Menu
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles and first posts only
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Forums
Cattle Boards
Breeding / Calving Issues
How long to bottle feed?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support CattleToday:
Message
<blockquote data-quote="KNERSIE" data-source="post: 852074" data-attributes="member: 4353"><p>Alan, the milk belly won't happen if you bottle feed, if you used a bucket then that would most likely happen. I feel the risk of scours is far higher while the calf is still drinking milk so I agree that I would wean as soon as they eat enough calf starter. Ideally the calf should show you when, for me that means the calf is filled out on the rump and thighs and is shiny. Like is said before use good quality feed and feed them as much as you can. Make sure to use a ration meant for developing dairy heifers so you get all the growth needed without all the energy that can make them lay down fat in the udder. If it was a bull calf it wouldn't have made much difference as long as you don;t get them to the point where fat accumulates in the neck of the scrotum.</p><p></p><p>Juts for interest's sake, 0904 was my bottle calf project in 2009, I lost his dam after she fell in a ditch and was down for about 5 days before he was born. I've put her down shortly after milking her out to get a few drops of colostrum for the calf.</p><p></p><p>With my other half as a young calf</p><p><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/KNERSIE/snoekie.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>At about 3 months old with one of the growthiest calves of that year, he is on the right. For those who know the bulls I use the calf on the left is my 0917 herdbull</p><p><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/KNERSIE/lukesnoekie-1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>At 11 months in a growth test</p><p><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/KNERSIE/IMG_6493.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The day he was sold to a commercial customer at 14 months, by then he had been breeding a few commercial heifers for a month.</p><p><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/KNERSIE/IMG_6546.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="KNERSIE, post: 852074, member: 4353"] Alan, the milk belly won't happen if you bottle feed, if you used a bucket then that would most likely happen. I feel the risk of scours is far higher while the calf is still drinking milk so I agree that I would wean as soon as they eat enough calf starter. Ideally the calf should show you when, for me that means the calf is filled out on the rump and thighs and is shiny. Like is said before use good quality feed and feed them as much as you can. Make sure to use a ration meant for developing dairy heifers so you get all the growth needed without all the energy that can make them lay down fat in the udder. If it was a bull calf it wouldn't have made much difference as long as you don;t get them to the point where fat accumulates in the neck of the scrotum. Juts for interest's sake, 0904 was my bottle calf project in 2009, I lost his dam after she fell in a ditch and was down for about 5 days before he was born. I've put her down shortly after milking her out to get a few drops of colostrum for the calf. With my other half as a young calf [img]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/KNERSIE/snoekie.jpg[/img] At about 3 months old with one of the growthiest calves of that year, he is on the right. For those who know the bulls I use the calf on the left is my 0917 herdbull [img]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/KNERSIE/lukesnoekie-1.jpg[/img] At 11 months in a growth test [img]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/KNERSIE/IMG_6493.jpg[/img] The day he was sold to a commercial customer at 14 months, by then he had been breeding a few commercial heifers for a month. [img]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/KNERSIE/IMG_6546.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Cattle Boards
Breeding / Calving Issues
How long to bottle feed?
Top