Holstein calves-

[cowspider]

Been buying holstein calves off and on for about 30 years. the last 10 years I have had about a 65% death rate. shipping fever \ pnemonia(sp).
Had to take a 200 lb. steer to the vet. last night again. same thing. Doc. told me death rate will be high because holsteins are bred to give milk and we have bred out survival strenght. any body else have the same issues??? at a hunderd dollors for a 3 day old calf, i'm going broke. :x :x :x :cboy:

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I have alot of dairy farmers in my area and those animals seem to take alot drugs to keep them healthy. I know my brother tried putting some holstein steers out on grass a few years ago. It was a disaster. They just laid down and died. The vet was out twice for autopsies and couldn't give a cause of death. We eventually figured they'd got into an old perennial flower bed and ate something poisonous but we were never sure.

 

[franseen]

cowspider,
Do you buy your bulls from sale barns only? Sometimes calves that go to the sale barn are not fed enough colostrum or really cared about. As long as they look ok to sell. Try getting them straight from the farm. Find a farm that feed calves clean colostrum on time. Never downplay the importance of colostrum. After we sold our dairy herd we raised heifer calves for a large farmer. We got calves at birth and when we picked up colostrum it had manure, dirt, straw, etc. We never had calves die from our cows. These calves had to be watched 24/7. A new calf has pretty much no immune system. That colostrum saves them. Drugs may work, but they will slow the calf down. Knowing where your calves come from can give you some confidence. Most farmers that sell their calves direct wouldn't want to have them dying and then hear about it. Just and idea I geuss.

 

[dun]

Doc. told me death rate will be high because holsteins are bred to give milk and we have bred out survival strenght. any body else have the same issues???

From the dairys I've worked with the only one that has a high death rate among bull calves doesn't give them the first care that the heifers receive. They rarely lose a heifer but probably 50% of the bulls either die or just don;t thrive. Of the other dairys, the bulls do just as well as the heifers, but all calves are handled exactly the same.
Sort of related, but a little different.
There seem to be a lot of folks that post that don;t think bottle heifers will ever amount to much and have issues with their growth. If that was the case, how is that the dairys bottle/bucket raise large numbers of heifers each year that make succesfull/productive cows?

dun

 

[sidney411]

Dun - from what I've seen here. The dairy operator takes care of all calves no matter the gender the same way. But the calves are getting cow milk, not replacer, I really think that is the difference in dairy raised calves and calves like what people are bottling. The calves at the dairy down the road only get the milk he can't sell (i.e mastitis, and med withdrawl milk) which is the same milk we get everyday to feed our little Annie. His calves get 2 bottles a day, We've been feeding Annie 3 to 3 1/2 bottles a day and his calves still look fatter then mine - what's the deal?

 

[dun]

There's only one dairy around here that feeds milk, the others feed replacer because it's cheaper then the value of milk and most don;t like feeding yuck milk to the calves. The only difference I can think of is the quality of the replacer and getting them started on grain by the time they're a week old.

dun

 

[kyhillbilly]

I am new to all this but I just thought I'd share how mine were doing.

I have two two-week old bull calves that I bought from the dairyman up the road. A holstein and a holstein-swiss cross. He sells them to me at 3-4 days so they have a good start already. I use a medicated Dumor Supreme milk replacer and both are looking very good. I did have to medicate the holstein once but he's doing fine now.

I've seen what goes through our sale barns down here and I will more than gladly fork over the 125 for a calf at the dairy because I know it has a much better chance. (He turns the mothers in with the calves twice a day during the first 3-4 days rather than hand feed them anything.

I ask another local cattleman who runs about 4,000 head a year (seriously) about any doctoring and he insists that at the first sign of sickness (pneumonia, scours, etc) the calf gets a shot of Nuflor (or LA 200), Sustain III calf bolus by weight, and that I pour the electrolytes to them regularly. So far all is well!

 

[jerry27150]

have some friends that raise holstein veal calves. between 2-300 at a time & they all come from different sale barns & they rarely ever lose one

 

[cowspider]

I have bought most straight from the dairy. I bought 2 from the sales barn a week and a half ago, 1 is dead, the other is on a antibiodic(sp) regeime(sp) and the vet gives it a 50/50 chance of living. the vet said half my trouble is they are holstein. :cboy:

 

[tapeworm]

I have bought most straight from the dairy. I bought 2 from the sales barn a week and a half ago, 1 is dead, the other is on a antibiodic(sp) regeime(sp) and the vet gives it a 50/50 chance of living. the vet said half my trouble is they are holstein. :cboy:

If half of your trouble is because they are hostein the other half must be management. Can not believe that somebody would tolerate 65% of the stock you buy over 10 years going into the dead pile....can NOT believe it!!! Takes all kinds

 

[Rafter E]

Cowspider...Shipping Fever/Pneumonia/BRD link...good info.

http://www.pharmaciaah.com/health.asp?c ... ype=3&sec=

 

[la4angus]

If half of your trouble is because they are hostein the other half must be management. Can not believe that somebody would tolerate 65% of the stock you buy over 10 years going into the dead pile....can NOT believe it!!! Takes all kinds

Tapeworm, I have to agree with you on this. If 65% of the calves are dying a person should change management practices.
I know I couldn't loose 65% of what I bought and keep going back for more.
Like I have stated before"said person has to be mad at their money."
If a person is doing this to make money he/she needs to do something else.
I agree, I can't believe it either."