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Blog > Article
Wean with NoseRing and earn a premium
by Du Preez de Villiers
With NoseRing, JD van der Vyver’s Bonsmara calves show virtually no signs of stress during the weaning period.
It only takes a head clamp and less than a minute to insert a NoseRing.
It can be removed even quicker and without the aid of a cattle handling system.
T
he few days after weaning has a crucial influence on the well-being and quality of your calves, since their response has an important impact on their weight gain in the feedlots. JD van der Vyver is a passionate Bonsmara farmer on the farm Brand-wag in the Vryburg area in the Northern Central part of South Africa. His father, Hannes bought the first animals in 1976 and JD took over in 1992 to focus on improving their genetics. His efforts have been rewarded with profitability and fine-looking animals.
Besides his breeding stud he also has commercial animals. He sells his bull calves to the feedlots and pregnant heifers at auctions presented by Bonsmara farmer groups he belongs to. “I keep all my heifers on one farm away from any bulls and grow them out until 18 months before I put them with the bulls.
Then I select the ones I want to auction on grounds of pregnancy examinations and at the same time choose which ones will fit the best into my stud,” JD says. The success of JD’s operation depends heavily on the success of his weaning process.
15 years ago he came across the NoseRing. It is a simple, but highly effective spiky device which clamps onto the nose of the calf to make it impossible for the youngster to drink from the cow.
“I love this device a lot and it makes farming very easy. It gives me the opportunity to wean the calf earlier, for example, if I want to give a first-calf heifer a longer resting period before the next impregnation. It works like a charm, because the calves are much calmer than with other weaning methods,” he says.
Another benefit of NoseRing is that JD can keep his calves for longer when prices are low.
NoseRing is available at Livestock
Services. Visit them at Pamodzi
Highway, Off Nangwenya Road,
Showgrounds, or call them at
254024, 254497 and 254498 or
0975 474119 and 0969 635407.
Adapted from American Cattleman
July 2018 – Stress-free Weaning –
by Michael Cox (p 14-16).
“You have the choice to market the calf whenever you want,” he says.
The natural process of weaning is for the cow to push the calf away when it wants to suckle. But many of the good mothers don’t do it and let the calf suckle for way too long, thereby forfeiting their own condition. The next method is to remove the calf to fence-wean it, but the physical barrier causes a lot of stress to mother and child.
Normally there is a lot of running around and mooing. When you use the NoseRing, the weaning happens by itself. The day after you insert the NoseRing, the calf is calm and stands next to his mother. Now JD can leave the calf in peace for the next six weeks before he sells it. To insert the NoseRing, you simply put the calf in a neck clamp and put it in within a minute.
To take it out is even-simpler, since you can do it in the kraal. The state of mind of the bull calves during the six weeks of weaning is extremely important for its future performance in the feedlots. A relaxed calf performs better, and the feedlots are more than willing to pay premiums for top performers. JD can vouch that the use of NoseRings to wean his calves ensures a good premium on his animals.