Just bought our first calves!

nathan104 · #1 05/13/08, 10:13 PM

We just bought our very first calves. We bought 3 heifers. One is a brangus, one an angus and the third is a braford with a red body and white face. They are just weaned and eating grass and pellet feed. Hopefully they will do good turned out in the pasture. He is delivering them on thursday so I will post pictures then. We are pretty nervous. We have good thick pasture right now and I have repaired all the bad spots in the barbwire fences. Have a two small areas I have to fence off tomorrow. They will have access to the pond for all the water they want. The brangus is very friendly and was nibbling on my girls and letting them pet it.

SRobles · #2 05/13/08, 10:30 PM

How old are they?

nathan104 · #3 05/13/08, 11:00 PM

Im not positive but I think he said they were around 2 months old and around 180 lbs. I may be a little off on both of those numbers though but not too much. Ill find out for sure when he drops them off and update my post if Im wrong. The braford is a few weeks older than the other two I believe he said. He had 12 calves to choose from which I picked my three out of. Really only got the braford to have a different color.

Up North · #4 05/13/08, 11:24 PM

My suggestion is this: Place them in a corral, pen, or boxstall in a barn, whatever you have that absolutely positively cannot be breached, crawled under or through, or jumped over. Leave them there with feed and water for 48 hours. Walk amongst them and talk during this time so they learn your voice and movements. Then turn them out onto grass after they are settled in and familiarized.

nathan104 · #5 05/13/08, 11:37 PM

Only place I have that I could put them would be in the pig pen with our two pigs. It has the loafing shed in it. If it was just for 48 hours, its big enough. Not sure if it would harm the calves or the pigs to be in with each other though. Our pigs are still small, only a few months old. The pen was originaly a horse paddock with wood slat fencing which we added hog panels to. Of course, theres no grass left in it and the pigs have big holes rooted up everywhere in it.

nathan104 · #6 05/14/08, 01:31 AM

I have a question. We were only planning on buying two calves to start with. We have 5 1/2 acres, but after taking out drive, house area and pond, we have about 3 acres of pasture. It grows pretty thick and is mainly bahia with other stuff mixed in. When I talked to the seller about what we had, he said that 3 acres of pasture would easily supposrt three calves through til fall. He said only two mature cows for the area but the calves would be fine 3 to 3 acres. So, we picked out a third. Now, I am sitting here second guessing this. All the pasture is green with tall grass. But, out of the 3 acres, I was only able to cut about half of it before spring. The other half had tall grass on it when it dies out last year and has the new grass groing through all the old stuff. Will this make a difference? It wont be a problem to go down to only two from the seller. But, just want to double check if 3 should be ok on what I have.

luvrulz · #7 05/14/08, 06:07 AM

I agree with above post about keeping the calves in lock down so to speak for the first 48 hours at least.... The cows and pigs won't work together - my cows go nuts when the pigs happen to get out and get in their pasture... They hate each other for some reason, so you might have a bigger problem if you try to do that.....

topside1 · #8 05/14/08, 07:47 AM

Re-read UpNorths advice. Do what you want, but penning is the best advice we can give. I just bought three weaned beef calves yesterday and if they weren't in a pen right now they would be running at lightning speed to another state. If these calves were bottle fed then pen for at least three days, then release into a small paddock if available for another three days, then to regular pasture. If these calves came from a calf/cow operation then I would not release them from the pen until I could hand feed and hug. Not trying to frighten you, just the facts.

topside1 · #9 05/14/08, 07:49 AM

Another thought, why buy three?

SRobles · #10 05/14/08, 10:41 AM

When we get calves we usuallyhave then penned for a couple hourse so they can calm down then we open the gate and let them out. But when we do have them penned we put one of our steers in with them so they calm downand kinda have a friend

nathan104 · #11 05/14/08, 11:34 AM

Ok, Im convinced on the penning. I will come up with something today to keep them penned for the first few days. If anything, I will put them in the pig pen, but inside the loafing shed and put the metal gate on the front of it so they cant get out and the pigs cant get in. If I cant come up with anything else, thats what Ill do. These calves were all supposedly raised by their momma and have not been bottle fed.

I just talked to the seller and after thinking on it overnight, I decided to just get the priginal two we were going to get. I was going to get the three and sell the third at the end of the summer to help pay for overwintering the other two, but now I think it would be best since its our first time to start out with two. I asked him about age and weight and he said they were both 2-3 months with the braford about 2 weeks older than the brangus. And weight is around 150-180. We are still getting the red and white braford and the very gentle brangus that was all friendly with my girls. I hate to pass on the little angus heifer but oh well.

I have feed troughs already. Have one of the ones with the hay bail holder on top and the trough below it, and one which is just a cut sideways in half 55 gallon barrel on a stand. They have the pond for water but I will put out a water trough for fresh water by their feed troughs. I will keep out calf starter to go along with the pasture. The seller said they were all wormed and had all their vaccinations. Ill put fresh hay down in the loafing shed if I put them in there or in what ever shelter I put in another pen if I come up with one. What do I need in way of mineral blocks of salt lick type things? Im not exactly sure how we will get them from the seller big trailer into a pen. Wonder how hard it would be to just hold onto them and lead them walking? Any other things Im missing or not thinking about?

Up North · #12 05/14/08, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SRobles

When we get calves we usuallyhave then penned for a couple hourse so they can calm down then we open the gate and let them out. But when we do have them penned we put one of our steers in with them so they calm downand kinda have a friend

That's a good way to do it SRobles. An older, calmer animal that can show them the water, etc.

Up North · #13 05/14/08, 01:12 PM

Nathan you may be able to put a halter or lariat fashioned into a nose halter on them and lead them. Hang on tight, LOL!
If you were willing to invest the time and resources, the quantity and quality of your 3 acres of grass would be improved if you ran a single hot wire to subdivide area into 3 single areas and then rotate stock thru it,allowing 2 of 3 areas to rest and regrow while calves are on 1.
Loose minerals and salt are best, but 1 white salt block and 1 mineral block would be advised as a minimum.
Access to shade I assume.
Some pest control may be in order during the worst of fly season.

nathan104 · #14 05/14/08, 01:56 PM

I was thinking about a halter, I bet the one that was real friendly would be easy to take in on a halter but the braford was not very sociable. That would be a fight. I may try it then. I have one barbwire crossfence which sperates about an acre from the rest right now. It is the pasture the hog pen is in as well. What I may do is pen them up for the first few days, and put up the gate so they only have access to the one acre the first few weeks. Then, let them into the rest. The way my pasture is set up with the long pond down the middle, I could pretty easily break it up into 4 seperate pastures by putting up one hundred foot fence row and all four would have access to the pond. I already have a solar electric charger and my wire but have not put in the electric fence yet. The plastic brackets I bought to go on my T-posts wont work as who ever put in all this fencing put in my T-posts backwards where the flat side is on the outside so my plastic brackets wont work. Not sure if they make any that go on the bottom of the T part of the T-post. For shade, there is a large 100 year old oak tree close to the pond which they can get under. Not much else besides some smaller trees on the back side of the pond. I will probably rig a shelter eventually I can drag from pasture to pasture with the tractor. As for the loose minerals, how do you put them out?

topside1 · #15 05/14/08, 03:24 PM

Nathan, reverse t-post insulators are available...

nathan104 · #16 05/14/08, 04:07 PM

topside- thanks, great to know! Ill have to take these back and try and find the others. Ive had the supplies for this electric fence for a month now but have been lazy and havent tried putting it up until today, lol.

I have a few questions for everyone. Im sure Ill have more, hopefully I dont drive everyone insane, lol

I read online that its best to give new calves two scours pills a day for two days when you first get them in to help prevent stress triggered scours from the move. Is this reccomended for two month old calves?

They have been away from their momma for probably 4-5 days now. Im not sure how they were weaned. Would it be alright to offer a weak mixed milk replacer bottle for the first few days with calf starter grain and hay readily available while they are penned or should I put out hay and calf starter and forget the milk replacer?

Does the type of hay matter? Called the feed store and the square bales they have are coastal and alfalfa. That alright?

Karin L · #17 05/14/08, 04:19 PM

I dont know about the scour pills, but I'd hit them with some LA200 to prevent shipping fever (I didn't read how long a trip they got, unless I missed it). Skip the milk replacer, sounds like they are already weaned if they've been off their mommas for a week. Type of hay dont really matter, just so long as they'll clean it up. That type of hay you called on is fine. FYI with alfalfa, watch for bloat. However, since alfalfa's mixed with grass, you shouldn't have a problem.

topside1 · #18 05/14/08, 04:35 PM

Nathan you mentioned that they are 2 months old, forget about about the scour pills.

topside1 · #19 05/14/08, 04:38 PM

Just calf starter, also forget about the milk replacer...they probably won't suck...at their age it's not necessary.

nathan104 · #20 05/14/08, 06:37 PM

Thanks for the replies. I wont worry about the scours pills or the milk replacer then.

I asked the seller what vaccinations they have had and he said they have had black leg wormed and LA 200 shot .

Any other vaccinations I should get them besides what he has done?

Would it be alright to use electric fencing to make a small paddock for them the first few days using plastic step in posts? As far as I know, they have enever experienced electric fencing.