Weaning question on a twin, not sure which forum

[Elaina]

Hey everyone. I have a Holstein twin. It was the only survivor. It is about five weeks old now, very small, about 55 pounds. I have never had one this small before, that survived.

I am not sure he should be weaned at 8 weeks. He's perfectly healthy, lively, happy little calf. He's just so small. Should I wait more time before I attempt to wean him, since he is so little?

Any advice on this would be appreciated.

 

[AngusLimoX]

I would consider a barbecue!

Anyone ever thrown one on at that size? Gotta be like a turkey size wise once gutted??

 

[preston39]

Elaina...,

What are your plans for the calf? Is his mom a holstein milker? Is it your objective to get her back in production?

 

[Elaina]

LMAO, well, we plan on butchering him, but do plan on putting a few more pounds on him first. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[AngusLimoX]

Sorry, they say you shouldn't shop when you are hungry, well I shouldn't post on a beef board when hungry! :lol:

I too am curious as to what your situation is - is mom going somewhere? A vacation maybe?

What your plans are for mom kind of dictates the advice given.

 

[Elaina]

I am sorry, I was stupid, and wasn't specific. My fault. I always try to be very careful to post all the facts. I know that everyone's time is valuable. I am blushing!!!

We do not have a momma for the baby. He is being bottle fed. He was sold to us by a dairy farmer who did not want to bottle feed him. Sorry about that!!!

 

[dun]

Now that I know he isn;t nursing, if he's eating a couple of pounds of grain a day it probably wouldn;t hurt to wean him. But, if I had the time to spend bottle/bucket feeding him and din;t mind putting another 50 lbs of milk replacer in him I'ld go ahead and bottle him for another sack. I'ld castrate him now, get some vaccinations in him no matter what else I did

dun

 

[GMN]

I've had small calves before, that I just wean at normal times, if healthy and eating grain each feeding, and hay. I don't feed milk replacer anymore, that was always a deciding factor, the expense. If you are feeding milk replacer, I'd say wean him, if whole milk from cows, keep him on for another week or two, but as DUN says, vaccinate, and castrate, if planning to butcher later in life.

GMN

 

[msscamp]

Considering his size, I'd keep him on milk replacer for a few more weeks.

 

[CWT Angus]

I would definitely keep feeding him too. Another option would be to find a sweet ol' dairy cow that has nothing else to do but feed him for you. I know around here we have some smaller dairy farmers, especially the organic ones that have plenty of milk. They feed milk to their weanlings/yearlings too. They tend to be very good at grafting even with an older calf like this. A really nice guy might even let you borrow one. I know my neighbor would. Just a thought you might want to look into. Might also look into picking one up that is being culled, (depening on why) as long as she will feed your calf for a couple of months. Good luck to you. Bottle calves are always an adventure.

 

[GMN]

Hey everyone. I have a Holstein twin. It was the only survivor. It is about five weeks old now, very small, about 55 pounds. I have never had one this small before, that survived.

I am not sure he should be weaned at 8 weeks. He's perfectly healthy, lively, happy little calf. He's just so small. Should I wait more time before I attempt to wean him, since he is so little?

Any advice on this would be appreciated.

I misread the age on this calf when I responded. Five weeks, way too young to wean, I don't wean babies till at least 8 weeks, sometimes 12 weeks, depending on how they are growing, eating grain etc....

GMN

 

[AngusLimoX]

Elaina, no need to blush, most common mistake in here is to leave info out of questions, done it myself, repeatedly.

If the meat is for me and my family I do not look at it as an exercise in frugality, it is going to be the best I can make it. That is one of the perks of raising livestock.

This fella is a slow starter, and is dairy, so you have your work cut out for you. Regular beef calves get mommas milk to 6 months (average!) in addition to whatever else they may be fed. If he were mine another bag, or 2, of replacer would be on the menu, and I would see what grain I could start him on.

Just start him off easy. Depends what grain you have, or have to buy.

Have you decided what weight you are aiming for?