Dumb Question About Bottle Feeding

[Running Arrow Bill]

Ok...probably shoot myself in the foot over this one...lol.

Other than Dairy calves, why do people BUY a baby calf to bottle feed? To me, it would be a tremendous amount of watchfulness, work, and hassle. I can understand, however, that if a mama cow rejected a calf and there was no surrogate cow to nurse it, that bottle feeding would be about the only option. I can also understand that if someone GAVE you a baby calf that had been orphaned, then bottle feeding would be a viable solution.

Yet, I continually read about people ELECTING to get baby calves to bottle feed. Guess they have more hours in a day than I do and still have a "mothering instinct" to fulfill... 8)

Or, is it because one can buy a baby to bottle feed for next to nothing $$$.

 

[dun]

Ok...probably shoot myself in the foot over this one...lol.

Other than Dairy calves, why do people BUY a baby calf to bottle feed? To me, it would be a tremendous amount of watchfulness, work, and hassle. I can understand, however, that if a mama cow rejected a calf and there was no surrogate cow to nurse it, that bottle feeding would be about the only option. I can also understand that if someone GAVE you a baby calf that had been orphaned, then bottle feeding would be a viable solution.

Yet, I continually read about people ELECTING to get baby calves to bottle feed. Guess they have more hours in a day than I do and still have a "mothering instinct" to fulfill... 8)

Or, is it because one can buy a baby to bottle feed for next to nothing $$$.

Money can be made with drop calves. It's a tough go, but it can be done. We did it in the past and were successful. Properly set up it doesn't take all that much time, more then letting the cow raise them, but it can still be done properly without a lot of time expended.
Kids raising a bottle calf learn a lot about responsibility.
Besides, they're so darn cute they're hard to resist.

dun

 

[TheBullLady]

When I lived in Illinois I raised primarily Holstein heifer calves, and I made decent $$ raising them. If you've got the time and patience, it's not a bad way to make a few extra $$.

 

[BuckemRanch]

My mother-inlaw thinks that it is cute. I think she has too much time on her hands. I would rather have a good cow that takes care of her calf. Although I wouldn't mind giving my boys a calf to raise.

I worked on a ranch where the owner would get calves and put four of them on a milk cow. I know that was a lot of work for her too. She had to put the cows in a squezz and then get the calves over there. I guess she was able to make money at it.

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Ok...probably shoot myself in the foot over this one...lol.

Other than Dairy calves, why do people BUY a baby calf to bottle feed? To me, it would be a tremendous amount of watchfulness, work, and hassle. I can understand, however, that if a mama cow rejected a calf and there was no surrogate cow to nurse it, that bottle feeding would be about the only option. I can also understand that if someone GAVE you a baby calf that had been orphaned, then bottle feeding would be a viable solution.

Yet, I continually read about people ELECTING to get baby calves to bottle feed. Guess they have more hours in a day than I do and still have a "mothering instinct" to fulfill... 8)
Or, is it because one can buy a baby to bottle feed for next to nothing $$$.

Hi Bill
I'm one those crazy people who ELECTS to buy baby calves and raise them. Without going into a lot of detail, let me explain why I do it by laying out one calf transaction.
Last Feb I bought 2 calves at the salebarn, a RWF bull and a Black heifer. I paid $150 for the bull as a newborn, and $200 for the heifer at 2 weeks of age. I bottleraised these 2 calves on excess milk from my Jersey cow. I sold these 2 calves in August at the local salebarn, on a night when there was hardly anybody there due to a storm.
The steer weighed 485 lbs and brought $128/cwt, the heifer weighed 440 lbs and brought $116/cwt. The check was for over $1100 and I had a grand total, including all feed, vet bill, etc., of $575 wrapped up in both calves. It takes me an average of 1 hour per day to care for several baby calves to weaning, and then no more than 30 minutes per day after weaning for to care for all the weaned calves.

For someone who doesn't want a "real' job, raising calves can be good source of income, especially if you have excess milk -- add milk replacer into the equation and you can subtract $50 per calf from your profit.

Ann B

 

[3-B Farms]

i too have been able to make descent $$$$ raising bottle calves. the one advantage i have is i can buy calves that have been pulled off of older cows. these calves will be 2-3 weeks old, i know they have got their colostrum. i now have in my pasture 13 that will average around 300lbs each. in about 2 or 3 weeks when the weather breaks and gets cold the price will be cut in half for baby calves. i will then pick up probably 10-15 more. i can raise calves feeding 10 at a time and still work my fulltime job as an electrician. i just give up an hours sleep in the morning, the evenings are easy cause i'm not in a hurry to get to work

 

[greenwillowherefords]

We raised a butcher calf on the bottle a few years ago. Two feedings a day until six or eight weeks old, then graduated him over to baby beef feed. Finished him out on 16 dairy texture. Was really surprised how good Holstein meat was. We did it because the kids wanted to, but it didn't take long for him to down a bottle.

 

[Fallfish]

Bottle feeding calves can be a hard, frustrating experience. They tend to get sick (versus a calf on its mama which rarely if ever gets sick) and take alot of maintenience at the beginning.

However, there are some postives, in my opinion.

First, as someone mentioned, raising a baby calf is a postive experience for a youngster. When I was a kid, my dad always had a couple baby calves in an old milkbarn and all the feeding etc. was left to me. He only checked on them. I had to get up at 5 a.m. to feed 10 calves and then feed them right after school. It taught me a lot in general, and probably helped to forever put a farming itch in me, prevelant now, even in my last year of lawschool.

Second, you can make money, but it ain't foolproof.

Finally, I'm not sure what would happen to a lot of bull calves born on dairy farms if people did not raise them on a bottle. I have seen dairymen GIVE bull calves away consistently, which makes me think that they might deep-six them if bottle-feeders were not out there.

Just my opinion.

Best wishes,

Fallfish

 

[Hillary_Indiana]

I am an 18 yr. old female. I wanted to get a bottle calf because the upfront price was cheaper than a weaned calf, and i thought it would be so cute to have one. (not to mention I had a decent amount of time on my hands and i love animals). I just got a weaned calf last week at the sale barn though, she's good too. I think the main reason I wanted a baby was because I like feeding animals with a bottle.

HILLARY

 

[hillbilly]

When my brother and I were about 10 to 12 years old we found the way we were going to make our first million!
We bought Holstine heffiers from a great dairy right down the road for $50
We took them all the way to springers bred to angus bulls.
That first batch brought $1200 to 1500 ea.

We then invested all of it in Holstine baby heifers, we could no longer buy
from the dairy down the road... they were keeping these valuable little girls now.
We had to give 200 to 250 for newborn salebarn heifers. We lost about 10% and we thought we were good at it.
They didn't grow out as well, didn't have the genetics of the first batch.
They started the national dairy buyout about the time these were ready to sell.
They averaged $650......We had 2 years and $675 in them.
We learned alot.


Hillbilly

 

[Scotty]

Most of the ones I have had to feed are because the cow died. I have learned you can get them to drink from a bucket and takes 1/4 of the time to feed. First get them used to replacer. Next get them by themselves. They will knock over each others milk. When you are ready to try get a bucket that has a larger type opening, but not to deep. I took the bucket with milk and the nipple and stuck it in the calfs mouth. Teasing it to the bucket and then submerged my hand and nipple into the bucket. It takes patients but eventually they will start sucking at the nipple with their nose in the milk learning they don't need the nipple and get the hang of it. ;-) It is also funny to watch after they are finished beat up the bucket. I recomend using a tough bucket. I use stainless.

Scotty

 

[Fleckvieh DPB]

well we live in cnaada and we cant affort to spent much time on our bull calves since they dont go for much now due to the BSE you know the story.

what we do is bottle feeed em colostrum for 2-3 days then he goes into a group of bullcalves al within the same age group.
we have about 10 in the group now all under 2 weeks old.
we just dump sour milk into a barrel and there a 3 nipples on the barrel and the calves can drink when ever they want as much as they want.
we feed them sour milk b/c then they can drink it cool doesnt have to stay warm over day.
because it is cool they wont over drink causing them to get the runnssss
also with sour milk the stomach can handel more milk with out getting problems.

so the time we spend on them is just teach em at the beguuining wheree the nipple is to drink from.
fill the barrel up with milk
give them fresh bedding every day to keep em dry
make sure they are all healthy
give grain and hay

so on the group of 10 calves we dont spend more than 1.5 hours a day.
thats max
count on half hour 2 times a day.

al

 

[milkmaid]

I've raised quite a few bottle and bucket calves over the past six or seven years, and I do make enough $$$ off it to be worth the time and money I put into them. This year is the first I have a nurse cow to put calves on.

we have about 10 in the group now all under 2 weeks old.

I wouldn't do that. Calves tend to want to suck on something almost all the time, and I've seen some pretty nasty sheath infections on bull/steer calves when young bottle calves are kept together.

 

[Fleckvieh DPB]

milkmaid....

because of the closed border we can get next to nothing and i mean what i say!!
next to nothing for those bullcalves.
we simply couldnt go and buy $500-$600 huts for these calves!!
it wouldnt pay.


also there is no cross sucking in that group of calves..

remember these calves can suck on the nipple and satisfy there thirst whenever they want.
if we fed them with a bottle 2 times a day then i could garentee they would suck eachother.


its like a beef cow\calf.
calf wants drink it sucks on mama.
our bullcalves want to drink or suck all they have to do is go to the barrel and suck on the niple.