A:   Good question. The answer I think is - it depends. If first-calf females have access to an abundant amount of forage and appear to be in adequate body condition, then weaning calves from this group of females ahead of the time that you would wean calves from the rest of the herd is likely not necessary. If the amount of forage is not adequate (drought conditions) and/or quality of the forage is low when these young females are still in a part of their lactation curve where they are producing a lot of milk, then early wean calves from this group of females would allow them not to get in poor body condition or if they have, you could regain body condition without much supplementation.

That being said, I know of producers with spring-calving herds that routinely wean calves from first-calf-females ahead of the mature cow herd. Body condition at calving has the greatest impact on reproductive performance the next breeding season. By weaning calves (calves 160 to 180 days of age) early the nutrient needs of these females decreases a bunch and they are able to graze themselves into good body condition before calving and reproductive performance is really good for these females the following spring/summer.

If you early wean these calves, you will need to retain them to get weight of them. They will be light and although price per pound is high, usually dollars generated is not enough to cover cow costs. Make sure that you can supply the early weaned calves with a diet that will allow them to continue to gain about 2 lb/day. Also, work with your veterinarian on a vaccination program for these calves.