Tell me about raising a 3 week old calf

Cashs Cowgirl · #1 12/23/11, 05:22 PM

I've fed out our own steer before, but he was 5 months old when purchased and a hereford.

This time I am looking at a holstein bull calf. I have friends that own a dairy and offered me a 3 week old calf for very little.

What do I need to do to make sure I keep him healthy so that we can have some beef next fall? What kind of care am I looking at for the next couple of months? What is normal weaning age? About how long will it take to get him to a decent weight for butchering? Oh and is it ok if I keep my older lambs and the calf together? The lambs will be gone in the late spring.

Thanks for your help!

SteveO · #2 12/23/11, 06:29 PM

Evening,
I would start by reading the sticky on bottle calves. There is a lot of info in it.

Enjoy
Steve

Cashs Cowgirl · #3 12/23/11, 07:01 PM

Yes I started a bit there, but I was finding that at the beginning there seemed to be a lot on buying younguns from feedlots and what to do. I'm not going about it like that.

InvalidID · #4 12/23/11, 07:08 PM

Weaning really seems to depend on who's raising the calf. Heck, everything depends on who's raising the calf.

Here's what I've done so far:

Make sure they have access to grass from the start. The sooner they start eating it the better.

Make sure they have access to water all the time. The sooner they start drinking it the better.

Try and get them eating a little grain as soon as possible. Sooner is better if you'll be feeding a lot of grain.

2 quarts of milk replacer 2 times a day per calf for about a month. Give or take depending on how well they are eating other stuff.

I cut it down by 1 quart at a time after that. So I'll give 2 quarts in the morning and 1 quart at night for a week or so. Then I'll cut it to 1 quart per feeding. When it comes time to cut a feeding I like to cut the morning feeding first, so they get full bellies before bed and are encouraged to get up and graze in the AM.

That's kinda an over view of how I've done it so far. I'm still pretty new at this so my way might not be the best. I've not lost a calf to scours or any of that yet though, so I'm sticking with it.

Cashs Cowgirl · #5 12/23/11, 09:07 PM

Thanks Invalid! That's what I was looking for. I get my milk from their farm. They are a creamery and it's good stuff! I will be talking with them tomorrow about him to find out where he is on his feeding routine and such.

VaFarmer · #6 12/26/11, 12:12 AM

In the winter I bottle feed for 6 week range, get them on water & grain ASAP. to get them started on water, get baby sucking your fingers and lead his head down to the water bucket while sucking your fingers, get his lower lip into the water till he's sucking up the water, cows are a heard animal, they like buddies. There a lot of supplements you can add to the milk, but don't go over board, just when needed or low dose for maintance.

InvalidID · #7 12/26/11, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cashs Cowgirl

Thanks Invalid! That's what I was looking for. I get my milk from their farm. They are a creamery and it's good stuff! I will be talking with them tomorrow about him to find out where he is on his feeding routine and such.

I should add I like feeding wet cob (molasses soaked grain) at first because it gets the enzymes or whatever the calves use to ferment their food growing faster. I don't give them much, just enough to get them jump started.

sammyd · #8 12/26/11, 03:15 AM

at 3 weeks the animal should still be on a mostly milk diet. Fresh water and a good high protein grain should be available at all times for him to try out. Putting some in his mouth during/after feeding is a good idea.
We like to have our steers eating 3 pounds of starter grain a day before weaning and that can normally be accomplished by the 8th week fairly easily.
We do not offer hay or put them on pasture until after weaning.