Weaning
Taking a calf off its mother's milk, so that it lives on grazing and feed alone.
Also: weaning off
Weaning ends a calf's dependence on milk. In beef herds calves usually stay with their mothers until about six to eight months old, then are separated, often at a muster or round-up, and fed on grass or other feed; weaning can be noisy, as cows and calves call for each other for some days. Methods such as fence-line weaning, where calves and cows can still see each other, or nose flaps that stop suckling before separation, lower the stress. In dairy herds calves are fed milk by bucket or teat and weaned at around two to three months. Zebu and traditional herds often wean later, sometimes letting the calf suckle through the lactation.