Maybe a couple calves in my future !

TRAILRIDER · #1 09/04/12, 04:27 PM

Yeah! I spoke with my friend today, she might be able to get me a couple dairy calves off the farm. She tells me he keeps them with thier moms for at least three days. I would plan to grow them up and maybe keep one for our freezer and sell one.
If handle them and teach them to lead and stand, should I have any problems not having a chute or head gate?

ksfarmer · #2 09/04/12, 04:55 PM

Depends on what you intend to do with them. For almost any type of vet work you will have to be able to restrain them. You cannot say "stand" and expect results, doctoring a injury, vacinations, etc. A calf which outweighs you by multiple times will tend to do as he wishes. You should be able to use a makeshift squeeze chute utilizing a panel and the side of a barn or shed for some things.

Kato2010 · #3 09/05/12, 05:03 PM

Just a heads up. Once you've been his "Mom", it's pretty hard to put him in the freezer.

Been there, done that. We have a rule here. It's "if you're going to eat it, don't give it a name." I've raised lots and lots of bottle calves, and we have yet to put one in the freezer. Even though we've been in the business for many years, and have owned many cattle, I have a soft spot for the bottle calves, and would rather sell them and pick an anonymous one out of the feedlot for the freezer. Maybe I'm too soft hearted, but that's just the way it is. Hubby has learned to accept the rule. LOL In fact I'm selling a couple of lambs next week under just the same rules. If he wants freezer lamb, it's going to have to come from somewhere else.

As for the chute/headgate thing, I don't think it would be an issue as long as you had them halter broke and have a sturdy small pen where you can tie them up if needed. With that type of calf, any health problems that are going to happen will most likely happen when they're small and easy to push around. Once they get big, especially if there's only a couple of them, and they don't have the stresses commercial feedlot cattle do, sickness is not a big issue. Pinkeye or footrot would be the most likely issue, and that can be vaccinated for.

Callieslamb · #4 09/06/12, 07:13 AM

They will likely need to be dehorned. If you don't want to do it when they are older, get someone to show you how to use dehorning paste. I don't like horns around my fences and gates or if I had to go in the pasture with them. They get big and though they may not mean to hurt you, they naturally use those horns to get things to move. If you're putting hay out for them in a feeder, they might try to shove you aside - a poke in the back from a 1000 lb steer isn't pleasant.

I do not have a shute or head gate. I do have stalls in a barn and if any work needs to be done on them, I put them there with a halter on and tie their heads to a post. I've never had one get sick but was given a 6 month old bull calf that I didn't want to castrate myself. The post came in really handy. You could do it with a post but against a wall of some kind would be best.

TRAILRIDER · #5 09/06/12, 11:00 AM

Callieslamb, wouldn't I have them de-horned or dis-budded the same as my goats, when they are a week old or less? What age should I band them? The goats we do really young too, like a few weeks old.
I also have a barn with stalls and was planning on using a stall for most of the work, but could improvise a squeeze chute if needed.
Kato2010, yes you are right. That is a BIG issue here. A few years ago when I took my first home raised turkeys to be processed I couldn't sleep because......get this....."I was worried that they would be treated badly." Really? They were there to be killed : /
I have gotten much tougher since then. But I might end up taking both calves to the auction if I can't face taking them to the slaughter house. Now my DH has warned me to never get baby pigs...they are just too cute.

ozark_jewels · #6 09/06/12, 11:48 PM

You can band calves anywhere from a couple days old to several months old. Best done in cooler weather. If you've banded kids, you know the basics. Make sure you got all four teats ABOVE the band and both testicles BELOW the band.

TRAILRIDER · #7 09/08/12, 10:57 AM

Thanks Ozark jewels, I've only looked on during banding and disbudding. But we have a very good, very inexpensive, local vet here. I'd probably have them done by her. I need to gain more experience : )
BTW she disbudded my boer goats and they never got scurs or bloody patches or anything. Thier heads are just as smooth as can be. For $5 ea. that's a bargain!

Yvonne's hubby · #8 09/08/12, 01:01 PM

Years ago I raised quite a few bottle calves. Never had a chute but each calf had a small stall of their own (4'x6') and I spent a lot of time with them their first 3 weeks while they were on bottles. This made them very easy to handle later on.... and also made them impossible to put in the freezer.