at Doll's for about 4 months. (Tim Doll / Rancher) We will just keep them on a headstart program on the creep feeders for the first roughly 14 days and then we will be switching them over to a TMR ration. We moved the creep feeders in and just feed them dry hay on the outside of the bunk and just form bringing them in yesterday, up until today they are hitting it hard already, so it looks like they are adjusting pretty well. Don't worryjust because these calves are leaving their mom's a little early...they will be well taken care of. (Tim Doll / Rancher) Early weaning has never really scared me that much. People claim that it is too dusty, but we put out a lot of straw in the corrals and it really doesn't seem to affect them that much. And of course it rains weaning day. But as they say it's a little too late. North of New Salem, Reporting for KX News, I am Sarah Gustin. Doll says they will also be selling some of their older cows because of the dry conditions.  « Less