Bottle Feeding Calves

[graber2812]

I just bought 4 calves 1 week old and have some questions....... i know 2 bottles aday...am & pm.....when do you start giving them feed and hay....and when do you put them out to the pasture?..........its been a long time since we've had babies............any suggestions would be wonderful...thanks

 

[Herefordcross]

start offering small amounts of a VERY sweet feed now and keep it fresh. If you have some good hay offer small amounts now and keep it fresh as well. As far as putting them out to pasture goes. It depends on how well they do. We use to get 'em out at about 8-12 weeks.

 

[buckwheat_87]

start offering small amounts of a VERY sweet feed now and keep it fresh. If you have some good hay offer small amounts now and keep it fresh as well. As far as putting them out to pasture goes. It depends on how well they do. We use to get 'em out at about 8-12 weeks.

Well Herefordcross pretty much covered everything but you might also want to make sure they have fresh water.

 

[graber2812]

They do have water in the stall with them. but they're not even off the bottle yet...so wouldnt you want to make sure they drink well out of a bucket first before giving them feed and hay????? i dont know...so y'all the the experts here.....

what about weening them off bottles?

 

[dun]

Before weaning they need to be eating a minimum of 2 lbs a day of quality calf starter. They need water in front of them at all times. After they are weaned you need to keep increasing the grain ration, they gotta get the nutrition somewhere and hay/pasture doesn;t get the job done. We frequently turned the bottle calves out in the pature with the others. They learn to come running when you bring the bottle twice a day.

 

[angie1]

I think it is important to get them out as soon as possible, even if their pasture is small. Ours were put out after an overnight stay in the barn. I'm not sure I would put them in with the herd right away, you might want to wait a couple of weeks to make sure that they are not going to bring any funk from their old house to their new one. Good luck!

 

[coolpop]

baby calves will sniff and buck jump and explore their new world, therefore - if you leave fresh water, grain and hay they will explore that - eat and drink before you know. And that's what you want - you'll continue with the milk bottles. I've had some calves dip their nose in the water bucket at just a few days and start drinking and eating grain, other's a week, some 2 weeks. As good as some milk replacers are - they are still not as good a "momma" milk, so the calves will need the additional vitamins and protein from the feed stuff (grain & hay)
I agree with the poster that suggests turn them out into a small field area if you have the space. If you have predator animals -- I would bring mine in at night to the barn.

Make sure to take time to give a little scratch under the jaw -- or crown, also scrathing the back end will help them learn to not kick you when you're behind them. Momma would be licking them - lots around the face and neck area.

Sorry but I could go on and on about baby calves -- I just love 'em.

 

[msscamp]

They do have water in the stall with them.

Stall? As in shut-in stall, or as in a stall attached to a run? If the former - get them out of it, now! The quickest way to make a healthy calf sick is to shut them in a barn. Ventilation is generally inadequate, the ammonia from their urine wreaks havoc with their respiratory system, they need sunlight and room to run around, and the best killer of bacteria is the good old sun.

but they're not even off the bottle yet...so wouldnt you want to make sure they drink well out of a bucket first before giving them feed and hay????? i dont know...so y'all the the experts here.....

I, personally, would never feed a bottle calf from a bucket. I prefer the bottle method because of the esophageal groove that ensures the milk is delivered to the proper part of the stomach. As far as feed is concerned, have you had the opportunity to watch a calf with his mother? The calf mimics it's mother, and will be nibbling grain and/or hay - depending on what is provided - within a day or two of birth. Since this calf does not have free access to its mother's milk, grain and hay provide needed nutrients, as well as helping their rumen to develop. I always give a handful of good quality grain/starter - as previously mentioned, keep it fresh - as well as a small flake of good quality grass hay - again, keep it fresh - to my bottle calves from day one.

what about weening them off bottles?

What about it? The basics are that some people wean them at 8 weeks, some people wean them at 3 months - the time-frame generally depends on how well the calf is doing, how much he/she is eating, and how he/she looks. When he/she is eating 2-3 pounds of grain per day, start decreasing one bottle per day by a pint or so per feeding over a couple of days until it is cut out entirely. As the grain intake increases, do the same thing with the rest of the feedings.

 

[novatech]

Someone or I read somewhere that it helps to go to one bottle per day. I tried it and it worked very well. I bottle fed in the morning and grain fed in the afternoon. I started this on the second half of the second bag of milk replacer. At the end of that bag the calf was weaned. Now on feed and hi-protein grass and doing well.

 

[Limomike]

Nova. we did the same thing about a year ago, and it did work for us as well.

 

[dun]

And over thew past 40 plus years we've just cut them off cold and never had a problem. Sometimes I think people make thinkgs way more complicated then need be.

 

[msscamp]

And over thew past 40 plus years we've just cut them off cold and never had a problem. Sometimes I think people make thinkgs way more complicated then need be.

Yes, that does work just fine. It's just that I'm a wienie when it comes to listening to them bawling when they are weaned cold turkey, so I wimp out and reduce the bottles gradually. :lol: :lol:

 

[hughnews]

we have a heifer . about 1.5 weeks right now .. one bottle in the am @6 and we both work m-f .. so next bottle @ 6 pm .. today I used 2 bottles at 6pm .. and yup it did quiet her down .is that tooo much ? this weekened she will be getting 3x botle .. and then back to work at the hosp monday .. any info ? thanks HUGH

 

[faintingridge]

Hey hugh,
I just keep running into you everywhere on the net, LOL.
Same here, we have 2 two week old calves. One bottle in the am, another in the pm. Trying to get rid of scours right now.

 

[msscamp]

.. today I used 2 bottles at 6pm .. and yup it did quiet her down .is that tooo much ?

No, it isn't too much - but it might be too much when done all of a sudden. When a calf is used to a certain amount of milk replacer, then you suddenly double that amount at one sitting, you could be inviting a case of scours. Generally speaking - increasing their bottles should be done the same way as increasing the amount of their grain - slowly, and over time.

 

[hughnews]

nice to hear from ya .. we have 5 boer does .. 5 cows + calf .. 5 turkeys and lots of chickens .. lol

 

[faintingridge]

Hi Hugh,
we just added 4 Icelandic sheep to the farm.
We are stopping the calves cold turkey on the bottle also. Very noisey, but they are eating grain just great!!