Special Needs Calf or Common?

[TexasJersey]

Hello everyone! I am looking at a posting on Craigslist...There is a 2 month Angus on a bottle for sale. They said he nursed his mom for 2 days and he has since been on a bottle. They said he is in good health and has never been sick. He will not graze or drink from the water trough. He knows how to eat a ration from bunk (which I am not familiar with).

I ask if he is currently around other cows, and they said he is not (I don't know why he was taken off his mom).


I am wondering if this is a rare occurrence, or if this happens from time to time. Also, I am wondering how easy it would be to get him drinking from a trough and grazing.

If I got him, I would make him into a steer right away, and stick him on my Jersey, who is in milk. He could nurse from her and spend time with her - learning how to be a bovine.

My Jersey has never been a nurse cow, and so I'm not positive that she will take him, and since he has been on a bottle, I'm not sure if he will take to her.

Any thoughts/experience that you would like to share, would be much appreciated.
Even if I don't purchase him, I would like to learn.

They said they would sell him for $1,200

Does this sound like a fair price?


Thank you!

 

[regolith]

At that age you may have difficulty convincing either of them to switch their delivery/food intake method from bottle to living teat.

Also a calf that will not graze or drink from a water trough is bizarre. Fair enough if he doesn't *need* those things and therefore appears to ignore them in favour of plentiful milk and a meal trough. But the wording "will not" needs to be explained, at two weeks or two months old if grass and water are offered he should be availing himself of them without any tuition.

 

[TexasJersey]

At that age you may have difficulty convincing either of them to switch their delivery/food intake method from bottle to living teat.

Also a calf that will not graze or drink from a water trough is bizarre. Fair enough if he doesn't *need* those things and therefore appears to ignore them in favour of plentiful milk and a meal trough. But the wording "will not" needs to be explained, at two weeks or two months old if grass and water are offered he should be availing himself of them without any tuition.

Thank you for responding. The actual wording was "He has not figured out how to graze on grass". Also, he will eat grass/hay if it's put in his mouth.

 

[mwj]

Go look at the calf and see what you think. Just remember you have to have a plan b that is reasonable. As far as the description of its eating habits I would take that with a huge grain of salt. Prefer and wont are viewed as the same by some people.

 

[TexasJersey]

Hello everyone! I am looking at a posting on Craigslist...There is a 2 month Angus on a bottle for sale. They said he nursed his mom for 2 days and he has since been on a bottle. They said he is in good health and has never been sick. He will not graze or drink from the water trough. He knows how to eat a ration from bunk (which I am not familiar with).

I ask if he is currently around other cows, and they said he is not (I don't know why he was taken off his mom).


I am wondering if this is a rare occurrence, or if this happens from time to time. Also, I am wondering how easy it would be to get him drinking from a trough and grazing.

If I got him, I would make him into a steer right away, and stick him on my Jersey, who is in milk. He could nurse from her and spend time with her - learning how to be a bovine.

My Jersey has never been a nurse cow, and so I'm not positive that she will take him, and since he has been on a bottle, I'm not sure if he will take to her.

Any thoughts/experience that you would like to share, would be much appreciated.
Even if I don't purchase him, I would like to learn.

They said they would sell him for $1,200

Does this sound like a fair price?


Thank you!

The posting says that he will eat grass/hay if it's put in his mouth.

Exact wording from Listing: "He has not figured out how to graze on grass."

 

[kenny thomas]

Run away, run away fast. Dont waste your money on a problem.

 

[TexasJersey]

Hello everyone! I am looking at a posting on Craigslist...There is a 2 month Angus on a bottle for sale. They said he nursed his mom for 2 days and he has since been on a bottle. They said he is in good health and has never been sick. He will not graze or drink from the water trough. He knows how to eat a ration from bunk (which I am not familiar with).

I ask if he is currently around other cows, and they said he is not (I don't know why he was taken off his mom).


I am wondering if this is a rare occurrence, or if this happens from time to time. Also, I am wondering how easy it would be to get him drinking from a trough and grazing.

If I got him, I would make him into a steer right away, and stick him on my Jersey, who is in milk. He could nurse from her and spend time with her - learning how to be a bovine.

My Jersey has never been a nurse cow, and so I'm not positive that she will take him, and since he has been on a bottle, I'm not sure if he will take to her.

Any thoughts/experience that you would like to share, would be much appreciated.
Even if I don't purchase him, I would like to learn.

They said they would sell him for $1,200

Does this sound like a fair price?


Thank you!

***If you put hay/grass in his mouth he will eat it

 

[texoman]

Run away, run away fast. Dont waste your money on a problem.

Agree here. It needs to be way cheaper if you want this project. IMO.

 

[M.Magis]

It sounds better than 90% of the bottle calves out there, and just hasn't been weaned yet. I'm not sure if everyone has seen bottle calf prices lately, $1200 for a 2 month old healthy calf is a steal. Day olds are bringing that, and they may not make it home.

 

[kenny thomas]

It sounds better than 90% of the bottle calves out there, and just hasn't been weaned yet. I'm not sure if everyone has seen bottle calf prices lately, $1200 for a 2 month old healthy calf is a steal. Day olds are bringing that, and they may not make it home.

I dont consider it healthy if the only way it will eat grass or hay is to put it in its mouth.

 

[mwj]

I dont consider it healthy if the only way it will eat grass or hay is to put it in its mouth.

As i said earlier that was a very subjective statement by the calf owner. I would wager that if the calf had access to some good grass and the time to enjoy it the calf would graze.

People tend to look at things from a very diferant and biased viewpoint sometimes. If most members here were raising that calf there would be no mention of any refusal of grass or water.

 

[M.Magis]

I dont consider it healthy if the only way it will eat grass or hay is to put it in its mouth.

Have you raised bottle calves? That's pretty normal for calves raised inside on a bottle. They figure it out fast.

 

[kenny thomas]

Have you raised bottle calves? That's pretty normal for calves raised inside on a bottle. They figure it out fast.

Yes have raised lots of them when we were younger. Maybe I have forgotten that they wont eat grass.

 

[MurraysMutts]

The one I have in my backyard preferred to graze rather than eat any feed. Also, water intake was way below what I was used to with a bottle baby. But it has not been terribly hot here yet either. I cut her back to one bottle a day and water consumption went up. Then grass started getting short and she decided she would eat feed too.
Shes fully weaned off milk now. Eating feed twice a day. Easiest weaning I've ever done. Once the light bulb came on and she started eating feed well, I let her finish the last bag of milk and cut her milk off. She made the smoothest transition to feed I've ever seen. Consistent meal times may have helped. Instead of a bottle, she got feed.
Now I let her mow the front yard occasionally on a halter.

But to answer your question...
At 2 months old, the calf should be doing these things already. My calf is 3 months old in a few days. At right around the 2 month mark is when the light bulb came on. She didn't have any other animals to show her how to eat either. So there's that.

 

[branxchar&charx]

The one I have in my backyard preferred to graze rather than eat any feed. Also, water intake was way below what I was used to with a bottle baby. But it has not been terribly hot here yet either. I cut her back to one bottle a day and water consumption went up. Then grass started getting short and she decided she would eat feed too.
Shes fully weaned off milk now. Eating feed twice a day. Easiest weaning I've ever done. Once the light bulb came on and she started eating feed well, I let her finish the last bag of milk and cut her milk off. She made the smoothest transition to feed I've ever seen. Consistent meal times may have helped. Instead of a bottle, she got feed.
Now I let her mow the front yard occasionally on a halter.

But to answer your question...
At 2 months old, the calf should be doing these things already. My calf is 3 months old in a few days. At right around the 2 month mark is when the light bulb came on. She didn't have any other animals to show her how to eat either. So there's that.

View attachment 67893View attachment 67894

That is one purty calf u got there

 

[simme]

https://wichitafalls.craigslist.org/grd/d/wichita-falls-angus-bull-calf-bottle/7933828877.html

 

[bird dog]

https://wichitafalls.craigslist.org/grd/d/wichita-falls-angus-bull-calf-bottle/7933828877.html

Picture looks like a typical calf that doesn't have a mother. He's growing a pot belly and most probably will never develop into a calf that grows like a normal calf.
I think that it might be better to buy a week old calf and try to get that one on your Jersey but be prepared if it fails. Murray does a great job with his and has done a lot of them but don't think in anyway is it easy to do.