Early Weaning and Part-Year Confinement of Cattle on Arid Rangelands of the Southwest

Abstract

This study compared part-year confinement of cows with yearlong placement on rangeland and weaning calves in late May with regular weaning in mid-October. Weaning rates tended to be higher with part-year confinement than with yearlong placement on rangeland (86% vs. 72%) and with early weaning in May than with regular weaning in October (86% vs. 72%). There were significant year effects in weaning weights with the lowest weights in drought years. The production per cow exposed tended to be higher with part-year confinement than with yearlong placement on rangeland (134 kg vs. 110 kg), and with regular weaning than with early weaning of calves (156 kg vs. 88 kg). Part-year confinement of cows and early weaning of calves are useful tools for the range manager in droughty years.