Bottle or Bucket

[Ranchman]

Hi. My brother and I were wander what was better; feeding calves out of the bottle or a bucket. He heard somewhere that it is healthier if you use a bottle apose to a bucket since it is a more natural position. It will flow down the throat smoother and will go in the right stomack. So, we switched all of our calves that were on the bucket back to the bottle. I was wondering if it would be fine if we just left them on the bottle until the day we wean them.

 

[regolith]

Either is okay. In theory suckling with the head held level will trigger oesophogeal (sp?) groove closure and prevent any milk getting into the rumen.
I don't think I'd have the patience to bottle feed a calf till weaning - I'm using teated buckets that hang on a gate or wooden rail. Bottle feeding is fine if you don't have to hold the bottle.

 

[bigbull338]

bottle feeding increases the chances of milk getting in the lungs from sucking to fast.with bucket feeding you dont have that prob.ive fed calves both ways,but i dont prefer 1 way over the other.

 

[ohiosteve]

I would go with bucket. It's much easier and there is less chance of the calves picking up the bad habit of sucking on each others naval which is common when bottle feeding a group of calves.

 

[Spotted Brahma]

A nurse cow is really the way to go, if possible. ;-)

 

[backhoeboogie]

We've had this discussion 100 times over already and it seems every time it comes up, tempers flare.

I am totally opposed to buckets. Bottle racks are fine. It is biologically proven that getting the groove open to get the milk to the right place is better achieved with suction from a bottle. Then the naysayers will come in with other links and opions.

I have done lots of bottle calves over the last 40 years going back to Dad's rotations in my youth between the bottles and nurse cows. We tried the buckets back in the 70's and the calves started looking doggied. Went back to placing the bottles in racks and the problem was solved. Aint never used a bucket since.

I run nurse cows now. Only bottle when I have to.

I don't want someone coming in and telling me the difference between doggie and doagie. You can call 'em whatever you want.

My experiences result in total opposition to buckets.

There are some lengthy discussions on this through-out the forums with some really good inputs. Search them out if you are interested.

 

[James T]

I don't want someone coming in and telling me the difference between doggie and doagie. You can call 'em whatever you want.

Havin a rough day, BHB? Everyone knows "Doagie is a character from the book Winter in the Blood by James Welch. Doagie was a half-white drifter who lived with the narrator's grandmother."

Nurse cows? Seriously? Who keeps a herd of nurse cows except the wealthy? O.k., so, let's get to normal - bottles, buckets or racks. Bottles if you have plenty of time and just get off to the whole experience. Buckets or racks to save some time. Or, if you really want to walk the tightrope - intubate.

BHB, did you ever find Calman?

 

[ozarkbulls]

I've done them both ways. I prefer bottle with younger calves, and then bucket break when it seems appropriate. No navel sucking with my calves in individual pens, I can raise 10 at a time, and bottle feeding really doesn't take that long.

BTW, I'm not wealthy and I have a nurse cow. Jersey/Hol X, 4 yrs old, bred back, paid $300 for her, puts out about 50lbs of milk a day, and is one of the best "mommas" I've seen. She'll take 3 at a time! Considering milk replacer is damned near $80 a bag, I consider her a bargain!

 

[Spotted Brahma]

I cant make myself pay that much for milk replacer anymore. Its shameful how expensive everything has gotten the past few years.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I don't want someone coming in and telling me the difference between doggie and doagie. You can call 'em whatever you want.

Havin a rough day, BHB? Everyone knows "Doagie is a character from the book Winter in the Blood by James Welch. Doagie was a half-white drifter who lived with the narrator's grandmother."

Nurse cows? Seriously? Who keeps a herd of nurse cows except the wealthy? O.k., so, let's get to normal - bottles, buckets or racks. Bottles if you have plenty of time and just get off to the whole experience. Buckets or racks to save some time. Or, if you really want to walk the tightrope - intubate.

BHB, did you ever find Calman?

More like a rough year.

I have not heard from Calman and it concerns me.

"Doggie" in "Get along lil doggie" is the pronunciation I grew up with. Folks love to correct me in this forum. I know of no one who calls them doagies but I don't live out in Arizona or California either. Apparently that is what they call 'em based on what's been said here. If we were conversing at the sale barn and one of them used that pronunciation, I would know what they meant, wouldn't correct them, and I wouldn't be offended in any way - whether its been a rough day or not. I simply don't care but have been corrected over and over here.

I know a widow who runs nurse cows. She turns a profit every year. The big boys call her when they have an orphan. She gets some given to her. Things like someone loses a cow, its Monday and the sale is not for a few days. They aint got time to mess with it. Gasoline and time to haul it just aint worth the effort. If someone has a high dollar calf they need supplemented, she'll do that for a fee too. Every vet within 100 miles knows of her and she gets a lot of referrals. It is pretty much all she does besides quilting and canning wonderful jellies. She makes a very nice living and has good facilities for it.

If I am going the bottle route, panels go up. The calves each go into their own chute. Bottles are dopped in racks. They are then collected and washed a bit later and then staged on towels for the next feeding. If I am doing it, I would just as soon do several versus a few. It is a twice a day commitment.

Nurse cows are the most profitable route I know of for commercial cattle. Don't know of a single "wealthy" person using them. If someone is going that route, it is going to be best to buy beef calves split off of aged cows at the sale barn.

My nurse cows earn me more nickels than anything else in the pasture. That's fact.

 

[TexasBred]

I would go with bucket. It's much easier and there is less chance of the calves picking up the bad habit of sucking on each others naval which is common when bottle feeding a group of calves.

Have you tried raising them on buckets but not the type they suck...simply pour the milk replacer into a bucket and let them drink it like water. More and more folks are doing that these days. Personally we've always used bottles. Drop them in the rack, let them empty them, pu them in the dishwasher, wash, sterilize and ready to go again.

 

[dun]

I would go with bucket. It's much easier and there is less chance of the calves picking up the bad habit of sucking on each others naval which is common when bottle feeding a group of calves.

Have you tried raising them on buckets but not the type they suck...simply pour the milk replacer into a bucket and let them drink it like water. More and more folks are doing that these days. Personally we've always used bottles. Drop them in the rack, let them empty them, pu them in the dishwasher, wash, sterilize and ready to go again.

My dishwasher never did a good job on bottles. She told me to wash them myself.

 

[regolith]

Have you tried raising them on buckets but not the type they suck...simply pour the milk replacer into a bucket and let them drink it like water. More and more folks are doing that these days. Personally we've always used bottles. Drop them in the rack, let them empty them, pu them in the dishwasher, wash, sterilize and ready to go again.

I thought that was what the original question was about - bucket feeding in my lingo means teaching them to drink out of the top of the pail. Open troughs when they're older.
I was doing that in 1993. Have probably raised better calves every year since.

 

[ohiosteve]

The only way I've ever dne it was with a good old fashioned bucket. The sooner I could train them to drink from a bucket the better. and once they finished the milk i filled it with water. If they were 6 wks old and drinking a bucket of water and eating grain I would wean them. These were dairy calves I'm talking about.

 

[TexasBred]

Rego when I was a kid my dad raised calves on a bucket with a huge nipple on it. Don't see how the calf could even keep it in his mouth but he did...I still see them for sale in some stores.

 

[Gale Seddon]

I would go with bucket. It's much easier and there is less chance of the calves picking up the bad habit of sucking on each others naval which is common when bottle feeding a group of calves.

Have you tried raising them on buckets but not the type they suck...simply pour the milk replacer into a bucket and let them drink it like water. More and more folks are doing that these days. Personally we've always used bottles. Drop them in the rack, let them empty them, pu them in the dishwasher, wash, sterilize and ready to go again.

My dishwasher never did a good job on bottles. She told me to wash them myself.

I got your "joke" dun! When I said I wanted a dishwasher, my husband looked at the spray thing next to the kitchen faucet and said "There it is." One of these days.................

 

[Nesikep]

It's been a long time since I've lost a cow and not her calf with it, I usually take adoption as the best method if I can get some cooperation from the cows... for the first week or so, if I have to bottle feed, I feed with a 2 qt bottle, then as they get more hungry I'll switch to a pail with a nipple or teach them to drink it directly... If I want them to keep the sucking instict, I'll keep them on a nipple, and if I want them to lose it I'll teach them to drink it without the nipple. I've had enough calves want to follow me around the yard sucking my fingers all day that it's gotten old, though it's cute.