how much milk replacer for a 2 week old calf

[genenfrosty]

i am needing some advice on a 2 week old jersey female i bought yesterday, the story behind her is the guy bought her moma from a neighbor and she gave birth the mom was not producing enough milk so they bottle fed to suppliment , any way mom died wednesday, now this is an extremely small calf i mean it only weighs 25 pounds and does not stand as tall as collie, she is extremely acticve
my question is how much milk replacer should i be feeding her
thanks for any help
frosty

 

[HOSS]

I would go easy on the amount of powder. I have three Jerseys on the bottle now and have had good results using less powder then the recommended amount listed on the bag. I usually mix about 7 oz. of powder with 3.5 pints of warm water and feed this amount twice daily with a bottle. Too much powder mixture will cause scouring. It is better to start light. Jerseys are cool and remind me of deer fawns. Have fun and watch closely for scouring.

 

[genenfrosty]

ok thank you cause the guy i got her from said that his wife was giving her 8 ounce twice a day, as far as the mixing the vet already told me not to make according to the dirctions, so if i understand you correctly i should be giving her almost 2 quarts twice a day.
thank you for the info
frosty

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Calves should be fed approximately 10% of their body weight in milk or replacer, up to 2 quarts twice daily.
A calf this small will scour if fed more than 1 quart twice daily -- the calf is less than half the size of a normal Jersey calf, so feeding half as much is about right.

Start offering the calf a good quality Calf Starter (18% medicated), placing a bit in the mouth to show that it is good to eat. Introduce a small amount of a good leafy hay when the calf is about 1 month old. The calf can be weaned when it's eating 1% of it's body weight in Calf Starter (usually about 8 weeks of age).

Ann B

 

[milkmaid]

When we have a twin or just a small calf, we'll only give it 1/2 to 3/4 of a four-pint bottle twice a day. So it might only get one full bottle worth of milk per day; does that make sense? That's for a holstein calf on 'real' milk; with your tiny jersey on milk replacer I wouldn't give any more than 3 pints per feeding of water and about 6 oz of powdered milk replacer, and probably even less. Better to underfeed her at first than to overfeed and have her start scouring.

 

[ctlbaron]

Milkmaid gave you good advice. If you got a 8 oz. cup in the milk replacer. Give it 3/4 cup of milk replacer in 3 pints of water to start. You can kick it up to a full bottle after about 3 weeks. Keep fresh water and a good calf starter available. Jerseys are tough little boogers. Good luck!

 

[genenfrosty]

Thank all of you for your advice, i am going to try to get a picture of her today standing next to one of my pygmy goats, and you can see how small she really is, we bought a bull calf about 3 weels ago, at the auction and when i put them together it looks like a chihuahua and a great dane, the mother of this calf was suppose to be a full jersey, the man thought maybe that she was premature,
i am new to cows so i am learning and you all are a bundle of information and i for one would like to thank everyone for your help
frosty

 

[Medic24]

Good advice from the MilkMaid.....but may I also suggest, that if you intend to keep raising bottle fed calves in the future, you get yourself a little war chest going ie:medicine chest with very good first line drugs. to combat those illnesses that seem to plague these little boogers, cus when they get sick, if not treated promptly, it can be all over but the crying in anywhere from hours to a few days. Not only should you get the meds, but do the homeword and research BEFORE you need to know!

Jeffers Suppy carries a good book in the catalog, titled, 'Raising and Managing calves'. It's only like $6.95 might be worth a look.

last bit of advice.... keep everything VERY clean, bottles, housing etc, and YOU!
Don't skimp on the quality of milk replacer, ans starter either!

Good luck! :cboy:

 

[ctlbaron]

Excellent advice Medic.

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Thank all of you for your advice, i am going to try to get a picture of her today standing next to one of my pygmy goats, and you can see how small she really is, we bought a bull calf about 3 weels ago, at the auction and when i put them together it looks like a chihuahua and a great dane, the mother of this calf was suppose to be a full jersey, the man thought maybe that she was premature,
i am new to cows so i am learning and you all are a bundle of information and i for one would like to thank everyone for your help
frosty

The original Jerseys were much smaller than the standard Jerseys seen today. The original Jersey today is represented by the American Miniature Jersey which has a top height of 46" at the hip with most animals being in the 42"-44" range.
The calves weigh 20-30 lbs and stand 20"-24" at the hip at birth.
Over the years, standard Jerseys have been bred up to produce a larger animal. The smaller size is a recessive gene combination and the little ones still pop up now and then out of the standard Jerseys -- more frequently in bloodlines containing recent imports from the Isle of Jersey. A lot of Jersey breeders hide their existence, don't want to admit that their bloodlines will throw "runts", not realizing that the "runts" are not "runts" at all, but express the original genetics of the breed.

While it's possible that your calf is a premie, it's much more likely that she expresses the genetics for small size.

Ann B

 

[Chris H]

If your goats are producing milk get that calf to nurse on the goat. Goat milk works just fine for calves.

 

[genenfrosty]

no my goats are pygmy goats and the youngest kid i have is 6 months old, so momma is dry,
what kind of medicine should i keep standing by i bought the stuff if she starts to scour, i also have penicilline around because of the goats,
and no i don't intend on raising a bunch of babies but the 2 that i have,
frosty