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4h bucket calves
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<blockquote data-quote="msscamp" data-source="post: 437045" data-attributes="member: 539"><p>You're probably going to have a battle when transitioning a 10 day old calf from his mother to milk replacer, so I would feed a smaller amount of milk replacer (say a pint or two) more frequently (every 2-4 hours, depending on whether I was feeding a pint or 2 pints) and monitor the calf's manure. Milk replacer is different than mother's milk, and can cause scours, so if I saw any sign of loose/runny manure I would cut back on the milk replacer and increase the number of feedings until it cleared up - it is much easier to prevent scours than to try to fix them, and it's easier on the calf. At 10 days old, I would be prepared for a battle because the calf will be able to tell the difference between its mothers tit and a rubber nipple, and he/she will probably reject the rubber nipple. I would use a sheep nipple on a 16 oz bottle, for the first few feedings until the calf put the nipple together with food, then transition to a regular calf nipple - and start gradually, increasing the amount of milk by a 1/2 pint over a couple of feeding. Be patient, work with the calf, but be prepared for the possibility that you may very well have to let him go hungry for a feeding or two before he accepts the nipple - because of that I would feed only a pint about every 2 hours. A calf that has not nursed for a while, then suddenly receives a large amount of milk (even 2 pints can be a large amount, depending on how long it's been since the calf nursed) is a sure way to end up with a case of scours in most cases. As you build the calf up in quantity, you can cut down on the number of feedings. I generally built my bottle calves up to 4 pints in 4 feedings/day - spaced as evenly as I can do it over a 24 hour period. Once they were eating at least a pound of grain/day, as well as a flake or two of good quality grass hay alternated with alfalfa hay, I cut down on the number of feedings, while gradually increasing the amount of grain until they were on 2-3 pounds of grain along with several flakes of grass alternated with alfalfa hay/day.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="msscamp, post: 437045, member: 539"] You're probably going to have a battle when transitioning a 10 day old calf from his mother to milk replacer, so I would feed a smaller amount of milk replacer (say a pint or two) more frequently (every 2-4 hours, depending on whether I was feeding a pint or 2 pints) and monitor the calf's manure. Milk replacer is different than mother's milk, and can cause scours, so if I saw any sign of loose/runny manure I would cut back on the milk replacer and increase the number of feedings until it cleared up - it is much easier to prevent scours than to try to fix them, and it's easier on the calf. At 10 days old, I would be prepared for a battle because the calf will be able to tell the difference between its mothers tit and a rubber nipple, and he/she will probably reject the rubber nipple. I would use a sheep nipple on a 16 oz bottle, for the first few feedings until the calf put the nipple together with food, then transition to a regular calf nipple - and start gradually, increasing the amount of milk by a 1/2 pint over a couple of feeding. Be patient, work with the calf, but be prepared for the possibility that you may very well have to let him go hungry for a feeding or two before he accepts the nipple - because of that I would feed only a pint about every 2 hours. A calf that has not nursed for a while, then suddenly receives a large amount of milk (even 2 pints can be a large amount, depending on how long it's been since the calf nursed) is a sure way to end up with a case of scours in most cases. As you build the calf up in quantity, you can cut down on the number of feedings. I generally built my bottle calves up to 4 pints in 4 feedings/day - spaced as evenly as I can do it over a 24 hour period. Once they were eating at least a pound of grain/day, as well as a flake or two of good quality grass hay alternated with alfalfa hay, I cut down on the number of feedings, while gradually increasing the amount of grain until they were on 2-3 pounds of grain along with several flakes of grass alternated with alfalfa hay/day. [/QUOTE]
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