bottle calves?

[wildsawmill]

so im concidering some jersey bottle calves, any opions on the jersey for beef?
whats the cost of bottle calves these days?
its been 33 years science i rased any

 

[snickers]

you can get jersey's for 15.00 @ a sale barn and not sure about the taste of the meat but I'd go with a holstein just because they grow faster and bigger.

 

[Dave]

You can get jersey bull calves for free or right close to it around here. They do grow slow and don't convert well at all so the economics of raising them might not pencel out. But I have eaten jersey and a good fat jersey is as good as any beef animal.

 

[wildsawmill]

ok thanks

 

[gabby]

Have you checked the price of milk replacer?

 

[wildsawmill]

no probly need to look at that

 

[wildsawmill]

well went to the sale barn yesterday the newborn bottle black angus heffers brought $185. the red angus heffer has one tiney white spot center of forehead.(i bought her) for $155.(i sold a load of hay there so you might say i traded ).
shes about as heave as a sack of feed, i put her in the cab of the pu & she road home like a dog looking out the window. the gerseys brought $55. each & holstenes brought $65. each. all looked to be day old or close to it.
today she has mustard loose stools gave her electrolites down a tube funnel.
she sure is purdey

 

[wildsawmill]

well the pills helped more solid stools today but still pouring milk replacer down a tube she wont suck the bottle long then spits it out . funny she likes the electroits mix sucks it right down. put calf starter in her mouth & she trys to chew it gets about 1/2 of it down, just dont want the milk, is this common?

 

[piedmontese]

well the pills helped more solid stools today but still pouring milk replacer down a tube she wont suck the bottle long then spits it out . funny she likes the electroits mix sucks it right down. put calf starter in her mouth & she trys to chew it gets about 1/2 of it down, just dont want the milk, is this common?

u gotta get her sucking the bottle.tubing sucks and it is not good 4 the calf.will she suck your fingers? i know u wont want 2 do this but let her skip a feeding and get real hungry and try 2 get her 2 take a bottle then.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I'm pretty much doing the nurse cow route now and buy beef splits from the sale barn when I am looking for calves.

I have had some hard cases on nursing bottles through the years. Get straddle of the calf. Back her up against a panel or pen wall. Put your left hand under her throat with ring finger and thumb in the sides of her mouth. Bottle in the right hand. Hold her head as straight up as you can get it. Open her mouth and insert the nipple. Work her jaws and keep the milk flowing down her throat. She'll swallow eventually. If at any point she begins to nurse on her own, gradually start releasing pressure. You may have to do this two or three feedings.

Out of hundreds of calves through the years, I have never tubed one. Got a kit to do it with just in case. You also have to bear in mind I am more stubborn than the calves are.

 

[piedmontese]

I'm pretty much doing the nurse cow route now and buy beef splits from the sale barn when I am looking for calves.

I have had some hard cases on nursing bottles through the years. Get straddle of the calf. Back her up against a panel or pen wall. Put your left hand under her throat with ring finger and thumb in the sides of her mouth. Bottle in the right hand. Hold her head as straight up as you can get it. Open her mouth and insert the nipple. Work her jaws and keep the milk flowing down her throat. She'll swallow eventually. If at any point she begins to nurse on her own, gradually start releasing pressure. You may have to do this two or three feedings.

Out of hundreds of calves through the years, I have never tubed one. Got a kit to do it with just in case. You also have to bear in mind I am more stubborn than the calves are.

we have only tubed when they were too sick and weak and would not nurse.none of them have ever gotten better.it seemed 2 me that once we tubed them they kind of quit even trying.

 

[MF135]

well the pills helped more solid stools today but still pouring milk replacer down a tube she wont suck the bottle long then spits it out . funny she likes the electroits mix sucks it right down. put calf starter in her mouth & she trys to chew it gets about 1/2 of it down, just dont want the milk, is this common?

You might want to check the temperature. I have made bottles too hot and this is a common reaction. Same applies if its too cold. From my experience, I would just take the problem calf back to the closest sale barn and just buy another. There are far too many calves out there that'll suck a bottle down quick to be wasting your time with one that won't. If you keep the calf and she gets weak, don't hesitate to drench her. I have drenched calves up to 3X a day for nearly a week with them barely holding on before they would come around and start drinking milk. You might also want to remove the water she has access to and at the next feeding, poor the milk in a tub and see if she'll drink it. For the scours, nothing beats spectam scour halt. Just squirt it in the milk replacer before feeding.

 

[piedmontese]

well the pills helped more solid stools today but still pouring milk replacer down a tube she wont suck the bottle long then spits it out . funny she likes the electroits mix sucks it right down. put calf starter in her mouth & she trys to chew it gets about 1/2 of it down, just dont want the milk, is this common?

You might want to check the temperature. I have made bottles too hot and this is a common reaction. Same applies if its too cold. From my experience, I would just take the problem calf back to the closest sale barn and just buy another. There are far too many calves out there that'll suck a bottle down quick to be wasting your time with one that won't. If you keep the calf and she gets weak, don't hesitate to drench her. I have drenched calves up to 3X a day for nearly a week with them barely holding on before they would come around and start drinking milk. You might also want to remove the water she has access to and at the next feeding, poor the milk in a tub and see if she'll drink it. For the scours, nothing beats spectam scour halt. Just squirt it in the milk replacer before feeding.

i have only seen the spectam scour halt for pigs.is that what u r using? if so at what dosage?

 

[MF135]

well the pills helped more solid stools today but still pouring milk replacer down a tube she wont suck the bottle long then spits it out . funny she likes the electroits mix sucks it right down. put calf starter in her mouth & she trys to chew it gets about 1/2 of it down, just dont want the milk, is this common?

You might want to check the temperature. I have made bottles too hot and this is a common reaction. Same applies if its too cold. From my experience, I would just take the problem calf back to the closest sale barn and just buy another. There are far too many calves out there that'll suck a bottle down quick to be wasting your time with one that won't. If you keep the calf and she gets weak, don't hesitate to drench her. I have drenched calves up to 3X a day for nearly a week with them barely holding on before they would come around and start drinking milk. You might also want to remove the water she has access to and at the next feeding, poor the milk in a tub and see if she'll drink it. For the scours, nothing beats spectam scour halt. Just squirt it in the milk replacer before feeding.

i have only seen the spectam scour halt for pigs.is that what u r using? if so at what dosage?

Yessir same thing. Mix 6ml in each bottle. You shouldn't have to use it more than 2 feedings. I highly recommend it for calf scours.

 

[GMN]

well the pills helped more solid stools today but still pouring milk replacer down a tube she wont suck the bottle long then spits it out . funny she likes the electroits mix sucks it right down. put calf starter in her mouth & she trys to chew it gets about 1/2 of it down, just dont want the milk, is this common?

Some calves don't do milk replacer, have you aneighbor who you can get some whole milk from, or purchase it from somewhere-could be the answer.

GMN

 

[wildsawmill]

well her scours is still there but better.
yesterday i put sugar & raw eggs in the mike rep. & she started taking it after a wrestle.
backhoeboogie thanks i have been doing the head betwen the legs from the start.
today she fought me for a little while then took it all & wanted more
thanks ill try the spectam & or sustain bolius

 

[wildsawmill]

well today she could nt get enough wanted more . takeing bottle great at 6 days old
should i be feeding her 3 times a day

 

[backhoeboogie]

I generally only go twice a day. If a newborn has to be bottle fed, it is a different story for the first day or two.

Had a rejected twin calf that was extremely small. All she would take was 2 pints a feeding. So she was fed more often until she would take a whole bottle. That took about two weeks. We didn't think that gal would make it. She surprised us.

If this calf is taking a whole bottle, my advice would be twice a day. If she's hungry, put her on a little feed.

 

[wildsawmill]

ok i been putting feed in her mouth she spits out most of it
shes been on 2 feedings a day for last 5 days 2 qts each time yesterday her hunger for more got realy turned on
she has hay & feed in front of her

 

[GMN]

well today she could nt get enough wanted more . takeing bottle great at 6 days old
should i be feeding her 3 times a day

I'd feed her milk and water only for now, no grain for a bit yet.

GMN