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<blockquote data-quote="farmerjan" data-source="post: 1548767" data-attributes="member: 25884"><p>The tip I can give you on purchasing bottle calves from the sale barn......DON'T. Find a dairy that you can buy their calves directly. Pay them a fair price to make sure they have had colostrum, are at least 24-48 hours old. Don't skimp or you will be burying as many as you raise. </p><p></p><p>As for finding beef bottle calves. They will be few and far between; why would a farmer pull a beef calf off a cow unless she doesn't have milk, or prolapses, dies, or has some other problem. </p><p></p><p>Several dairies in this area are breeding the lower end of their cows to beef bulls to try to get a little more value out of the calves. Ask around and see if anyone is doing that. </p><p></p><p>I have jersey and jer x hol nurse cows. If you are planning to try to raise 3 bunches , then you had better plan on a fair amount of grain to keep the cows in production. Holsteins do not do very good on just grass, unless you are a very good manager of rotational grazing with some very exceptional grass. I have been raising calves on nurse cows for 30+ years. The baby calf market here is terrible, they are bringing $5 to $50. Holstein feeders in the 4-6 wt range are only worth $.50 lb on average. There is no market for them here. The hol x angus feeders are not bringing $1.00 lb in the 4-5 wts. The beef feeder market here has also tanked. Most are in the .80's for heifers and 1.25 +/- for steers in the 4-6 wts. </p><p>There was a bred heifer sale recently. Due to calve in the spring, weighed an average 1,000 lbs.... they brought $700 to $800 a head.</p><p> I have turned my nurse cows out with their calves. They will raise one batch of 3 each average this year. Not worth the extra grain. I am creep feeding the calves in a manner. They come in through a creep gate and I feed them some grain so they can get some away from the cows. Not alot, but it makes them easier to catch up and handle. They see me and come in rather than run the other way; makes doing anything with them less stressful. They also get some decent grass hay in the manger in the barn so can eat in peace. Teaches them to be "bunk broke" and used to people around them. </p><p>Realize something also. Not alot of cows will make good nurse cows. For every good one, you might go through 2 or 3 or 5. Some are "born to be momma's" and some are absolute witches to get to take anything but their own calf. If you have to fight them, and they want to fight the calf, the calves won't do good. Nurse cows take a whole different mindset. My son will tell you because he is the first one to say he will NEVER deal with nurse cows. That's my job... Patience takes on a whole new meaning.... Many cows off a commercial dairy also do not do good because they often have never had a calf on them. The instinct has been bred out of alot of them over the years. I have 5 now, and one will leave when her calf does. I have fought with her for 2 previous lactations and am done. One is a peach and will take anything.... the others do okay.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="farmerjan, post: 1548767, member: 25884"] The tip I can give you on purchasing bottle calves from the sale barn......DON'T. Find a dairy that you can buy their calves directly. Pay them a fair price to make sure they have had colostrum, are at least 24-48 hours old. Don't skimp or you will be burying as many as you raise. As for finding beef bottle calves. They will be few and far between; why would a farmer pull a beef calf off a cow unless she doesn't have milk, or prolapses, dies, or has some other problem. Several dairies in this area are breeding the lower end of their cows to beef bulls to try to get a little more value out of the calves. Ask around and see if anyone is doing that. I have jersey and jer x hol nurse cows. If you are planning to try to raise 3 bunches , then you had better plan on a fair amount of grain to keep the cows in production. Holsteins do not do very good on just grass, unless you are a very good manager of rotational grazing with some very exceptional grass. I have been raising calves on nurse cows for 30+ years. The baby calf market here is terrible, they are bringing $5 to $50. Holstein feeders in the 4-6 wt range are only worth $.50 lb on average. There is no market for them here. The hol x angus feeders are not bringing $1.00 lb in the 4-5 wts. The beef feeder market here has also tanked. Most are in the .80's for heifers and 1.25 +/- for steers in the 4-6 wts. There was a bred heifer sale recently. Due to calve in the spring, weighed an average 1,000 lbs.... they brought $700 to $800 a head. I have turned my nurse cows out with their calves. They will raise one batch of 3 each average this year. Not worth the extra grain. I am creep feeding the calves in a manner. They come in through a creep gate and I feed them some grain so they can get some away from the cows. Not alot, but it makes them easier to catch up and handle. They see me and come in rather than run the other way; makes doing anything with them less stressful. They also get some decent grass hay in the manger in the barn so can eat in peace. Teaches them to be "bunk broke" and used to people around them. Realize something also. Not alot of cows will make good nurse cows. For every good one, you might go through 2 or 3 or 5. Some are "born to be momma's" and some are absolute witches to get to take anything but their own calf. If you have to fight them, and they want to fight the calf, the calves won't do good. Nurse cows take a whole different mindset. My son will tell you because he is the first one to say he will NEVER deal with nurse cows. That's my job... Patience takes on a whole new meaning.... Many cows off a commercial dairy also do not do good because they often have never had a calf on them. The instinct has been bred out of alot of them over the years. I have 5 now, and one will leave when her calf does. I have fought with her for 2 previous lactations and am done. One is a peach and will take anything.... the others do okay. [/QUOTE]
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