Fall weaning checklist for beef calves

Last checked Oct 18, 2026 TX, OK, KS, NM · about 3 min read

Texas A&M AgriLife specialists call weaning "the most stressful time a calf will experience." Respiratory sickness, often called shipping fever, usually starts with stress at weaning.

Lower stress means healthier calves, and often heavier ones. Here's a checklist you can print or keep on your phone.

2–4 weeks before weaning

[ ] Call your veterinarian and set a vaccination plan. A common plan is a respiratory vaccine and a clostridial (blackleg-type) vaccine, then a booster, but your vet should set the products and timing.
[ ] Castrate and dehorn before weaning, not on weaning day, so the cuts heal while calves are still on the cow. AgriLife advises against working calves on the day they're weaned.
[ ] Screwworm caution: check and treat every fresh wound. Talk to your vet about products approved to prevent screwworm, and follow the label and withdrawal times.
[ ] Check fences on the weaning trap. Calves shouldn't be able to crawl through or nurse through. An offset hot wire can tighten up a so-so barbed-wire fence.
[ ] Line up feed and hay: good hay or grass in the weaning trap, and a starter supplement if you'll use one.
[ ] Decide how you'll market. If you'll sell into a preconditioned or value-added sale, read the program rules now. Oklahoma's VAC-45 program, for example, requires 45 days weaned.

Weaning day

[ ] Use low-stress weaning:
Fenceline weaning: put calves in a trap or small pasture right next to their mothers. They can see and hear each other but can't nurse.
Nose flaps: calves stay with their mothers but can't suckle. This takes two trips through the chute, one to put the flaps in and one to take them out.
[ ] Keep dust down. A grass trap is better than a dry lot.
[ ] Clean water where calves can find it. Calves used to a creek or their mother's habits may not find a new tank right away, so check that they're drinking.
[ ] Avoid hauling calves the day they're pulled off, if you can. AgriLife calls this "weaned on the road."

First 2 weeks

[ ] Watch them daily for droopy ears, a snotty nose, coughing, a sunken flank or a calf that isn't coming to feed. Pull and treat the way your vet directs.
[ ] Teach them the bunk. Put feed in front of them along the fence where they walk, and give enough bunk space so timid calves can eat.
[ ] Booster shots on your vet's schedule.
[ ] Keep checking wounds and navels for flies.

Through day 45 (if you're preconditioning)

[ ] Keep calves gaining on grass, hay and supplement.
[ ] Keep records: dates, vaccine products and lot numbers, and treatments with their withdrawal dates. Buyers paying for "Value Added" calves want proof.
[ ] Weigh a few calves to see how they're doing.

Before you sell

[ ] Check your barn's USDA report for how weaned and value-added calves are selling compared with unweaned.
[ ] Make sure withdrawal times have passed on every treatment.
[ ] Screwworm movement rules: if you're in or near a screwworm infested zone, check the state animal health office before you haul.

Cownty can text you USDA sale results from your barn and screwworm updates for your area during weaning season.

Cownty is an independent service and is not affiliated with USDA or any university. This is general information. Follow your veterinarian's directions on animal health.

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Rules and dates checked against these pages on Oct 18, 2026. Information only, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice: the agency decides. Not affiliated with USDA or any government agency.