dairy calves for beef

[eclipchic]

We've been playing with the idea of getting dairy calves for beef beginning next spring
what do we need to know and get in place before then? do they need a barn stall or will a 3 sided shed be adequate? do they need grain or just plenty of rotational graze and hay? vaccines? do they need to have company (as in can you have just one or need at least 2) can they share a goat block or would a cattle block be dangerous for our goats who get loose minerals?

I really need an animal that will eat nearly exclusively grasses and hay, live in a 3 sided shed and provide us with meat in a couple of years. I'm hoping a couple of dairy steers could be this for us.

[sassafras manor]

We made the transition from raising beef breeds for our own consumption to dairy breeds in April 2010. The holstein steers we bought were 1 week old bottle calves and they recevied milk replacer and calf starter until they were 3 months old. At that point they were exclusivly on pasture with an occasional handful of grain to keep the accessable for wormers and ease of handling. We acquired 2 more 1 week old Holstein calves last October and then 2 more again this March. Our intensions are to ba able to have 2 ready every 6 months to be processed. We will keep 1/2 ourselves, split the other half with our parents and then sell the extra calf which will pay all of our feed costs, the cost for 2 more calves as well as all of our proceesing costs for our half of the meat. They do seem to take a little longer than beef on pasture but the older set from last April are progressing along nicely and should be ready for the freezer this winter. Good luck.

[Callieslamb]

Without grain it will take them a while longer to beef up enough to be worth butchering. (to me anyway). And it depends on what kind of pasture you have also. But yes, you can do it. They will need to be out of the wet and cold - so if your 3-sides can do that, you're good to go. In winter, they can spend more energy keeping warm than building beef. You need to figure in the cost of hay over the winter. A steer can eat about a bale a day in really cold weather.

[sammyd]

If you don't want to feed grain I would recommend something other than a dairy steer.
If you are buying them as calves I wouldn't recommend a no grain diet unless you planned on feeding them milk for 5 months or so.

[francismilker]

Originally Posted by sammyd

If you don't want to feed grain I would recommend something other than a dairy steer.
If you are buying them as calves I wouldn't recommend a no grain diet unless you planned on feeding them milk for 5 months or so.

I second this motion!

[eclipchic]

luckily hay and grass we have in abundance, far more than our 2 goats can possibly keep up with we have 11 acres in good "horse" hay- its alfalfa, clovers, grasses. We planted it with meat and milk in mind. I really need something that will eat up the hay. Last year it just wasted, we had trouble selling it because we are new at it...and well everything so we just don't have the contacts yet.

hmmm....so I'm going to look into how much milk we are talking about to feed a calf to 5 months. If keeping a second milk goat would do it then we'll be in business, I'd really like to keep another milker around

grain on the other hand can get so expensive. Maybe we are buying grain all wrong- I don't know.

[haypoint]

Right now grain is at historically high prices. Generally, the nutrition from hay and grain are close to the same cost. Some folks on this board are proponents of grass fed beef. The general population in this country select grain fed beef. Those cows are fed grain for the final few weeks of their lives.

I suspect it would be more economical to feed your young calves some grain instead of providing months of milk.

It takes a degree of skill to raise a calf. This segment is filled with tales of new, but well intentioned, homesteaders struggling with calves that suddenly went from healthy to death’s doorstep. Part of the tuition for Cow College involves digging a deep hole.

[eclipchic]

Originally Posted by haypoint

Right now grain is at historically high prices. Generally, the nutrition from hay and grain are close to the same cost. Some folks on this board are proponents of grass fed beef. The general population in this country select grain fed beef. Those cows are fed grain for the final few weeks of their lives.

I suspect it would be more economical to feed your young calves some grain instead of providing months of milk.

It takes a degree of skill to raise a calf. This segment is filled with tales of new, but well intentioned, homesteaders struggling with calves that suddenly went from healthy to death’s doorstep. Part of the tuition for Cow College involves digging a deep hole.

Yikes, deep hole huh?
The original plan was to buy a 6 month old Dexter heifer and breed her at 2 and have her raise her calf and we get some milk....that's starting to sound like the better idea than the dairy steer.

[Welshmom]

Why not buy started (weaned) dairy steers? Many times you can buy them cheaper than raise them to that point, when you count in milk replacer, starter, meds, time, etc. Fewer holes to dig, too

[eclipchic]

Originally Posted by Welshmom

Why not buy started (weaned) dairy steers? Many times you can buy them cheaper than raise them to that point, when you count in milk replacer, starter, meds, time, etc. Fewer holes to dig, too

That's a pretty good idea I'm not sure where to find them but I'll dig around on Craigslist and see what turns up

[steff bugielski]

We buy a Holstein bull calf every year. We get him for about $50 at the local dairy. We get him around Jan. about a week old ,When we have extra goat milk.
The one we have now is 4 months old and I just stopped giving him milk , literally last night, He does not like the idea and yelled almost all night.
We will continue with some grain for another month or so . He is out on pasture with hay available all day he has mineral,salt block and a shed he shares with the donkeys and llamas and sheep.
We will butcher him around Thanksgiving. That usually gives us about 400lbs of packaged meat.

[Welshmom]

Our sale barns are full of holstein feeder calves, all sizes. It's harder for us to find beef breed calves around here. Craigslist is a good place to look, too.

[oregon woodsmok]

If you've got good alfalfa clover grass hay, I think you an raise steers without grain.

You'll want a holstein to be older at butcher time than a beef breed. 2 years would be the absolute minimum age and 3 years would be perfect.

It makes more sense to me to buy a partially grown steer and go from there rather than to buy a bottle calf and have to mess with milk and risk losing it. They can be pretty fragile.

[oregon woodsmok]

Suggestion: don't get calves all the same age. Buy one 800-900 pounds, that will go into your freezer in a year, then get a couple of 4 month olds (how many cattle can you feed on your pasture?). Then wait until next year and buy a couple more 4 month olds.

That way, you don't have all your cattle ready at the same time and you don't have to wait 3 years before you get to eat one of them. You can get it a adjusted so that every year, you have 2 to butcher and you buy 2 more started calves.

[trbizwiz]

I raise dairy calves every year. I usually get them 1 or 2 days old direct from the dairy. I feed milk replacer for 5 weeks total. I start introducing them to calf starter right away. Usually by 3 weeks they are eating enough starter that they can be reduced to 1 bottle per day (2 quarts) I start them on 2 bottles per day (4 qts). Usually by the end of 5 weeks they are eating enough starter and grass I take them off the milk replacer all together. I feed them starter 2 times per day for the next 2 weeks and reduce ti to 1 itme per day in the evening for the remainder of 2 months. I doubt 2 calves will go through more than 2 bags of Milk replacer and 2 bags of calf starter or calf creep or what ever feed you prefer. I do give mine a probiotic at about a week old to get teh gut started good. I give it again if they have bad scours after the scours have stopped. I like the pig scours medicine for calf scours. i also give electrolytes at least 1 time per day while bottle feeding. I use the bounce back it is $10 for 4 lbs you might need 2 bags of that too.
calves need to stay dry and out of drafts while it is cold and until they are about 4 weeks old if they are bottle feeding. So if you can get yours in late march or early april you may be ok in your 3 sided shed. But you could always put a temp pen in your garage and use a sawdust floor for the first few weeks. then move them to your shed when they are bigger and the weather is better.
Starting bottle calves is a little work. Dairies usually just tube feed them and they dont often know how to suck. So you will have to teach them. But most of the work is only for a few weeks 3 at most. It is very easy after that.
Your forage should be perfect for an all grass diet after 2 months, and possibly even before that. But for as little feed as is needed for 2 calves for 2 months I dont see the harm. I usually give 2 calves a folders coffee can of feed. At first it will take them a week and a half to eat it all, but they will get down to eating it in a day adn then in half a day. The faster they eat it the closer they are to transitioning to grass. Watch their poop too. With you high legumes when they are eating plenty of grass their poop will get runny and probalby greenish. Then you can cut back on their feed. If you have hay =give them some of that when their poop gets runny it will help firm it up.
I may have made this sound a lot harder that it really is, but give it a try it is very rewarding. Prepare for them to think they are your pets.
Diary calves need to be disbudded for your safety. I do it when the buds pop through. SOme use the cream right at the beginning. It is up to you, but get it done for sure. I also casterate before the calves weigh more than me. I go 255 so I usually band them at 200. But I dont have a chute so I have to do it in an open field with a rope adn some muscle. If you have a chute wait until they are 500 lbs. You will get a litlte more gorwth out of them.
Dairy breeds need 18 months to grow out their frame. then they start growing beef adn fat. I think 28 to 30 months is a good bench mark for the freezer. Plenty process earlier, thsi is my opinion.
COnsider getting some more sugar in you forage as well. rey grass or cereal rye, and maybe so sudan for cool and warm season sugar. A lot of protein can cause problems. BUt if you balance it with sugar it will limit the intake of the protein because they prefer sugar. They need both to grow.

[francismilker]

My family has lived on dairy steer meat for all of my kid's lives and all of my 20 years of marriage. We usually have 4 calves on grass and/or feed at all times of all different weights. We don't pay any attention to the age of these critters. Whichever one gets ready for feed wins!

[CarolT]

I got one this year, got him weaned and going good on pasture. Got up one morning and he'd apparently slipped into a hole, got his hoof trapped under a root and was laying on his side, dead Leg didn't feel broken, but whatever the cause, lost a lot of money overnight. Hubby's laid off again, so no more trying for this year.

[trbizwiz]

You do need to check them several times per day earn they are young. They never had a momma cow do they aren't well trained to survive.

[steff bugielski]

I have kept them for over a year but will not again.
First off i am killing and processing myself, well three of us. Over 1000lbs would be way too much to do in a day or two.
second again only two of us home and not enough space in the freezer for all that meat.

Third the amount of hay required to feed him out all winter long is not worth it to me. I have a small window in which to process. The temps here do not stay at the optimum for long in the spring so I must do it in the fall, Thanksgiving is perfect.

For us 8- 10 months old, 900-1000lbs is perfect. I figure he costs all total about $500.00.
The milk I feed is free, I have extra so either he gets it or the pig, hay about $1 a day and about $200.00 of grain. Gives us about 450lbs of meat in the freezer.

[sammyd]

we never let a dairy steer get much over 18 months around here.
Get em in early spring feed em over 1 winter and gone the next fall.
But we do give them some grain.