Raising Calves

[farmgirl_14]

hey everyone, im 14 i bought 3 calves from the auction on 8-20-08. A few days later I lost on she was a 39lb jersey heiffer. The other 2 are bulls and they are doing good so far. I feed them 2.5-3 quarts of millk replacer 2x a day. They do eat grain on their owne and hay they also drink some water. How much milk should I be feeding them? I would also like to know anything you could tell me about raising calves, I want to learn as much as I can.

 

[bigbull338]

hi just keep doing what your doing.the calves are getting enough milk.an they are eating feed an drinking water wich is good.jersey calves are hard lil jokers to raise.just keep an out for the scours.an if you see 1 getting loose treat it with scour meds.you might want to keep them on the bottle till 3 months old.or they are eating 3lbs of feed a day.

 

[farmgirl_14]

they are on a paile but anyway they had scoures when i first got them I gave them a liquid med. i cant remember the name but it helped alot.

 

[smallrancher]

Some advise, in the future, don't buy any jersey heifers, or any other dairy heifers at the sales barn, heifers are gold to a dairy farmer, and it they are at the sales barn it's for a reason and you don't want them!

 

[farmgirl_14]

ya, i would rather buy them from a farmer, but all the people i asked wanted $75-100 and i cant really spend that much on a calve. I got these guys for $45 each.

 

[dun]

ya, i would rather buy them from a farmer, but all the people i asked wanted $75-100 and i cant really spend that much on a calve. I got these guys for $45 each.

Well as it stands now the 2 that are still alive cost you 67.50 apiece

 

[shorty]

I prefer to get calves from a local farm . If you decide to replace the one you lost with one from the auction keep it away from the others for a few weeks so you don't have a chance of making the others sick . About a month ago I had a little heiffer who lost mother so I brought her here and started feeding her. I have a 4 stall calf hutch and I wanted her to have company , I was at the auction and they sold nice calves cheap that day , but I chickened out and did'nt get any because I was afraid of my calf getting sick . so I called a dairy near here and they had 3 that were ready to go so I got them and now everybody is doing good I had no problems so far. I paid a little more but in the long run you're better off. to answer your question about the milk , we start out at 2 qts 2 times / day and after a week or so we up it to 3 qts . we keep the amount of powder the same we just increase the water.

 

[farmgirl_14]

Dun i an confused i dont understand how you got that. I am not planning on getting another untill i sell these. I will probally raise these untill they are 4-5 months. The first calve i raised i got givent to me by a farmer up the road. I raised him 4 months, when I soold him at the auction i got $125 for him. He weighed 214lbs, is that a good price? I really dont know how much i spent on him, i know i spent $50 on the milk replace. I didnt keep track of the hay and grain i put in him. The ones i got now I am keeping track of how much i spend.

 

[dun]

Dun i an confused i dont understand how you got that.

3 calves at $45 each comes to $135. The $135 divided by the 2 you have left comes to $67.50 each

 

[farmgirl_14]

ok now i understand the 2 costed $45 each and the on i lost only costed $11.70, she only weighed 39lbs. The other 2 weighed 83 and 87lbs.

 

[dun]

Rather then buy a calf for 11.70 you should have just bought a shovel. That's what you'll end up needing for most calves that cheap

 

[farmgirl_14]

ya i know, i didnt really want that calve my mom bid on her, she said she just wanted 2 buy a calve. i was waiting for the biggre ones but she just couldnt wait. She doesnt got to the auction that ofter because she feels bad for the animals and buys eveything she can.

 

[Limomike]

Dun i an confused i dont understand how you got that. I am not planning on getting another untill i sell these. I will probally raise these untill they are 4-5 months. The first calve i raised i got givent to me by a farmer up the road. I raised him 4 months, when I soold him at the auction i got $125 for him. He weighed 214lbs, is that a good price? I really dont know how much i spent on him, i know i spent $50 on the milk replace. I didnt keep track of the hay and grain i put in him. The ones i got now I am keeping track of how much i spend.

If you are not careful, you will put more into them, than you can get out of them.
How long do you plan on keeping the two bull calves?

 

[farmgirl_14]

I am really not quite sure an how long i am going to keep them. Any sugestions on how long i should keep them and still be able to make something off them would be great. thenks for all the help so far everyone

 

[Limomike]

Dont know where you are located, but the winter months will be coming along soon, and you will need hay, and some type of protein to give them as well. If not, then sell them before winter.

 

[farmgirl_14]

I am all ready giveing them hay and grain. Would you make more selling them before winter or after?