Do bottle calves pay?

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

At what point would you sell a bottle calf to make it the most profitable.

 

[milkmaid]

There's a million factors involved in that decision... what breed, bulls/steers/heifers, time of year, cost of feed, personal preference, current market, etc.

I've done everything from turn them around a week after purchase to keeping them until slaughter (steers) or selling as springers (heifers). What makes money one year may not make money the next year.

 

[angie1]

Exactly as mm says. We sell at weaning some. Keep some to feed out. If I don't keep my heifers for whatever reason, it would be my goal to sell them as bred heifers. Last year should have sold ~ the cost of hay ruined any profit. This year would like to keep all to finish, but are waiting to see what happens yet with prices. It all depends.

If you want to get paid for your time as well ~ might want to look into something else. I donate my time to mine cause I love doing it! :nod:

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Ditto to all the variables that Milkmaid stated.
I also believe that one stands a better chance of making a little money (or at least these days, of breaking even) if one has a good nurse cow along with facilities to raise babies in that fashion.

Katherine

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

have 2 calves I decided to sell their mommas. 1 was ancient old and the other had hardware trouble, neither we doing a good job of raising their calves so I sold them. Figured I would get the calves on a bottle and get them looking like they are pros at it and ship them too. Both are Santa calves.

 

[dun]

A couple of friends of ours do it, they look at it as a forced savings plan. They break even or make a small profit from each group.

 

[ToddFarmsInc]

Labor of love, not get rich quick. However it's a great way to raise a replacement heffer if you are looking for tame cows. :kid:

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

well they are both bull calves. I don't think I would want a bottle calf for replacement stock anyways

 

[angie1]

I don't think I would want a bottle calf for replacement stock anyways

Why not?

 

[msscamp]

I don't think I would want a bottle calf for replacement stock anyways

Ok, I'll bite - why not?

 

[hillsdown]

I don't think I would want a bottle calf for replacement stock anyways

Ok, I'll bite - why not?

Me too..

Granted it is a totally different breed (Dairy) but I have raised many bulls on the bottle and sold them for breeding stock for a very good price and they all did very well ,not to mention the top semen bulls in the world were all "bottle " calves at one point. ;-)

I think it has been proven by many of us that done properly a bottle calf can do just as well as, if not better in some circumstances than nursing from a cow.

I

 

[TexasBred]

Never raised many bottle calves but had the best luck when I was dairying doing it this way...would pull cattle out of the milk line that had dropped down to about 30 lbs. of milk per day but were short bred. Would take them and gradually graft 4 calves onto each. Would take a couple of weeks to get them to take the calf regularly, let the calf learn to follow the cow and nurse when hungry, then would put them in a large pasture and feed the cattle the same ration the milking cattle were getting. I could raise two sets of calves and then dry off the nurse cow for a couple of months rest before she calved again. With 20-25 cows doing this you can raise a huge number of calves with minimal labor and expense and the calves seldom have any problems of any kind. This was waaaaaay back when it only took about $2.85 per head per day to feed the cow.

 

[dyates]

I don't think I would want a bottle calf for replacement stock anyways

Ok, I'll bite - why not?

For beef breeds, I would have to ask why the calf was a bottle calf. If the answer has anything to do with mom being a poor performer, then I wouldn't want it for a replacement.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I don't think I would want a bottle calf for replacement stock anyways

Ok, I'll bite - why not?

For beef breeds, I would have to ask why the calf was a bottle calf. If the answer has anything to do with mom being a poor performer, then I wouldn't want it for a replacement.

Splits off of aged cows are excellent. Especially for this climate if they have ear. Put them on the nurse cow and you have the best of a commercial herd at times, from bottle babies. Good eared cattle are hard to find. When one comes through the sale barn, the price goes through the ceiling. I've got 9 good ones in my herd that are 4 to 5 years old and a bit to gentle for my liking.

 

[bigbull338]

the facts are youll lose your backside raising bottle calves for profit.been there done that.would buy 4 to 6 calves at a time.an kill myself bottle feeding them.what didnt die.i kept till they was 5 months old.an sold them.raise calves for fun not profit.because with high milk an feed.theres no profit in it.

 

[backhoeboogie]

the facts are youll lose your backside raising bottle calves for profit.been there done that.would buy 4 to 6 calves at a time.an kill myself bottle feeding them.what didnt die.i kept till they was 5 months old.an sold them.raise calves for fun not profit.because with high milk an feed.theres no profit in it.

I agree if you are using a bottle, and as a rule.

If you are running good nurse cows, there is money to be made. I know an elderly widow who has run nurse cows for years.

As far as one that will die, I have never lost one. There's no telling how many I have done over the years but the number is well over 500.

Right now I only have one nurse cow so I am not in it big time. I do know someone who is and she produces a lot of steers on less acreage that many big operations. Vets use her too. She will nurse a high dollar registered animal for a fee and it happens. If anyone around loses a cow, they often haul the calf to her.

Some of it is simply a matter of economics and time.

My feed costs are up to $65 per calf pro-rated on the cow and I can just pasture them together after about two weeks if all the calves are about the same size. My time is simply dumping feed for the cow.

 

[milkmaid]

I agree with BHB... if you know what you're doing you can make money on bottle calves, and a lot of it. I've made some very good money off bottle-raised calves, but once I figured out I could graft calves onto nurse cows and raise the calves bigger, faster, and cheaper, that's pretty much all I do now. It's probably been 3 1/2 years since I've raised calves on a bottle.

 

[Rookie]

I don't think I would want a bottle calf for replacement stock anyways

Ya gotta remember, nearly every Holstein ya see was a bottle baby. I got me one what provides a freezer animal for us every year. Wouldn't take 2k for her.

 

[novatech]

I don't think I would want a bottle calf for replacement stock anyways

Ya gotta remember, nearly every Holstein ya see was a bottle baby. I got me one what provides a freezer animal for us every year. Wouldn't take 2k for her.

There certainly would not have been a profit if they were sold immediately after they got off the bottle. The profit did not come until after they paid off their debt and grew up with out the bottle.

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

Reasons I would not keep a Bottle calf for seed stock:

1. Too pet like; producing an animal that can ultimately hurt you :help:

2. Too much time, investment involved to see real returns until years down the road :roll:

3. Possible reasons as to why the calf is on the bottle :devil2:

4. Difficult to determine the true performance potential the calf possesses due to the fact that it is not growing under natural circumstances. A lot of time and investment at stake to make decisions off of a hope or prayer as to what you think the calf could of would of should of. :?:

5. And all the :cry2: :drink: and :lol: along the way

I know dairy cattle are done this way, one more reason I'm not in the dairy business.