raising calves from sale barns

[turnerstar31]

I bought a few calves from a sale barn and I know that I am better off getting them from a farmer themselves since the diseases that they face but I can get a better deal on them. I had to sell my dairy this summer so I do know how to raise calves anyway I was buying the non-tuber heifers because you can not touch heifers for a resonable price and I know that I am taking a chance that they might not breed but wanted to try it anyway. These calves are newborns.

Ok here is my problem I bought them and they would do fine for a week than get a little sick one day and die the next. I do not have access at this time to cows milk or else I would be feeding them that but they were one snowflake a milk replacer. When they got a little sick I would give them some probiotics and a shot of La 200. The first few calves I do not think got any colustrum so the last two that I got I gave them the powder colustrum and so far seem to be doing all right but I have only had them a few days. The ones that died did not have the scours and were not dehydrated they just were a little off and did not want to eat.

Anyway has anyone raised any calves from sale barns and have them do alright?
Can you tell me exactly what you did. I think that I am doing everything that I can but just wanted to see what some people had to say. I hate to lose calves and I know that I am going to lose some from going through the sale barns but there has got to be a way or else buyers would not be spending so much on the ones that tube good. Also does the powder colustrum work just as well.
Thanks

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Ouch!

First of all, if you bought "newborn" (aka 1-2 day old) calves at sale barn my "guess" is they were dairy calves. If not, ok. A newborn needs colostrum within 24 hours (definitely not later than 36 to 48 hours) after birth. Sale barn, non-weaned calves are always at high risk for any bugs floating around the usually unclean premises of sale barns.

A newborn calf on colostrum/mother's milk will get sufficient antibiotics (generally) from mother's milk. If no scours present or other obvious external problems on exam, then possibly calf was either compromised from birth or picked up some bug at sale barn.

A baby calf that dies is no bargain. Better to get a weaned calf (pay little more) and then give it booster shots and de-worm after you get it home. Bottomline: Pay $500 for a healthy weaned calf (or) pay $50 each for five "sick" or compromised calves + medications and then the "sick" calves die anyway.

 

[kenny thomas]

What are you refering to as non-tuber heifers? There are very few dairies in my area but I know heifers are high but occasionally I see one on the market that brings almost nothing. How do you tell if it will not breed when it is only a couple days old?
Also I agree that unless the first milk is given before 24 hours old it does not do much good. I have had very bad luck with market baby calves.

 

[turnerstar31]

actually i was getting these calves for like five dollars because they tube them and they say that they are not good. I agree that you really can not tell at that young of age that was why I was giving it a try since I really do not want to spend 500 dollars on a calf. I think that is a bit much but I know that the farmers need it but I just can not afford it. Anyway these are dairy calves and I am guessing it is something from the barns but I was just hoping that I could get a few of them to live.
Has anyone had any luck with this or no. I tried the colustrum this time around since I got a few bulls for practically nothing to see if it would work. Any other advice I would appreciate it.

 

[donnaIL]

I've seen those $5 calves and usually they just aren't doing well. If I was gonna bring one home, first thing I would do is have the sale barn give them a shot of antibiotics (Not OTC like LA200) and a vitamin shot. Our sale barn offers these shots pretty inexpensive. I would have a themometer and one of those bottles that you can tube through the mouth/throat, and have plenty of electrolytes.

If they stopped eating, they became dehydrated. You have to make sure that they are getting fluids & milk and that may require tubing. Alot of people think that tubing is excessive, but if you are losing calfs and they are not eating, I suspect that is one of the reasons. Also take their tempature when they are "a little off", that will tell you alot. Rotating electrolytes and milk replacer helps. You can give the colostrum supplement, but depending on their age it may not help.

I don't understand what a "non-tuber" is or an animal that tubes well. My experience is that calves do not like to be tubed. Good Luck, donna

 

[kenny thomas]

I think that there are two different types of tubing being discussed here. One is from the front and the other from the rear. Is this correct?
Again I do not know the meaning of tubing to see if they are breeders. Can someone explain. :???:

 

[hillsdown]

Me too WHAT???????

This must be a regional thing.. :?

 

[larryshoat]

There is a probe they use on a free marten heifer to determine whether or not she will breed .

Larry

 

[kenny thomas]

Now I understand. thanks for clearing it up

 

[dun]

When you unload them give them a shot of Nuflor or Ecenel or one of the other better antibiotics. Then if one starts looking not exactly right, hit them with it again. La200 is a joke for 99.9% of problems, footrot maybe or possbily pinkeeye is about all it's good for. The time frame you're talking about is right on the omney for "shipping fever complex". Hit it hard before it gets a chance to raise it's ugly head!

 

[KNERSIE]

Always difficult to give advice when you don't know what is available there, but in SA and I know its available in Australia as well we get a probiotic product called Protexin in powder form that you mix a tablespoon per day in with the milk replacer. That helps significantly with those iffy cases.

I started my cattle farming venture exactly the same way although I mostly bought directly from dairy farmers.

 

[Latta]

I get my calves direct from the dairy. But I still have problems too. The shots are great advise. What I do once they are home is to put them on a medicated milk replacer for a couple days and them switch them to a good milk replacer. I add the 21 day Corid treatment to their milk and watch closely for the first signs of any problems. I have been having much success with this. My calves are also in individual huts so they arent cross contaminating one another if there is a problem. I have also discovered the temperature of the milk should stay consistent about 101 degrees and to keep them on a regular schedule. I am now using wood shavings for bedding instead of straw. Since I have been doing this most of my problems have disappeared. Good luck.
Latta

 

[turnerstar31]

Thanks for the advice and what I meant by the non-tuber heifers was that they insert a probe into them to see if they are going to be a free martin or not but to me there were a lot of heifers going through that they were saying were so I was giving it a try to see if this tubing method was right or not. Most of the calves that I got were actually really nice calves nothing wrong with them. The prices of calves is really low here so really nice ones are going really cheap.

First off I did try Nuflor for the first few that I lost. When I brought them home I gave them a shot and would reapeat it every other day. I lost them due to scours. So I changed things around and gave the next couple that I got electrolytes and nuflor. I had them suck from a bottle and they did really well. They were drinking just fine. Again one day they would be fine the next they would be dead. So I tried the La 200, and probiotics just to see if it would help on the other ones which it did not but they did do better for a longer period of time. I even had some pills from the vet for scours nothing would touch the scours for the first ones ( forgot to mention that i think it was trimassen or something like that). I did the esphogeal tubing if they were not drinking. I am done buying them since I have lost pretty much the rest of them that I bought. It almost seemed like they were not gaining weight so I am taking it that it is due to the milk replacer so could you please tell me what the best milk replacers are that you use. I stilll have a couple left so I might switch to a better one.

 

[tom4018]

We have been buying young calves and raising them the last 4 or 5 years. We have bought salebarn calves and ones from area farms, twins, cow died, etc..

Some of the best calves we have bought at the salebarn are ones they split off a cow. Cow goes cheap enough that a packer buys her, we bought several last fall when a lot of pairs were going to the sale due to drought. My thoughts are you can be fairly sure they got a good start and if they are a few weeks old the risk is less I think.

The most problems we usually have with really young calves. We had some "tutition to pay" on some we have bought.

 

[Latta]

I have been using ADM products for the past 3 years and have great results with it. I am using NurseTrate Platinum NT Medicated. I use the full 12 oz measure and keep it hot as possible.

 

[milkmaid]

I don't like using Nuflor on young calves... one of the side affects is diarrhea; not a good thing to start in a bottle calf.

 

[donnaIL]

I bottle fed my own calves..not sale barn calves.. but used purina milk replacer, and tractor supply (dumor) replacer. I would suggest you use medicated feed until they are out of the woods.
Having a clean area for calves is important (not suggesting it is dirty), but if calves are living in an area and die, then you should have a different area to bring new calves, or sanitize everything. Why do you think you are losing calves? wish you luck..

p.s. never heard of that testing procedure, they only test dairy calves here (at sale barn) at about a yr. I would think the person dropping them off could tell the barn if they were a free martin, but then i dont know that much about dairy animals and maybe a great many are infertile, dont know.

 

[dun]

The main thing with milk replacers is all milk or milk byproducts NO SOY

 

[msscamp]

When they got a little sick I would give them some probiotics and a shot of La 200.

This is your first mistake - LA200 is useless with the possible exception of footrot. You need to talk to your vet and rachet up your antibiotics.

 

[turnerstar31]

I did use some powerful stuff but nothing was working not even the nuflor so I decided to give it a try since I was losing so many. I even talked to the vet and he said the only other thing that he could do was come out and administer a different antibiotic but even than he said it probably was not worth it.