I'm one of you now!

I have two baby calves in my barn tonight!!

We moved here a year ago tomorrow and tonight a friend who is a cattle farmer brought me two baby calves that he picked up at the sale barn for me. He said that the calves were going high, but these two were late arrivals.

Big is a Holstein bull. He's about a week old and knows how to use a bottle! Tasty is 3 days old and was just pulled off his Momma this afternoon. My friend is coming by tomorrow to band them and to give them a shot of pennicillan.

I got Big to take a bottle and he seems to be doing OK. Tasty wasn't interested in the bottle at all. I tried to put it in his mouth and he tried a little to suck on it, but just wasn't 'getting it'. I figure that since he was with Momma all day that he might have a full tummy and when you combine the stress of the day and all....welll...I'm praying he's hungry in the morning.

I have them in my goat barn in their own area. It's not drafty. There's straw down and they have access to hay.

Any advice? I really don't want to screw this up.



(And before you slam me for the sale barn....I tried everything I could to NOT go there. I had ads on Craigslist and I went around to local farms with cash and asked if they had babies. Everyone wanted to sell me yearlings-I can't afford that! The fellow who got these for me is trustworthy and I trust his judgement when it comes to cattle.)

[francismilker]

The best advice I can give is to read the sticky on the top of the cattle page called "sale barn bottle calves". Lots of good info there.

Congrats on being a bonefied cattle rancher. Good luck!

[cathleenc]

Tonya, congrats! I hope that all goes well and that you'll continue to post about your experience.

Cathy

[Cheryl aka JM]

Congrats! And yes~ read the sticky up top~ lots of good stuff there~ helped me keep my 4 alive last year.

Originally Posted by Tonya

(And before you slam me for the sale barn....I tried everything I could to NOT go there. I had ads on Craigslist and I went around to local farms with cash and asked if they had babies. Everyone wanted to sell me yearlings-I can't afford that! The fellow who got these for me is trustworthy and I trust his judgement when it comes to cattle.)

A lot of times (not always but a lot of times) when you find calves available from craigslist they are just babies someone bought at the sale barn, transported to an area that doesn't have a dairy (so no bottle babies at the sale barn) and slapped a higher price tag on. Smart way to make a little profit quick~ but it's still a sale barn baby....even though you bought it somewhere other than the sale barn.