Bottle calf 101?

[GBov]

There is a dairy less than an hour away selling bottle babbies for $35 each. At that price it would be worth my time giving a try to raising two of them.

Having never done this before I thought I would ask you lovely people for a crash course on doing it.

So, how does one do it and what do I need to get to have a good chance of succeeding?

[gone-a-milkin]

There is a sticky thread at the top of this forum just stuffed full of the info you are looking for.

Sale barn/Bottle calves

[G. Seddon]

GBov, do you see the very first "sticky thread" on this Cattle board? It's at the top. Start there.

There's a similar thread on Cattle Today:
http://www.cattletoday.com/forum/vie...hp?f=7&t=49811

A whole bunch of good reading for you!

[GBov]

Ah, THERE it is! I thought I had seen a long thread on the subject but couldn't find it.

"If it was a snake, it would have bit me!"

Is bottle rearing a sensible thing to do or am I just courting disaster?

[gone-a-milkin]

I wouldn't recommend a newbie try bottle feeding if the calves haven't had any colostrum.
If they have had their mama's milk for a few days and aren't already sick when you get them,
then maybe they would be alright.
Do you have a draft free, clean and cleanable place to keep them?

You really really do not want to overfeed them either.

The price you are quoting there is pretty amazing for this day and age.
I would worry that they are not considered valuable (and therefore not cared for properly).

Good luck.

[GBov]

Have read half a page and decided that bottle rearing calves is NOT for me!

Perhaps tomorrow when I feel less tired I will change my mind again but wow, drop dead city springs to mind reading about bottle calves.

[sammyd]

At 35 bucks I'd take all I can get and send em to the sales barn myself. Holsteins are bringing upwards of 120 a pop around here.

[haypoint]

Originally Posted by sammyd

At 35 bucks I'd take all I can get and send em to the sales barn myself. Holsteins are bringing upwards of 120 a pop around here.

How much for the Jersey/Highland cross bulls that have yellow manure down one leg?

[sammyd]

Those might go a bit less.

[sammyd]

In all seriousness I would talk to the farmer and if navels were dipped and colostrum fed then buying those calves would be a no brainer.

[topside1]

I've raised well over 100 bottle calves and have only lost two, just to give you perspective. Nearly half of the calves came from a sale barn. Got to start sometime or keep shopping at Walmart, Topside

[haypoint]

The learning curve is steep. Prepare yourself like you would for a new puppy and the first few may die. Study the tips, take advice, have scour tablets and electrolytes ahead of time. Buy healthy calves. Don't over feed. Keep dry.

[GBov]

Have decided to get ALL the recommended stuff FIRST! Then make sure my area is ALL ready! Then make sure my draft proof area is nice and warm with heat lamps.

And THEN get two bottle calves!

If the price is up by the time I am ready, so be it. I have a jar in the kitchen that all the money from rabbit sales goes into so that, when I am ready, I can just pay the going rate at the time instead of jumping in with both feet and not succeeding because of not having the right stuff on hand.

Thanks for being so very helpful guys, it means a lot!

[BobbyB]

Its not rocket surgery . The colostrum for a couple of days is very important. I have never seen a navel dipped and never had a problem.

If they are coming straight from the dairy, ask a few questions.

I have always felt folks over think a lot of things. Gozillins of calves grow up in the pasture with no navel dipping and surely not in a draft free atmosphere.

If they are healthy to start with, you are 3/4 of the way there. You just replace momma, aside from all the licking and such and keep em fed and safe. They do the rest.

[gone-a-milkin]

Beef calves born on pasture and left to their own mothers care are completely different animals
than dairy calves yanked at birth and raised by a person who has never done it before.

Better to "overthink" than to underthink, in my opinion.

[BobbyB]

Originally Posted by gone-a-milkin

Beef calves born on pasture and left to their own mothers care are completely different animals
than dairy calves yanked at birth and raised by a person who has never done it before.

Better to "overthink" than to underthink, in my opinion.

If thinking up all the things that could maybe happen is you thing, by all means.

I honestly cant remember how many I have raised but certainly at or over the 100 mark. I started as a kid, raising calves that had never had a drop of colostrum because they had been orphaned, in a 3 sided shed.

I lost my first bottle calf in 50 years in November. Sometimes, things just happen.

Get healthy calves, keep em dry, feed the milk replacer according to directions and enjoy the little buggers is all I have to say.

[GBov]

Right! I have been reading the bottle calf thread and cutting out the bits I think are really useful and emailing them to myself.

But, even with all the reading and what nots I am still confused.

SO..............

If YOU were headed down to Tractor Supply Company with cash in your hand, what would YOU buy to help keep your calves alive and well?

We - mum and I - have decided to try raising 5. I will be building a stall next to our old horse in the second barn. It will be made out of doors so will have solid sides and be banked deep with shavings.

Will it need a heat lamp too? We are in the Deep South but it does get as far down as the teens at night sometimes.

[sammyd]

It would depend on where I was getting them.
If I was getting them from a farm all I would buy would be the best milk based milk replacer I could get.
If I was getting them from a sales barn I add a decent electrolyte as well as maybe a bucket of scour stop milk replacer.
I would make sure I have bottles and good nipples. I would get a bag of at least 18% calf starter grain and if the weather is constantly below freezing I would get a good heated water bucket.
Calves should have access to clean fresh water and grain starting at least in the second week. Don't even worry about hay till they are weaned and eating plenty of grain.

Calves do not normally need a heat lamp especially if your temps are above 0. I have put newborns outside in hutches down to 30 below and as long as the hutches are well bedded and dry and the calf is dry as well there is no problem.

[Callieslamb]

Originally Posted by GBov

If YOU were headed down to Tractor Supply Company with cash in your hand, what would YOU buy to help keep your calves alive and well?


Will it need a heat lamp too? We are in the Deep South but it does get as far down as the teens at night sometimes.

Buy the milk replacer that's made from milk, not soy. It will cost quite a bit more. Don't even consider the soy stuff. Do not be tempted by the lower price. They shouldn't need a heat lamp if they are in a warm area- no wind, no wet. Keep them dry and out of the wind and they should be fine- if it gets hot, they will need shade.

Pick aggressive calves. The sweet ones that meekly come to the bottle might not have the will to survive an illness. You want very active calves with bright eyes.

When you first bring them home, feed them electrolytes only for 24 hours. They will be stressed from the move. Stress can kill baby calves.

Find a good vet that can help you if you have problems. runny stools- call the vet. Raspy breathing- call the vet. Know what his farm call charge is ahead of time so you won't be shocked.

[BobbyB]

I wouldnt go to TSC. Id find a good feed store with a person or 2 that actually knows what they are selling and you can talk to. TSC is just an Ag oriented WalMart these days.

As far as the rest I have read, just wow.