advice needed on holstein calves!!

[cowgirl Ibara]

Hi im 17 and i raise holstein calves with my local FFA program. For several years i have been told by my advisers that by fair when our calves turn 4 months old that they should be eatting 8 bottle of milk and eatting about 3 pounds of grain a day. But I've been told that i should never feed my calves hays or grass hays because it gives them a hay belly. Most calves fill out really nice but mine always have sunkin in holes up by their hip bones and they are never bloomed by the time show comes. More people have told me that they wean their calves at 3 months or their calves only eat 4 bottles of milk so their appitie for hay and sweet feed increases. Some others say they always feed their calves hay because they have to grow from the belly up to have a nice full bloom. Does anyone have any advice or tips that may help me and my calves? Thanks

 

[msscamp]

I would suggest you put a little less faith in your advisors, and a little more effort into finding out how to raise this calf. You might start by doing a search on these boards, followed up by googling 'Raising a bottle calf'.

 

[cattleluvr18]

wow and just how many calves has this "advisor" raised?! i take it you dont have much of a life considering that you give eight bottles a day to one calf. how much do they get at a feeding? the grain sounds right, but no hay?! :shock: they need that. i think you should be talkin to these other people unstead of that advisor.

 

[Alice]

Eight bottles of milk...huh! A 4 month old holstein is, by default, gonna be off it's momma w/in a few days, which is why they should be weaned off a bottle and eating calf feed and hay well before 4 months old.

As for the eight bottles of milk...with the price of milk replacer like it is, I would be struggling with the customary 2 bottles of milk a day anymore.

There's a lot more to raising baby holstein calves than throwing milk at it. I'm wondering where your advisor is getting this information?

Alice

 

[tom4018]

A good read on dairy calves.

http://msucares.com/pubs/infosheets/is1011.pdf

 

[Alice]

One other thing...with eight bottles of milk a day, I'd be way more concerned about milk belly than hay belly!

Alice

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

wow and just how many calves has this "advisor" raised?! i take it you dont have much of a life considering that you give eight bottles a day to one calf. how much do they get at a feeding? the grain sounds right, but no hay?! :shock: they need that. i think you should be talkin to these other people unstead of that advisor.

They haven't raised many calves since my adviser's mostly just focus on the bigger projects like steers and pigs. Every year my advisers wait until the last moment to find a dairy so we can get our calves so I finally went solo. And their "helpful suggestions" are limited to certain people who they want to see dominate at fair. Usually my calves eat 4 bottles in the morning and 4 at night but then they only eat about 1 pound of grain if even that during the day. So I finally wanted to find some real help.

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

A good read on dairy calves.

http://msucares.com/pubs/infosheets/is1011.pdf

Thank you for the help ^_^

 

[GMN]

A 4 month old holstein calf should have been off milk at 2-3 months of age, eating 2-3 lbs of grain aday, and eating as good as hay as you can find, alfalfa, etc.. free choice.

I'm surprised it isn't getting milk scours with that much milk in it.

GMN

 

[dun]

A 4 month old holstein calf should have been off milk at 2-3 months of age, eating 2-3 lbs of grain aday, and eating as good as hay as you can find, alfalfa, etc.. free choice.

I'm surprised it isn't getting milk scours with that much milk in it.

GMN

When the local fair in So CA had the vealer class the calves were raised on barely asny hay and tons of milk/replacer. They were all butchered right after the fair as baby beef. Usually around 4-5 months

 

[GMN]

Is her calf a veal calf? I was thinking just srtictly a normal holstein calf.

GMN

 

[dun]

Is her calf a veal calf? I was thinking just srtictly a normal holstein calf.

GMN

I'm assuming because that's all the Holstein bull calves were for at the fairs in the area we were in. The market stuff other then the vealers were all crossbred or beef calves.

 

[rancherswife]

I am not an expert but I think there are only a couple of fairs in CA. that still have true Veal classes. I know San Bernardino county does not have a veal class it is a market calf class.
Back in the day (when my kids showed veal) they were only milk fed. Hay and grain is "said" to turn the meat red. Red meat is not veal. We always raised ours on goats milk. If you raise them on replacer you have too much money invested IMO. I always wanted my kids to think of it as a buisness before a ribbon. Ribbons are nice but if it costs a fortune what is it worth to you?
The calves can be older now then actual Veal and the weight limits are higher. They also use to have 100% dairy and a 50-50 class. Now they are all judged together and it is kinda hard to compete against a 50% beef breed. It can be done it's just alot harder. We all know what a 4 or 5 month old holstein calf looks like. Mostly leg they haven't grown into yet.
If it were me I would still raise a market calf on mostly milk, goats milk being the best. They don't seem to try to wean themselves off the goats milk like they do replacer. A good grain after they have had the milk and some hay to keep the rumen going. When you go to get your calf try to get one with as much white on it as you can. If you are getting holstein. I don't know why but usually a calf that has alot of white will do better than all them black spots. If the diry has a crossbred calf that is probably better but it's up to you and what you prefer.
Anyway this is all just my opinion. I'm sure you are hearing alot of different ways to raise market calves but this is just what worked for us!!
BTW since you mentioned your fair is in May, are you talking about Victorville fair?
Good Luck and learn lots!!!!

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

A 4 month old holstein calf should have been off milk at 2-3 months of age, eating 2-3 lbs of grain aday, and eating as good as hay as you can find, alfalfa, etc.. free choice.

I'm surprised it isn't getting milk scours with that much milk in it.

GMN

When the local fair in So CA had the vealer class the calves were raised on barely asny hay and tons of milk/replacer. They were all butchered right after the fair as baby beef. Usually around 4-5 months

yep all of my calves are in that boat. They go straight to the butcher right after our fair that lasts a week. None of my calves have ever had hay so thats why i became curious.

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

I am not an expert but I think there are only a couple of fairs in CA. that still have true Veal classes. I know San Bernardino county does not have a veal class it is a market calf class.
Back in the day (when my kids showed veal) they were only milk fed. Hay and grain is "said" to turn the meat red. Red meat is not veal. We always raised ours on goats milk. If you raise them on replacer you have too much money invested IMO. I always wanted my kids to think of it as a buisness before a ribbon. Ribbons are nice but if it costs a fortune what is it worth to you?
The calves can be older now then actual Veal and the weight limits are higher. They also use to have 100% dairy and a 50-50 class. Now they are all judged together and it is kinda hard to compete against a 50% beef breed. It can be done it's just alot harder. We all know what a 4 or 5 month old holstein calf looks like. Mostly leg they haven't grown into yet.
If it were me I would still raise a market calf on mostly milk, goats milk being the best. They don't seem to try to wean themselves off the goats milk like they do replacer. A good grain after they have had the milk and some hay to keep the rumen going. When you go to get your calf try to get one with as much white on it as you can. If you are getting holstein. I don't know why but usually a calf that has alot of white will do better than all them black spots. If the diry has a crossbred calf that is probably better but it's up to you and what you prefer.
Anyway this is all just my opinion. I'm sure you are hearing alot of different ways to raise market calves but this is just what worked for us!!
BTW since you mentioned your fair is in May, are you talking about Victorville fair?
Good Luck and learn lots!!!!

Yes its the victorville fair from May 14th to the 20th. Thank you for all of your helpful suggestions. My friend this year bout a heifer holstein X Angus and she ended up winning Reserve. So a lot of cross breeding in holsteins is starting to become more populare. One dairy this year is cross breeding their Holsteins with Norways. It'll be interesting to see how that turns out.

 

[Ryder]

wow and just how many calves has this "advisor" raised?! i take it you dont have much of a life considering that you give eight bottles a day to one calf. how much do they get at a feeding? the grain sounds right, but no hay?! :shock: they need that. i think you should be talkin to these other people unstead of that advisor.

They haven't raised many calves since my adviser's mostly just focus on the bigger projects like steers and pigs. Every year my advisers wait until the last moment to find a dairy so we can get our calves so I finally went solo. And their "helpful suggestions" are limited to certain people who they want to see dominate at fair.

Good for you Ibara. I admire your spunk and initiative. :clap:
Always remember that if you can't get help from one person, they don't have exclusive rights to the knowledge. It is out there somewhere. It may take longer and more work, but you can get it some way.
Proud of you. Keep up the good work.

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

wow and just how many calves has this "advisor" raised?! i take it you dont have much of a life considering that you give eight bottles a day to one calf. how much do they get at a feeding? the grain sounds right, but no hay?! :shock: they need that. i think you should be talkin to these other people unstead of that advisor.

They haven't raised many calves since my adviser's mostly just focus on the bigger projects like steers and pigs. Every year my advisers wait until the last moment to find a dairy so we can get our calves so I finally went solo. And their "helpful suggestions" are limited to certain people who they want to see dominate at fair.

Good for you Ibara. I admire your spunk and initiative. :clap:
Always remember that if you can't get help from one person, they don't have exclusive rights to the knowledge. It is out there somewhere. It may take longer and more work, but you can get it some way.
Proud of you. Keep up the good work.

I just really want what's best for my calves and I know there are many seasoned pros with helpful advise who I could learn from. Thank you for your kind words. ^_^

 

[rockridgecattle]

keep learning and loving your calves. You are on your way.
Good luck,

PS gentley wean them off so much milk and get them on dry feed or grass. they are too full right now to eat any thing else.

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

Thank you I will try that ^_^