Bottle Calf

[Lucky]

Ended up with a bottle calf this week. He's 6-7 weeks old and took to the bottle pretty quick. Been giving him 2 bottles a day for a couple days now. How long should I keep this up? Any advice on how to keep him going would be great. I've bottle fed a few in the past but they were always pretty bad shape and didn't make it long.

 

[wbvs58]

I think I would be skip the bottle and get him straight onto some soft hay and starter feed. In our drought several years ago I early weaned some calves not much older than him.

Ken

 

[Lucky]

I think I would be skip the bottle and get him straight onto some soft hay and starter feed. In our drought several years ago I early weaned some calves not much older than him.

Ken

Plan on getting him on feed today. He's not wanting the hay yet. He's a feisty sucker for sure and that he'll do ok.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I had a couple like that last fall. We kept them on bottles until they were 3 months old. They look as good as if they were weaned off a cow.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Keep him on the bottle until hes eating 3lbs of good quality starter a day.
Once he starts eating the feed good, the good hay will follow.

Purina make one called Precon. It's a complete feed. I've had VERY good luck with that stuff. Some calf mana sprinkled on top sometimes entices them as well. But with the Precon I've not had to use the calf mana

If they balk at the feed repeatedly, I'll pen em up tight with nothing but feed for 24hrs. Their belly usually gets the best of em and they decide that ain't so bad after all!

 

[Ky hills]

I agree with getting him in some feed. A higher protein textured calf developer is what I used when raising bottle calves. After he takes the bottle, if you are able to hold his attention and hold him for that matter put some feed directly in his mouth a few times after giving him a bottle. Then leave some in a pan for free choice. He should get into it pretty quick.
You can wean them at around 8 weeks, but I've found they do better if they get milk a little bit longer. If he gets into to feed pretty good, then maybe drop him down to once a day bottle in a few weeks, if all goes well he could be weaned by 3 months. I'd keep him in a calf developer feed for a while though and gradually switch it over to your normal feed. They can go straight in to whatever feed but generally they need the higher protein to not pot gut and they just do better on a higher protein feed.

 

[GoWyo]

If you can get him to just drink his milk out of a bucket it makes everything easier.

 

[Lucky]

Feeding him from a bottle isn't an issue. We have him in a horse stall behind the house and he sucks a bottle down in 2 minutes. I got him some calf starter this evening so will try that in the morning. Got another calf that doesn't look to be sucking so may end up with 2 bottle calves.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Feeding him from a bottle isn't an issue. We have him in a horse stall behind the house and he sucks a bottle down in 2 minutes. I got him some calf starter this evening so will try that in the morning. Got another calf that doesn't look to be sucking so may end up with 2 bottle calves.

That sucks, but they always seem to grow better with a friend.

 

[Lucky]

That sucks, but they always seem to grow better with a friend.

He honestly looks a little depressed being all alone. We've got another calf that I may stick with him next week. His mom died last year and he lived but just never grew off. He's a year old and weighs maybe 350#. We've got him running with a group of heifers that we calved out this winter.

 

[Lucky]

Little guy is doing good on the 2 bottle program and started eating feed. He ate almost 2#s yesterday. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Is the male calf with the heifers a steer?

 

[Lucky]

Is the male calf with the heifers a steer?

Yes