Bottle calf safety-No adults present

[Pallyshire]

I am slowly making my way through all the threads but it takes awhile to read through everything so please forgive me if this has already been answered.

I have two 1 1/2 month old steer shorthorn bottle calves and two 2 week old heifer Angus cross calves. The heifers are very small so I will keep them penned up at night for quite a bit longer. However the boys are growing very quickly! They actually are eating 4 quarts of milk a day because they play so much and were losing weight. Now that they are starting to eat grass and grain I am fixing to ration off the milk a lil at a time.

My question is what is a good age to let them stay out 24/7. Of course bad weather days and cold nights I will still bring them in. I just was wondering what a safe time period would be to let them stay out in pasture. We have a horse that shadows them but I'm not entirely sure she would protect them from coyotes and other predators. I need to buy a weight tape but they are about waist high and fairly quick on their feet. I would much appreciate any advise or experiences on this subject. Or if there is already a thread for this please feel free to point me towards it! Thanks

[nosqrls]

I would not ration the milk yet give them at least 2 more weeks. If you don't like bottle feeding put it in a bucket. I would not trust them alone at night at all till weaned.

[Pallyshire]

We just started the bucket a few days ago. Its hard to feed that much with only two bottles. with the 4 calves that would be 12 bottles a day between them. SO we feed the boys in the buckets and they seem to like that better. I really am not sure what age is best to transfer the girls to a bucket. They aren't nibbing on grain or grass yet so I want them to stay on the bottle.

Is the two weeks to make sure they are adjusted well?some people say wean at 6 weeks and some say 6 months so I'm not entirely sure when i want to wean them completely. I just figured they didn't need as much milk with the other options. I have no problem waiting though.

[nosqrls]

Personally I don't like to start weaning before 4 mos. but if you are keeping then it is an investment. If not then I like their stomach to be fully developed before starting to cutback on milk. The big ones should be two buckets a day, to get them eating grass/hay and grain.
then slowly wean them off the milk. Then the little ones if you are keeping (heifers) it is worth more time and money(replacer) to let grow faster.

[Pallyshire]

The steer calves are being raised for beef. The two smaller heifers are eventually going to be AI'ed for calves we can use for beef or sell. One is a brahma Angus cross and the other one I'm not sure if It's full Angus or a cross.

The 1 1/2 month old steer calves get two buckets a day with 4 quarts of milk each feeding. Its about 4 bottles worth a day for each calf. A lot of milk replacer! I was trying to wean them together since they are the same age but the one that had scours when he was a week old is taking longer to catch on that there are other food sources. Thats the reason I thought about rationing it. How can you tell when the rumen in developed. Someone said measure it but I have no clue how to measure it.

[opportunity]

I like to keep calves on milk until at least 4 months if they have a mama I let them stay 7-8 months. I had a bottle calf he was 2 months and eating 4 bottles a day I wanted to cut him back but he still need it even with the grain and hay. He has a mama now though so he gets milk until 8 months now.

[tinknal]

I really wouldn't worry about coyotes at that age. Will they have access to a barn while on pasture?

[springvalley]

I guess I`m not following you on everything, my calf bottles are half gallon. But then you say your giving 4 quarts, but then you say your giving more bottles. So it is very unclear to me as to what your really feeding. We start off feeding our jersey calves about 3 pints per feeding, twice a day, then we increase it.Way to many people try and feed a jersey as much milk as a Holstien gets, and thats way to much. When they get about a month and a half old then we switch to buckets. As to how long we feed, depends on how much milk we have and want to put in them. I have fed calves till six months if I have alot of extra milk. And we only feed raw milk, no replacer for us. > Thanks Marc

[Pallyshire]

Originally Posted by springvalley

I guess I`m not following you on everything, my calf bottles are half gallon. But then you say your giving 4 quarts, but then you say your giving more bottles. So it is very unclear to me as to what your really feeding. We start off feeding our jersey calves about 3 pints per feeding, twice a day, then we increase it.Way to many people try and feed a jersey as much milk as a Holstien gets, and thats way to much. When they get about a month and a half old then we switch to buckets. As to how long we feed, depends on how much milk we have and want to put in them. I have fed calves till six months if I have alot of extra milk. And we only feed raw milk, no replacer for us. > Thanks Marc

Sorry I did my math wrong its four bottles a day. Two in morning and two in evening. so how ever many quartz that is. I believe it was actually 8 quarts total. I don't do math well and definetly when I'm getting stressed about my two heifers not eating.. Sorry for the confusion on that.

[Pallyshire]

Originally Posted by tinknal

I really wouldn't worry about coyotes at that age. Will they have access to a barn while on pasture?

They have acess to a fenced shelter with three walls and a rood. On relly cold days they have a section they can go where its four walls with enough of an opening for them to get in and out. Most times during the day I leave it open.

[clarmayfarm]

They can be weaned well at 8 weeks, but need to be eating grain well. We have a dairy, and some calves wean well at 7 wks, some at 9. They should be fine outside at 6 weeks.