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Cattle Boards
Breeding / Calving Issues
How long to bottle feed?
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<blockquote data-quote="Lucky_P" data-source="post: 852043" data-attributes="member: 12607"><p>Once they are eating a minimum of 1.5 lb/day of a good quality calf-starter ration, I cut the bottle off and bump the grain ration up pretty quickly - along with all the quality pasture they can consume. Just don't scrimp on the quality of the grain ration.</p><p>Bottle-feeding is the most expensive and labor-intensive part of raising an 'orphan' calf - I try to have 'em weaned by 4 weeks; almost never fed a bottle past 6 weeks. Never fed more than a half-gallon twice daily. Want 'em a little bit hungry so they'll get started eating that grain ration quickly and get that rumen up and running.</p><p></p><p>Prolonged milk feeding may get you more 'calf development' - but at the expense of 'rumen development'.</p><p>Have a look here: <a href="http://www.das.psu.edu/research-extension/dairy/nutrition/calves/rumen" target="_blank">http://www.das.psu.edu/research-extensi ... lves/rumen</a></p><p></p><p>You can keep on feeding that bottle as long as you want - but I wouldn't.</p><p>Had a client, when I was in practice, that raised a big ol' fat orphan Beefmaster heifer - she still had her farm hands giving that thing a bottle twice a day when it was 2 years old. Some folks have more money than they have sense. I think they may have stopped bottle-feeding ol' Buttercup when she finally delivered a calf at 3 or 4 years of age...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lucky_P, post: 852043, member: 12607"] Once they are eating a minimum of 1.5 lb/day of a good quality calf-starter ration, I cut the bottle off and bump the grain ration up pretty quickly - along with all the quality pasture they can consume. Just don't scrimp on the quality of the grain ration. Bottle-feeding is the most expensive and labor-intensive part of raising an 'orphan' calf - I try to have 'em weaned by 4 weeks; almost never fed a bottle past 6 weeks. Never fed more than a half-gallon twice daily. Want 'em a little bit hungry so they'll get started eating that grain ration quickly and get that rumen up and running. Prolonged milk feeding may get you more 'calf development' - but at the expense of 'rumen development'. Have a look here: [url=http://www.das.psu.edu/research-extension/dairy/nutrition/calves/rumen]http://www.das.psu.edu/research-extensi ... lves/rumen[/url] You can keep on feeding that bottle as long as you want - but I wouldn't. Had a client, when I was in practice, that raised a big ol' fat orphan Beefmaster heifer - she still had her farm hands giving that thing a bottle twice a day when it was 2 years old. Some folks have more money than they have sense. I think they may have stopped bottle-feeding ol' Buttercup when she finally delivered a calf at 3 or 4 years of age... [/QUOTE]
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