NEWCOMER NEEDS HELP

[BILLIE SUE]

TO START I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT COWS. WE HAVE HORSES ON THE SAME LAND THAT SOMEONES CATTLE IS KEPT SHE HAD A MOMMA COW THAT DIED 1 WEEK AFTER HAVING HER CALF THE OWNER GAVE THE CALF TO MY 8YR DAUGHTER SO YOU ALL KNOW WHO HAS BEEN BOTTLE FEEDING AND TAKING CARE OF HER I HAVE. SO WHERE DO I BEGIN I DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT BREED SHE IS BUT I HAVE BECOME SOME WHAT ATTACHED TO HER. HER NAME IS BILLIE SUE. CAN ANYONE HELP ME OR GIVE ME SOME POINTERS. I JUST SWAPPED HER FROM A BOTTLE TO A BUCKET TO FEED.

THANKS
BY THE WAY MY NAME IS
BRANDI

 

[cmjust0]

Hi Brandi.. WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!?? :lol:

First, more questions. How old is the calf now, and what are you putting in the bucket -- feed or milk replacer? Is this a heifer calf or a bull calf? What does the calf look like (color, patterns, etc) Are you keeping the calf in a stall, pen, pasture, ??? What specifically are you looking for help with, or for pointers on? What I mean is, what questions do you have and what are your concerns?

Oh yeah, and welcome!

 

[BILLIE SUE]

Sorry not yelling. It's a heifer I'm assuming because urine comes out like a girl not a bull. She is about 4wks old. She is black all over except white face and brownish black rings around her eyes. We have had her about 21/2wks and she has been taking milk replacer 20% I believe in a blue bag? We also gave her 3 days worth of pills for the skowers is it spelled right? I am just wanting to know what breed she is and what she can be used for dairy, meat or just to take to the sell barn or should I let her reproduce if we want more cows. By the way she is in a stall and should I keep water in her bucket during the day I feed her milk 2 times a day.
Thanks for your help
Brandi :roll

 

[backhoeboogie]

She sounds like a black baldy and don't be a bit afraid or ashamed of getting attached. It happens. My wife never got attached to dogs, cats or any animal. Then a cow had twin heifers and rejected one. Our little heifer is now a cow and you'd think she was one of the kids if you saw the way my wife reacts around her. (she's going to read this post so I have to be careful)

I raised lots of bottle calves in my youth and three in the last 5 years.

Number 1, get her off the bucket if you can. Get her back on the bottle. The vacuum opens the passage way to the correct stomach. You want her pulling so that the nutrution gets to the right stomach immediately. Read about this on the net. If anyone else wants to argue with me about this, so be it. I don't care to argue. My preference is bottles and now I know why they do better on a bottle versus bucket. Its all about static head.

Number 2, build a small bottle rack or buy a wire one at the feed store. Put her bottle in the rack and you have the same effect of not having to hold the bottle. Build her a little chute if need be.

Feed her on 12 hour intervals until she is about 3 months and eating grain, hay, and drinking fresh clean water on her own. Then you are out of the woods.

Bear in mind that you are forever "momma" in the eyes of that cow no matter how old or how big she gets. Be careful and respectful of her when she gets older.

 

[backhoeboogie]

If you are going to raise one on the bottle, you may as well raise three of them. Just get three racks and three chutes. Its a twice a day commitment for the duration. You simply mix three bottles instead of one. You absolutely need separate chutes/pens though.

Your cow is likely a cross between a Hereford and Angus or other mix that results in a black baldy. If the calf has long ears that is another determining sign. Horns,eventually may come, also tell you something. Baldies are popular commercial cattle to raise. I like them. The most money I ever received at the auction barn was for a preg tested baldy cow.

 

[BILLIE SUE]

What if the bucket has the same nipple as the bottle? and what is static head? and should I give her water to dring during the day or just wait to feed in the afternoon? :cboy:

 

[backhoeboogie]

Definately give her all the water she wants.

The bucket has an open top so no vacuum is formed. If you remember how the bottle was, you'll remember the air bubbles coming in from the nipple when she suckled. That is the effect you want. Somehow the vacuum opens the passage to pass the milk to the correct stomach. You can read about it on the net as I am not too good with descriptions. Anyway, the calf doesn't form a vacuum when suckling out of a bucket, since the bucket is not a closed vessel.

 

[BILLIE SUE]

What is a good site to learn basic info on calves and cows in general?

 

[backhoeboogie]

This one. Seriously. There are alot of folks out there who know a great deal. I know just enough to know that I don't know enough, LOL. There is a great deal of info right here if you take the time to read through it all. You'll also note that we are all opinionated and never totally agree about everything.

Cows have their own personalities just like people. Each one is different, yet they are all the same in some way. There are die hards from each breed over in the breeds forum and there are folks like me who just raise plain old cows. A good cow is just that, no matter what breed she belongs to or is crossed out of. If she does her job with what I am willing to give her, she's a keeper.

To answer the question over in the other board, that calf should fetch about $200 now. If she works out, turns out to be a good looker, you could sell her, as a cow calf pair, in about 20 months, for anywhere between $800 to $1350, at current prices at auction in my proximity. I don't know what your local auction barns pay. If you go that route, you should get her vaccinated for brucelosis etc. Your vet can help you with that.

Just when you think you've heard it all, a new trick shows itself. Sometimes I don't have time for the bunk I read here and other times I find myself completely fascinated.

You can google subjects like, "bottle calves." You'll get someone's opinion there too. People just like you and I write books. Some know what they are talking about and some don't. If you read enough, experience enough, eventually you will be able to debunk things yourself. When i don't know, I try to get a deversified opinion & weigh the pro's N cons. You'll also have to bear in mind that folks here are just plain good ole folks, bless their hearts. You'll see things in my writing such as the words, "there", "their" and "they're" all out of text. I don't have to pay an editor to keep me straight.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

BILLIE SUE, welcome. Now to that heifer calf, if possible set up a pen or some kind of enclosure for her to be able to get outside. She needs the fresh air and sunshine and to nibble at the grass. The 20% milk replacer is good, even better if the ingredients are primarily real "milk" product (expensive). As far as bottles and buckets with nipples, I'm not looking to argue either. I've done both, I start with a bottle and at about 5 to 6 weeks of age switch over to a bucket with a nipple. Keeping a bucket of water with her when not feeding is good. You can also start to introdcue a "calf-starter" type of feed at this time. It comes in a pelleted or swwetfeed/textured form. Along with some good quality hay. Wherever you're getting your replacer from, they most likely have a starter feed for calves.
You can keep her and breed her when she's old enough, keep her and not breed her, keep her and feed her out and put her in your freezer, or raise her up and sell her, your options are many.
I'm sure MilkMaid will be on at some point and she's very helpful when it comes to "bottle-calves".
Good luck with your new baby.

Katherine

 

[BILLIE SUE]

Thanks for your input Katherine but I don't think I can put her in my freezer because my screenname Billie Sue is really the calves name so I have become attached to her.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Thanks for your input Katherine but I don't think I can put her in my freezer because my screenname Billie Sue is really the calves name so I have become attached to her.

Not a problem there, people I used to work for had 2 as pets, a Highland and a Jersey cross. Lots of folks have them as pets.

Katherine

 

[Anonymous]

Billie Sue what part of Mississippi do you graze in?

 

[ctlbaron]

Keep plenty of fresh water with her all the time. You can teach her to drink from a plain old bucket, no nipple at all in a couple of feedings. That saves lots of time if you are raising more than one. Also make calf starter available to her now. Put a double hand full in with her. As she cleans it up increase it a little as she cleans it up. They will nibble at good hay at a week or so old. Good luck with her. Have fun. :lol: