Dairy calf question

[NeHomesteader]

I bought a jersey heifer calf from a good friend of mine. She is out of her milk cow and is now 34 days old. I'm giving her 2 quarts of milk twice a day and it is regular cows milk. She is doing great. How long do I feed her so that she grows up good because she is my future milk cow? I have raised beef calves for a few years and wean them at 8 weeks but I sell them off as yearlings. I want to keep her. She is getting a pelleted feed also. Thanks,Dawn

[sammyd]

8 weeks if she is eating her grain well

[BlackWillowFarm]

I always have extra milk and let the calves drink it for as long as they want (from a bucket). As long as you have the milk, why not continue to feed it to her? If she's taking milk from your table, then I can see weaning her early. I usually switch them from the bottle at about two weeks. The earliest I ever weaned was four months and the latest was 8 months. I had an 18 month old steer this summer who drank the calves milk when I sat the bucket down. I started giving him milk again because he was scheduled for the butcher and I thought it might fatten him up a bit. Don't know if it was the milk or not, but he's the best tasting steer we've ever eaten.

[NeHomesteader]

When I bought the calf,the deal was to buy her along with her mothers cow milk for 8 weeks included. I don't care if I have to buy milk for longer just so she grows up well and is not stunted. She is looking really good now.

[JDog1222]

I always increase my milk slowly from 2qts. twice a day, to 4qts. twice per day. Don't stretch their stomach though, this all depends on the size of the calf and it's age. I just never thought they did very well only getting 2qts. twice per day. I like my calves nice and round! My month old Jersey bull calf is drinking 4qts. from a bucket twice per day now and boy is he a happy lil fella!

[Callieslamb]

You can wean any time after 8 weeks - 12 for extra insurance and to make you feel better. She won't be stunted at this point anyway - get her started on grain and hay soon.

[Ronney]

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

You can wean any time after 8 weeks - 12 for extra insurance and to make you feel better. She won't be stunted at this point anyway - get her started on grain and hay soon.

This is where I would be coming from sort of. I don't cold wean, I do it gradually - easier on the calf and on my ears At 8-9 weeks I start to reduce the morning feed by 250mls (equates to one cup) every 3 days. Once they are down to half, I start doing the same with the evening feeds. By this time the calves are well and truely into eating meal and are paddocked so have 24 hour access to grass. They get given hay which they sleep on!

Cheers,
Ronnie

[topside1]

Keep feeding the milk as long as you can afford it...The beef industry, cow/calf wean between 6-8 months old. If it were me I'd wean the heifer and provide the best quality grain I could afford...Topside

[francismilker]

I'm with topside, as long as you can. It sure won't hurt her any. I would get her to eating grain when you can and keep hay and minerals in front of her at all times.