companion for bottle calf?

[longhorngal]

I'm getting my first dairy bottle calf tomorrow. I had hoped to get two but he just has the one right now for sale. Should I be concerned about a companion for this little guy? He'll be in a pen in the barn where the goats are but they are let out in the a.m and don't get put up til 6. Is a goat or mini horse a suitable option or do I even need to worry about it?

[kmorisett]

I'll think you will be fine. You'll be giving the calf lots of attention too, I'm sure. My calf likes to play with our barn cats even.

Kim

[deafgoatlady]

I let my baby cows with my goats. They are best buddies.. The baby cow was alone for couple weeks with another cow until I got another one. They are fine..

[Ernie]

Cows do better with other grazing animals nearby. It calms them and lets them concentrate more on cow things such as eating and producing meat and dairy.

My advice is to perhaps take one of those goats and put it with your bottle calf for a time until you can put the calf out with the goat herd. Calves can get stressed out and die from separation anxiety. It's not in character with the gruff cattleman image, but showing the bottle calves some love and attention improves your bottom line because you have less deaths from scours and other problems brought on by loneliness and stress.

[LibertyWool]

I did what Ernie said last year and it worked well. I put a ewe lamb in with the little Jersey steer (The rest of the sheep were off on pasture across the street). They became best buds. The only thing was she didn't get bred. She was the only open ewe I had, so off she went to the butcher. I did wonder if he kept the ram away from her during breeding? Maybe I should have put her in the other breding group and separated them.

[Ronney]

Once your calf has worked out that your the food source and where he's to come to get his food, why don't you let him out with the goats. That seems the ideal solution to me. My calves are all pastured with access to housing if they want it, and just about always there is the odd sheep or ram in the same paddock. At the moment it's last seasons hand reared lamb and a hogget that got badly fly struck. They and the two 8 week old calves are the best of mates and spend huge amounts of time on mutual grooming and have the cleanest faces and ears!

Cheers,
Ronnie

[longhorngal]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I will let him out as he gets used to the place and a little bigger. I forgot about my ewe lambs. One of them might actually be better than a goat.
I think he does need to have a companion in there though he can see the mini horses and lambs in the pasture. Appreciate the help- now I've got to got finish bedding his stall and then off to get him!