Dottie and Speedy, Uhm Toddy?

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SBMF 2015

SBMF 2015

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West Central,IL
Thankfully it’s been a long time since I’ve had bottle calves. I had a fall cow this year have a set of twin hfrs and would only claim one.
My wife said she had to have a cute, sweet name so Dottie was chosen.3CAC8F77-0407-46D1-8AE6-CF82B4FE18C1.jpeg
I told Mrs Smith that bottle babies always seem to do better with a friend so I half heartedly started looking for a second bottle calf.
In comes Speedy 8B2D09DB-AF88-43D0-A82D-805379F52224.jpeg
His mother didn’t have any milk. My best friend bought him from a guy to graft onto a hfr who had lost her calf. We tried for 45mins twice to get him to suck that hfr, but he wouldn’t. He would however inhale a qt from the bottle. My buddy didn’t want an extra chore and we already had Dottie at home so I bought him.
The kids think that their names need to rhyme so they all call him Toddy. I call him Speedy cause he’s just a big dumb Simmental.
It’s taken 2 weeks but he’s finally gotten to where he gets up on his own and comes to the gate for his bottle. Before he’d just lay there and not care.
 
Ol Speedy just might suck a cow now. I've found over the years, sometimes the idiot calves have gotten discouraged from sucking a cow for some weird reason. After I get em sucking a bottle good, and they are good and milk drunk, they will follow my bottle right to an udder and go to town!

But that would require buying a cow.... 🤣🤣🤣

And that could be fun right!?!?


I did have that ONE idiot I never could get to suck a cow tho. So there's that
 
MurraysMutts said:
Ol Speedy just might suck a cow now. I've found over the years, sometimes the idiot calves have gotten discouraged from sucking a cow for some weird reason. After I get em sucking a bottle good, and they are good and milk drunk, they will follow my bottle right to an udder and go to town!

But that would require buying a cow.... 🤣🤣🤣

And that could be fun right!?!?


I did have that ONE idiot I never could get to suck a cow tho. So there's that
Click to expand...
He sure sucks on the gate pipes when you take his empty pail away!
 
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Jeanne - Simme Valley said:
dang - milk replacer ain't cheap.
Click to expand...
Tell me about it!
$100/bag, I just picked up bags 4 and 5 the other night. Hopefully 6 total will do it.
I’ve never fed over 2qts at a time before. But Dottie and Speedy are getting 3qts morning and night plus calf starter, and 3rd cutting alfalfa/orchid grass hay.
Dottie is probably the best looking bottle calf I’ve ever had. No pot belly, shiny coat, nothing like what I think of when someone says; bottle calf.
 
Update 😀CFCD4B1F-9F7D-47E7-A417-B9E171ABAD5E.jpeg74BE45CC-4341-4272-B190-5E5D3FC41C5C.jpeg0AEAD98A-28B5-450E-B798-BFCBD45D65C7.jpeg
All three are just over two months old. They’re getting 3qts of milk replacer morning and night. They’re eating a 40oz can of textured calf starter each morning and night. Getting free choice 3rd cutting alfalfa/orchard grass hay and water.
@MurraysMutts how long would you leave them on the bottle? I just opened the 4th bag of milk replacer tonight and picked up two more at tsc today. I think that is going to be it. They’re starting to get expensive, but I don’t want to cheat them either. I think 2/3’s of them look really good.
 
Not @MurraysMutts ... but I figure 2 bags per calf to weaning... usually in the 8-12 week time frame and they have to be eating grain good. I think you are right on track... cut the amount per feeding back to 2 qts, then 1 qt , then once a day the last 2 weeks... That is how "momma's milk" would be.. slow down as the lactation lengthens... and the amount of feed intake increases...I would say to start it with the next bag of replacer... 2 qts, then 1 qt, then once a day... depends on how good they continue to eat... you might be able to cut them off sooner...
 
Hay hooks in the rafters....blue chalk artwork on the wood work... and a cat's striped tail that at first loaded and looked like it was a snake's rattler..

Don't forget to figure in your time (labor) along with the cost of the milk replacer...
 
greybeard said:
Hay hooks in the rafters....blue chalk artwork on the wood work... and a cat's striped tail that at first loaded and looked like it was a snake's rattler..

Don't forget to figure in your time (labor) along with the cost of the milk replacer...
Click to expand...
Hay hooks are the little kids jungle gym. She climbs up the gate, grabs the hooks and swings 😂
That’s Tiger cleaning up the milk bucket.
And the chalk marks came with the building. That building is what we call a pull together. It’s on runners and works on the same premise as a prefab house. We moved it in two pieces. Where the calves are is one side.
I put a new floor in it and a tin roof. It used to have farrowing creates in it ( the other side still does)
 
SBMF 2015 said:
Update 😀View attachment 51229View attachment 51230View attachment 51231
All three are just over two months old. They're getting 3qts of milk replacer morning and night. They're eating a 40oz can of textured calf starter each morning and night. Getting free choice 3rd cutting alfalfa/orchard grass hay and water.
@MurraysMutts how long would you leave them on the bottle? I just opened the 4th bag of milk replacer tonight and picked up two more at tsc today. I think that is going to be it. They're starting to get expensive, but I don't want to cheat them either. I think 2/3's of them look really good.
Click to expand...
Yep!
Pretty much what @farmerjan said!

Sorry I missed your update. Been crazy here lately. I do have a heifer a bought that WAS 170lbs. She's been eating Purina Precon twice a day and plenty of best quality alfalfa/Timothy hay. I think it's Timothy. She is doing just fine! I'll go feed and snap a pic!

Nope. Alfalfa/Orchard grass
Jan, what size bags when u say 2 bags? Are those 50lb bags? I say that because I'm usually 4 or 5 bags in when I bottle. But all I get is 25lb bags.

She loooves to eat. Never bawled at all either. A bit unusual.
20241107_173925.jpg20241107_174054.jpg
 
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mwj said:
At the price of baby calves this year I would have to really like a calf to keep it. They look very good and the raisers should be proud.
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Thank you. My wife gets all the credit.
She used to raise Holstein calves on a dairy. She’s got the experience and the knack for it.
 
SBMF 2015 said:
Thank you. My wife gets all the credit.
She used to raise Holstein calves on a dairy. She's got the experience and the knack for it.
Click to expand...

That experience shines like gold! It takes a lot of skill and patients to do that kind of a job. Getting them on hard feed and attention to detail is the main thing in my experience. The huge factor is attention is a lot more common in women. They ''mother'' and we don't.:whistle:
 

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