OP
OP
Anonymous
> Cindy,
> I did not switch off the bucket. I
> have always bucket fed calves. I
> also feed a lot it seemed. I was
> feeding my calves 1-1 1/2 gallons
> of milk replacer morning and
> night. I also do not start them on
> calf starter very quickly (about
> the 4 week). I read about rumen
> development and posts suggesting
> 1/2 gal. per feeding, and getting
> them onto calf starter within
> days, following manufactures
> directions. So, I did. I cut back
> to 1/2 gal. and offered starter to
> him. I do not think that this
> caused his troubles. I do use
> medicated milk replacer, so I
> wonder some about the reduced
> amount of med. he got with each
> feeding but... The main thing was
> how fast he went. I had reduced
> the milk replacer but he had not
> really gone after the starter,
> just a few nibbles now and then. I
> now feel that the reduced diet
> left him with less "room to
> play with" after the scours
> hit him. In short: less replacer
> ='ed less med. less fluid in his
> system and less nutrients, so that
> when when the scours hit he went
> very fast. Leaving me no time to
> take action. Assuming I had left
> him at about a gal. each feeding
> (which was where he was at and I
> was trying to get him to 1 1/2
> gal. per.) He would have had more
> med. water and nutrients in his
> system giving me more time to
> react. I'm going back to over
> feeding with milk replacer for at
> least 3 weeks before introducing
> calf starter and at least 4 weeks
> before limiting what they will
> drink at each feeding. (I was
> making him 1 1/4 gal each feeding
> and he stopped at just under a
> gal., but I expected him to
> increase that to about 1 1/2 gal.
> within a week.) Yes, I am going
> back to good medicated milk
> replacer, as much as I can get in
> them, for at least the first 3
> weeks from now on and leave the
> starter and rumen development
> concerns behind until they are a
> month old. As far as bucket vs.
> bottle I have not had trouble with
> buckets. They seem to drink more
> with the bucket, there is less
> clean up, and after a couple weeks
> I am hanging the bucket in their
> stall for the feeding and after
> that their water bucket goes on
> the same hanger and they adjust
> quickly. It takes some time at the
> beginning to get them bucket
> trained, but after that buckets
> are much easier. Maybe not as
> "efficient" but I have
> had many healthy calves happy with
> their head in a bucket. They also
> learn their bucket and will follow
> me where ever I go with that
> bucket in my hand lol.
Our orphaned calves get four small feeds a day by a bottle (750 mls x 4 )for about a week,they then progress to three a day by bucket sucking a teat via a tube through the fence. The milk powder we have been using for the past year has had rumensin in it. (don't give it to your dogs)We titrate the amount of milk fed to them by whether they become scoury or how they look. We always add at least two eggs to each feed. We usually go to two feeds a day after about 6 weeks or so depending on how they look.We gradually give them a scoop of grain after their feed. We find they are ready to wean themselves by about 3 months or so. We have never lost a calf by our method.
[email protected]
> I did not switch off the bucket. I
> have always bucket fed calves. I
> also feed a lot it seemed. I was
> feeding my calves 1-1 1/2 gallons
> of milk replacer morning and
> night. I also do not start them on
> calf starter very quickly (about
> the 4 week). I read about rumen
> development and posts suggesting
> 1/2 gal. per feeding, and getting
> them onto calf starter within
> days, following manufactures
> directions. So, I did. I cut back
> to 1/2 gal. and offered starter to
> him. I do not think that this
> caused his troubles. I do use
> medicated milk replacer, so I
> wonder some about the reduced
> amount of med. he got with each
> feeding but... The main thing was
> how fast he went. I had reduced
> the milk replacer but he had not
> really gone after the starter,
> just a few nibbles now and then. I
> now feel that the reduced diet
> left him with less "room to
> play with" after the scours
> hit him. In short: less replacer
> ='ed less med. less fluid in his
> system and less nutrients, so that
> when when the scours hit he went
> very fast. Leaving me no time to
> take action. Assuming I had left
> him at about a gal. each feeding
> (which was where he was at and I
> was trying to get him to 1 1/2
> gal. per.) He would have had more
> med. water and nutrients in his
> system giving me more time to
> react. I'm going back to over
> feeding with milk replacer for at
> least 3 weeks before introducing
> calf starter and at least 4 weeks
> before limiting what they will
> drink at each feeding. (I was
> making him 1 1/4 gal each feeding
> and he stopped at just under a
> gal., but I expected him to
> increase that to about 1 1/2 gal.
> within a week.) Yes, I am going
> back to good medicated milk
> replacer, as much as I can get in
> them, for at least the first 3
> weeks from now on and leave the
> starter and rumen development
> concerns behind until they are a
> month old. As far as bucket vs.
> bottle I have not had trouble with
> buckets. They seem to drink more
> with the bucket, there is less
> clean up, and after a couple weeks
> I am hanging the bucket in their
> stall for the feeding and after
> that their water bucket goes on
> the same hanger and they adjust
> quickly. It takes some time at the
> beginning to get them bucket
> trained, but after that buckets
> are much easier. Maybe not as
> "efficient" but I have
> had many healthy calves happy with
> their head in a bucket. They also
> learn their bucket and will follow
> me where ever I go with that
> bucket in my hand lol.
Our orphaned calves get four small feeds a day by a bottle (750 mls x 4 )for about a week,they then progress to three a day by bucket sucking a teat via a tube through the fence. The milk powder we have been using for the past year has had rumensin in it. (don't give it to your dogs)We titrate the amount of milk fed to them by whether they become scoury or how they look. We always add at least two eggs to each feed. We usually go to two feeds a day after about 6 weeks or so depending on how they look.We gradually give them a scoop of grain after their feed. We find they are ready to wean themselves by about 3 months or so. We have never lost a calf by our method.
[email protected]
