4h bucket calves

[cowgirl Ibara]

I've known plenty of people who feed with a bucket and they just leave it sit then they come back and cant tell if the calf got any since its knocked over. Ive always fed with a bottle and either way it doesnt matter to me. The calf gets the milk one way or anther doesnt matter if you call it a bucket calf, bottle calf, bucket baby extra. Its all the same one has a bucket the other has a bottle. But either way cute they are cute little devils!!

 

[msscamp]

You're probably going to have a battle when transitioning a 10 day old calf from his mother to milk replacer,

Actually most dairies seperate the calves from the cows the first day of birth and bottle fed them from then on, starting with the first bottle as colstrum. They do this because they dont want the calf damaging the utter of the cow. The calves are kept in a small individual "calf dome". They are feed 2-3 times a day by a bottle or a bucket.

What does putting a day old calf on a bottle have to do with transitioning a 10 day old calf from his/her mother to a bottle? A day old calf has no idea what his mother's tit feels like, therefore, he/she will not object to a nipple being stuck in his mouth. The same cannot be said for a 10 day old calf who does know what his/her mother's tit feels like. I fail to see your point.

 

[dun]

You're probably going to have a battle when transitioning a 10 day old calf from his mother to milk replacer,

Actually most dairies seperate the calves from the cows the first day of birth and bottle fed them from then on, starting with the first bottle as colstrum. They do this because they dont want the calf damaging the utter of the cow. The calves are kept in a small individual "calf dome". They are feed 2-3 times a day by a bottle or a bucket.

You need to get out more. If you visit 10 dairys you'll find 10 different methods of calf raising including calf housing. Of the 13 dairys I used to service, 1 used claf dome, several used a small calf shed with a small outside area, one used a small shed with the calves tethered with baling twine and the rest use mob pens with one large calf shed. Calves are seperated anywhere from birth to 4 days of age, the majority being birth. But as in everything else in this business, there are regional and differing managment variations in all aspects.

 

[Daisy452]

You're probably going to have a battle when transitioning a 10 day old calf from his mother to milk replacer,

Actually most dairies seperate the calves from the cows the first day of birth and bottle fed them from then on, starting with the first bottle as colstrum. They do this because they dont want the calf damaging the utter of the cow. The calves are kept in a small individual "calf dome". They are feed 2-3 times a day by a bottle or a bucket.

You need to get out more. If you visit 10 dairys you'll find 10 different methods of calf raising including calf housing. Of the 13 dairys I used to service, 1 used claf dome, several used a small calf shed with a small outside area, one used a small shed with the calves tethered with baling twine and the rest use mob pens with one large calf shed. Calves are seperated anywhere from birth to 4 days of age, the majority being birth. But as in everything else in this business, there are regional and differing managment variations in all aspects.

True, everyone does everything different.

 

[dun]

You're probably going to have a battle when transitioning a 10 day old calf from his mother to milk replacer,

Actually most dairies seperate the calves from the cows the first day of birth and bottle fed them from then on, starting with the first bottle as colstrum. They do this because they dont want the calf damaging the utter of the cow. The calves are kept in a small individual "calf dome". They are feed 2-3 times a day by a bottle or a bucket.

You need to get out more. If you visit 10 dairys you'll find 10 different methods of calf raising including calf housing. Of the 13 dairys I used to service, 1 used claf dome, several used a small calf shed with a small outside area, one used a small shed with the calves tethered with baling twine and the rest use mob pens with one large calf shed. Calves are seperated anywhere from birth to 4 days of age, the majority being birth. But as in everything else in this business, there are regional and differing managment variations in all aspects.

True, everyone does everything different.

Every dairy I've ever been to has a difernt way of prepping a cow to milk. I had no idea there could be that many variations of such a simple task

 

[somn]

From a digestion and overall health standpoint drinking MILK from the bottle is better. The angle at which they drink from the bottle directs the milk into the abomasum instead of the rumen (which does not function well, if at all, in very young calves). This causes the release of an enzyme which helps the milk curdle and the calf digest it fully. As the calf begins to eat hay and grain the rumen begins to develop. By the end of the 4th week the calf can utilize hay and grain fairly well.

You might think it is a better way but that is not always the case try feeding 100 to 150 7 day old holstien bull calves with your nipple system once. Then everynight after feeding time when you turn the calves back together grab a chair sit back and watch all the penis sucking that will happen watch all the urine that gets drank you will soon realize that those nipples are far worse for the overall health of those calves than any milk diverting to the wrong stomach bucket feeding ever was. The sooner those calves forget about the natural feeding method of nursing the better. The so called right way may not always be the best way.

 

[moserranch]

I thank everyone for the imput-we won't get the calves til next year but I will let ya'll know how things turn out.

 

[hraz]

She was talking about 4 bucket show calves. And calves are calves, they are all made the same. Whether you can and wether you should are often at odds with each other. We buy our show calves from a farm where they are bucket fed. We get them at about 5 days so they return to the bottle quite well. Bottle feeding the SHOW CALVES has worked much better for us and the calves.

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

From a digestion and overall health standpoint drinking MILK from the bottle is better. The angle at which they drink from the bottle directs the milk into the abomasum instead of the rumen (which does not function well, if at all, in very young calves). This causes the release of an enzyme which helps the milk curdle and the calf digest it fully. As the calf begins to eat hay and grain the rumen begins to develop. By the end of the 4th week the calf can utilize hay and grain fairly well.

You might think it is a better way but that is not always the case try feeding 100 to 150 7 day old holstien bull calves with your nipple system once. Then everynight after feeding time when you turn the calves back together grab a chair sit back and watch all the penis sucking that will happen watch all the urine that gets drank you will soon realize that those nipples are far worse for the overall health of those calves than any milk diverting to the wrong stomach bucket feeding ever was. The sooner those calves forget about the natural feeding method of nursing the better. The so called right way may not always be the best way.

True but some things cannot be avoided. Thats why i seperate my calves to keep them from sucking on eachother. But I had a calf who would press up against a fence for balance and go down to drink his own urine. So not all things should be blamed on the bottle. Some cattle are just plain weird. But mine was lacking a mineral and it was fixed right away.

 

[somn]

From a digestion and overall health standpoint drinking MILK from the bottle is better. The angle at which they drink from the bottle directs the milk into the abomasum instead of the rumen (which does not function well, if at all, in very young calves). This causes the release of an enzyme which helps the milk curdle and the calf digest it fully. As the calf begins to eat hay and grain the rumen begins to develop. By the end of the 4th week the calf can utilize hay and grain fairly well.

You might think it is a better way but that is not always the case try feeding 100 to 150 7 day old holstien bull calves with your nipple system once. Then everynight after feeding time when you turn the calves back together grab a chair sit back and watch all the penis sucking that will happen watch all the urine that gets drank you will soon realize that those nipples are far worse for the overall health of those calves than any milk diverting to the wrong stomach bucket feeding ever was. The sooner those calves forget about the natural feeding method of nursing the better. The so called right way may not always be the best way.

True but some things cannot be avoided. Thats why i seperate my calves to keep them from sucking on eachother. But I had a calf who would press up against a fence for balance and go down to drink his own urine. So not all things should be blamed on the bottle. Some cattle are just plain weird. But mine was lacking a mineral and it was fixed right away.

Was that calf bucket fed or nippled? Oh wait thats right you have always fed with the bottle. Open mouth insert foot. So does your segregation method promote competition feeding?

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

I put them together when they feed and then i seperate them again afterwards so it promotes compition but there isnt any of the sucking.

 

[somn]

I put them together when they feed and then i seperate them again afterwards so it promotes compition but there isnt any of the sucking.

Why do you seperate them at all then if they don't suck on one another when they are eating grain and hay? When are you concerned they will suck one another in the middle of the night?

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

When they are not eatting my calves have sucked on eachother in areas much rather left alone after castration. Also ive had calves go down when they are ill and the other one will walk all over them. So its much safer and easier to bring them together for food and then seperate them after.