Is she the fatted calf?

[cjb]

Does our calf look a bit fat? I haven't ever raised a calf before but she looks pudgy to me. Maybe I'm just used to looking at her Dairy Mama.

This is a 4.5 month old Jersey heifer calf.

She is getting mixed grass and alfalfa hay and a little bit of grain in the evenings because she looks at me with those eyes when I'm milking her mother and the goats. She is not nursing on her mother anymore.

[deineria]

She does look pretty plump. I don't know anything, honestly, about weight in dairy cattle, but our 3 1/2 month old Jersey

looks a lot leaner, which is how she come to us, and they said make sure she continues to stay in the same body condition for optimal dairy production later on.

[Curtis B]

I hope not, if she is my two holstein steers need to go weight watchers. I know holsteins are bigger than jerseys, but yours looks like an athlete compared to my couch potatoes.

[cjb]

Really? Ok. She looks really, really fat from the front and back - sticks way out on both sides. She was also a wild thing until I pulled her from her Mom. Now she follows me around like a puppy and I just cannot resist when she begs for treats.

Cutest thing.

[Mrs. Homesteader]

I have 2 jersey steer calves that are about 4 months old. They are pretty skinny, but they are rounded on the sides.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by cjb

She looks really, really fat from the front and back - sticks way out on both sides.

This speaks of a large, well-developed rumen, not fat. A well-developed rumen will stick out nicely and should. This allows the cow to eat more which allows her to produce more milk and stay in better shape. This is the opposite of the undesirable "slab-sided". A lot of people confuse a large rumen with fat. One of the first things I always hear when introducing a new person to my goat herd is "they are so fat" when in actuallity, they just came in from browsing/grazing and have very full rumens. A big stomach is *not* fat.
Fat is when you can't see hipbones or ribs, they get large pads behind their elbows, and rolly fat at the base of their tail. Fat is bad, well-developed rumen is good.
Your heifer is looking good for going into winter. Dam-raised calves almost always have more flesh than bottle calves. Comes from getting all the milk they want whenever they want. Ours always milk that little extra off when they freshen.
Don't grain her heavy, make sure she gets all the hay she can eat, and she should grow wonderfully.

[Karin L]

Like ozark said, she'd be fat if she'd have a bigger butt on her.

She's not fat at all, she's just fine.

[deineria]

The nuns that I bought my heifer from said said you want to see faint ribs and the hip bones very plainly and if I ever saw those start to get lost. . . to cut back feed, but she looks to have a lot more winter coat than my heifer does, so I really am not sure if it is hair or fat covering hers. . . it might just be hair.

[tyusclan]

Originally Posted by deineria

The nuns that I bought my heifer from said said you want to see faint ribs and the hip bones very plainly and if I ever saw those start to get lost. . . to cut back feed, but she looks to have a lot more winter coat than my heifer does, so I really am not sure if it is hair or fat covering hers. . . it might just be hair.

I would agree with this on an adult cow, but not on a growing heifer.

cjb, she looks perfect to me.

[Judith]

She looks great! BUT once she is bred ( i know it's a long ways off ) make sure you can see a shading of ribs and hip bones. While pet folk love to see a big fat cow, it will kill her. Fatty liver is a real problem with dairy cows. The more um er portly gals die so much easier in birthing, are harder to bred back etc. I can not stress enough how dangerous it is for a milker to be overweight. Your baby looks great so no worries for now here is the body score chart to reference. http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...s/00-109.htm#4 We keep our herd at a "3" level. Some will drop to 2.5 in peak lactation and others will be a 3.5 . Don't fall for the ole "Your cow looooookkkssss soooooo skinny" Whine from your citified neighbors. Ribs seem to cause mass panic is some people.. Speaking of ribs, I dont remember the last time I was able to find mine. LOL Judith wanders off to eat a celery stick.

[cjb]

OK, thank all. That makes me feel alot better. She is a pretty little thing and I sure hope that she turns out well.

[Jay]

She looks a bit portly in the first photo, but fine in the second one.
Be aware that "fat" dairy heifers will store fat internally like mentioned above and also in their udder (of all places). It could effect her lacations later.

Don't "kill them with kindness" (food!)

[PaulNKS]

Also keep in mind that she needs more roughage (hay) than feed. As she starts to get a little older until she is lactating, only feed 1% to 1-12% of her bodyweight in a good quality grain.

Don't ever switch on or off feed suddenly. It has to be done over time to give the rumen time to adjust. Otherwise, you have a risk of acidosis.

[deineria]

That is what I was told, that having them fat young will effect them later on even if they loose the fat as a cows. . .

It is my heifer in the second photo.

[ozark_jewels]

True, fat from too much grain will cause a fat pad in the udder that can effect her production later in life.
Fat from milk in a young heifer does not do this and will be milked off.
The two pictures really can't be compared as neither are at a good angle for a body shot.
Just feed her a small amount of grain, a large amount of roughage, and she will be fine.
Also, a lot of condition is genetic.......

[topside1]

Different coats, different photo angle, different ages, one's a bottle baby, one's dam raised, genetics, good looking Jerseys, enjoy your livestock.

[deineria]

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm saying I prefer mine to the poster's or something like that - I like plump animals in general! I want everything on the place plump. . .
I have a hard time following the "keep her very thin" advice because here we have all these horses I am trying to fatten up and then this calf I am trying to keep thin -

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by deineria

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm saying I prefer mine to the poster's or something like that - I like plump animals in general! I want everything on the place plump. . .
I have a hard time following the "keep her very thin" advice because here we have all these horses I am trying to fatten up and then this calf I am trying to keep thin -

She actually looks too thin to me. She looks hungry. You can keep her a more normal weight and she'll be fine.
People talk about maximum production and I wonder if they realize just how much milk that involves. I doubt that you'd want to feed for maximum production and deal with the huge amount of milk for very long. I always slow our Jerseys down till they're giving just about a gallon a day with once a day milking. Even that's too much really but I'd be afraid to try and slow them down more than that.

[deineria]

We actually had a dairy guy out today that we bought out hay from, and he said both the heifer and the dairy goats we have were too heavy. LOL. Of course, opinions vary, and I think the it is probably true that the one Nubian doe might be a little heavy for the best production; however, the heifer doesn't seem anywhere near too heavy. She gets about 2 1/2 cups of 16% calf feed mixed with a bit of calf manna (about 1/8th of the 2 1/2 cups) twice a day with one flake of hay in the morning and one at night.

[Judith]

Deineria,
If it is any consolation we have some heifers that look like your little gal and some that look like cjb's baby too. They both look good LOL