weaning calf and "calf manna"

[Anderson farms]

I have a couple of bottle calves 8 and 6 weeks. I am almost done with the second 25lb bag of starter. These cakves were on cows milk for the first month. When should I wean them and how? Just stop or go down to one bottle? Also I have been giving them 12% all stock feed that they eat really good. Just wanted to know if anyone uses calf manna and if it is worth the money 20 bucks a bag compared to 8 for the all stock. And do i need to get another bag of MR? The calves are in the barn and have water,feed, and hay all free choice and have coats on them to help keep warm. Thanks for the help.

[SHELBY]

the 8 week old should be okay with a slow weaning, The 6 weeks is too young to wean,

How I wean calves off of MR is to gradually lower the amount of MR they are getting, but not the liquid volume of the bottle.

Say 3 pts MR 1 pt water for about 5 days and then go to 1/2 MR 1/2 water and so on.

The 5 days is just an example, Your calves will let you know if they approve or not, by how much other stuff they are eating.
Usually by the time I get a couple days of 1/2 and 1/2 in them they just flat out refuse it and they wean themselves. But I keep an eye on them and will still offer it for a couple more days,

[sammyd]

12% is a little low. What was the starter rated at? Once mine are weaned I run at least 16% till they're 10-12 months then switch to 14%. The starter should be at least 18%.

If they are eating at least a pound and a half of good starter along with good hay, you can wean anytime after 7-8 weeks. I usually cut down to a bottle a day for 3-4 days then stop.

[Ronney]

I rear my calves a little differently in that they are on grass from day 1 and by the time they are completely weaned at about 10 - 12 weeks of age, it is making up a large proportion of their feed.

They still get calf starter which starts off at 20% and by the time they are weaned it is down to 12% and a month after weaning it stops altogether, largely because they prefer the grass to the starter.

The calves are reared on cows milk and once weaning starts I drop slowly on the quantity but not the quality. On the odd occasion that I've used MR I do the same - decrease the quantity but not the quality. As I decrease the milk I increase the starter and it just quietly slides from one to the other and they don't notice it. The calves are fed twice daily and I start decreasing the morning feeds, when that's down to half I start decreasing the evening feeds.

And yes, 6 weeks is a bit on the young side and it is better to bite the bullet now and invest in another bag of MR rather than scrimp and end up with a calf that might not be doing as well as it should.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[mpillow]

I've had better luck with sweet feeds vs. calf manna. I am using 20% sweet for my winter calf but Spring calves do fine on 16% My youngest calf (holst.)will be 5 weeks tomorrow and he's gonna be cut back on milk but not cut off as I will keep him on the bottle so that in March he will still want to use up my surplus goat milk. My plan is to cut him back to a 38 cent can of canned milk a day and the older one (6m) will get one can every other day once my canned goat milk is used up. There is no forage here until May so he's on very good hay and grain til then. I have no market for the milk so I use it to meet a large amount of grain ration. I also add corn flour/water that I buy cheap to the bottles...8.8# for $1
My barn door is still open and it was 6 below F last night and the little guy is just fine w/no coat but we do have a good pack built up.

[sewtlm]

Calf-Mana is a supplement to feed --not a feed on its own.

I would suggest you follow Ronney's advice it is the most acurate.

[gone-a-milkin]

Also, calves who drink water from a bucket can drink their milk, or MR, from a bucket too. I like to get them onto that bucket asap. Saves a lot of trouble and they do fine.

[mikeefaith]

I have a couple of calves that we need to take off of their mothers. One by choice and the other we have no choice. The calves will be a week old at least. How can I convert them to buckets. Do I go bottle then bucket, or what is the process?

[topside1]

Mike I usually shift my calves from the bottle to bucket @ 2 weeks of age at a minimum. I have no cows so I can't help you there. Personally in your situation I'd go from cow to bottle to bucket.

[mpillow]

I dont use buckets because my goat milk is precious/limited and the one time I tried the bucket,milk got spilled and the calf went hungry. My children are also less likely to spill milk in bottle when feeding the calves.

T1 any goats freshening?

[topside1]

I have 11 coming fresh starting starting Jan 12. Six dairy & 5 meat....Won't be long now....