A local farmer gave me a two week old calf. The mama was a very young heifer and he said did not have enough milk and he wanted to dry her up but did not have the time to bottle feed the calf, so he knew I fostered a lot of bottle calves and gave the calf to me. This calf is tiny, the smallest one I have ever had. She has a great appetite, eats well, and looks good. Had a little scouring, thinking from changing to milk replacer, but getting over that. My question is will she ever amount to anything or will she remain small even as an adult. After settling in, she is a happy little thing, currently running around in my backyard. We are feeding her half a bottle 4x a day.
Very small bottle baby
- Thread starter garnetann
- Start date
NMVaquero
Well-known member
What is her genetic background/breeding?
Black angus, he raises good cattle, the mama was bred at about 6 mos, and the guy did not know. He said she delivered with no problems. She stands about as high as my female German shorthair. Have pics but can't post them from an iPad.
Taurus
Well-known member
She will be fine, despite of being small. Had a calf out of a yearling heifer and the calf grew up to be normal sized cow and you won't know that she was once a tiny calf out of a yearling calf. I sold her when she was 11 years old and weight at 1,430 lbs...she is a black baldy.
A few years ago I had a heifer drop a 26lb calf, I was amazed as I picked her up and it was like I had a cocker spaniel in one hand. She took an extra year, but she finished out at three yrs old, a little over 800 lbs and went to the freezer just fine. I should say I also gave her away as a weaned calf to my close friends, so it was their freezer but I saw her throughout her growth and know that she tasted fine.
