The Best “Weighs” to Raise Productive Calves
Raising healthy, high-growth calves that perform well in the next stage of life is the goal of nearly every calf producer. Whether their future work site is the milking parlor or beef supply chain, strong early growth lays the foundation for calves’ future productivity and profitability.
Simply eye-balling calves to assess their health and performance isn’t enough. A calf's appearance doesn't always reflect what's happening beneath the surface, and by the time performance setbacks become visible, some losses may already be difficult or impossible to recover.
That’s why routine calf weighing should be a key part of every calf management program. At minimum, this should happen on the first day of birth; at a midpoint in the milk-feeding phase; and at or shortly after weaning.
Calf weight information can help you to:
1. Establish a baseline with birth weights -- Low birth weights or significant variation among calves can signal issues with dry-cow nutrition. Birth weights also provide valuable feedback on genetic selection and breeding decisions. With the continued value of beef-cross calves, producing groups with consistent birth weights and growth rates can improve both uniformity and profitability. Recording birth weights also establishes the baseline needed to accurately calculate average daily gain (ADG) throughout the preweaning period.
2. Detect health challenges earlier -- Scours and pneumonia almost always reduce weight gain. In some cases, especially with pneumonia, disease can linger unnoticed while quietly robbing calves of performance. A mid-milk-phase weight check can help identify calves that aren't growing as expected, allowing you to investigate and treat health issues sooner. Healthy lungs don't just support calves today;they contribute to better-performing adult cows. Emerging research also suggests that beef-cross calves experiencing one or more bouts of pneumonia may have reduced marbling potential later in life.
3. Evaluate your nutrition program -- From birth to weaning, a reasonable ADG target is approximately 2.0 pounds per calf per day. Many producers assume they're achieving that benchmark until weighing calves reveals actual gains closer to 1.3 to 1.5 pounds per day.
Calf raising,especially for custom growers,is a business with tight margins. While lower-cost feeding programs may seem economical, they don't always deliver the greatest return. For example, standard 20:20 milk replacers often cost less upfront but may limit long-term performance.
If calves aren't meeting growth goals, take a close look at your entire nutrition program, including:
Milk replacer formulation
Total solids percentage
Feeding frequency
Water availability
Calf starter quality and intake
4. Deliver accurate treatments -- Many medications, including antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, and dewormers, are dosed according to body weight. Knowing a calf's actual weight helps ensure treatments are both effective and economical by reducing the risk of underdosing or overdosing.
5. Maximize lifetime performance -- Well-grown calves are better prepared for every stage that follows. They develop stronger immune systems, healthier gut microbiomes, improved digestive function, and greater resilience during the post-weaning transition. Research consistently shows that calves achieving higher preweaning growth rates produce more milk as adult cows. Realizing those lifetime benefits starts with knowing whether calves are actually meeting growth targets, and taking corrective action when they are not.
6. Make better culling decisions -- Weight records also provide objective data when evaluating replacement animals. If calves consistently fall short of ADG goals at weaning despite appropriate management and treatment, they may be candidates for culling. Keeping poor-performing calves often increases costs while reducing future herd productivity. In many cases, making timely culling decisions can allow you to focus resources on animals with the greatest long-term potential.
Make Weighing Part of the Routine
Today's dairies and calf ranches have several practical options for collecting calf weights, including portable scales, chute scales, and front-foot scales integrated with autofeeders. Weighing calves doesn't have to be time-consuming and can often be incorporated into existing management tasks like vaccinations or weaning. Even weighing groups of calves on carts or trailers and calculating an average is better than not weighing at all. collecting weights is only the first step. The real value comes from consistently recording, reviewing, and acting on the information. Weight data provides an objective snapshot of your calf program, helping you monitor health, evaluate management decisions, and identify opportunities to improve performance over time.
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