Well, I went and did it...

[stifflej]

Well, over the weekend I went and put my order in for 2 Holstein steers, I will be picking them up tomorrow. They are about 4 weeks old, and drink their milk out of a bucket, so I won,t have to bottle feed them. Was impressed by their size already (not that I have a lot of experience, but his heard looked very healthy as did all his calves). What I am looking for is any advice in feeding them to get them ready for butcher by late next year (mid-November). I will be feeding grain, I just can't do all grass fed. What else do you guys feed yours to grow them at a good rate? He said he currently has a 15 month old steer that is around 1100lbs, and that is the growth I would like. I want to make sure they get enough of the good stuff to see that. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[linn]

Do you have cow's or goat's milk available to feed the calves? Real milk is best for calves. If not, make sure you get a quality milk replacer, not one with a lot of a soy. Our bucket calves never did well when fed the cheap milk replacer. Make sure the calves have good, leafy alfalfa if available. This will help their rumen development. I would find out what the farmer is feeding them and stick with that for a while to prevent a shock to the digestive system.

http://www.merricks.com/tech_milkreplacerguide.htm

[Callieslamb]

20%+fat in Milk replacer
all the good, green, leafy hay they will eat
Grass and lots of it
I fed mine a couple pounds of grain a day to keep them friendly

I just had one butchered at 1100lbs in 18 months. I would not let him go that big again. 14-15 months is plenty.

[stifflej]

Originally Posted by linn

Do you have cow's or goat's milk available to feed the calves? Real milk is best for calves. If not, make sure you get a quality milk replacer, not one with a lot of a soy. Our bucket calves never did well when fed the cheap milk replacer. Make sure the calves have good, leafy alfalfa if available. This will help their rumen development. I would find out what the farmer is feeding them and stick with that for a while to prevent a shock to the digestive system.

http://www.merricks.com/tech_milkreplacerguide.htm

Well, the farmer is feeding his own blend, which I will find out more about tomorrow when I pick them up, and some hay (not alfalfa, although I do have a little bit of alfalfa hay left I can start them on). He is feeding whole milk, but I will be feeding replace (the good stuff). Will there be a problem replacing the whole milk with MR?

[linn]

Maybe buy a few gallons of milk from the farmer and mix it half and half with the MR for a few days until the calves get used to the MR.