Advice on raising 2 week old abandoned calf

[Pig in a poke]

Looking for input on 1.) is this a good deal? 2.) how to proceed?

A fellow we've sold some piglets to asked me this morning if we would like to trade a 2 week old Angus-bred (beef, not dairy) calf for 2 more of our feeder pigs, now 16 weeks old. Cost-wise, he says the calf (male, I think) is around 100 pounds. Locally, they are averaging 1.90 to 2.00 per pound. In general, it's a good trade for 2 piglets. But the he says I will need to continue bottle feeding the calf for 4-5 months! Is that correct? Google searching says weaning can be done at 2-3 months. But is that for dairy breeds only?

We raise horses, have never had an orphan and have weaned foals off their dams as early as less than 4 months. Do calves need longer on their mothers than that?

Pros and cons of medicated milk replacers? The point of raising our own meat is to get away from all the additives. But I would want to give the calf the best shot at robust health through the winter. In what situations is non-medicated replacer used? What about with medicated? (not sure ho one decides which to use?)

I know it's a lot of questions. If someone could point me to some relevant threads, that would be great.
Thanks.

[SpaceCadet12364]

You can wean as early as 8 weeks not recommended. I would do the trade at that size they bring a lot more than 200$ here. Get a bottle and calf nipple or calf nipple if you have a bottle already. And a bag of Milk based replacer. and feed him 2qts. twice a day. Till he is eating hay and calf starter. I like to go atleast 3mos. 4 if you can or 2 50lb bags of replacer. Then you should be able to sell him for ~600$ or more. Or put him out in the pasture. And put him in the freezer at a latter date. Medicated milk if that is what you can find use it By the time you put him in the freezer it will be long gone from his system and it is low doses. I use kent medicated MR.

[Jlynnp]

I would certainly take that deal!!

[Awnry Abe]

Lots of interesting angles here. What would you do with the calf once weaned? Finish or sell? What do you do with your feeders? Sell them or finish them? How does the finishing cost and the value of the two feeders compare to the cost and value of the calf at weaning and then finishing? FWIW, I wean bottle fed calves at 12 weeks. On the teet calves at about 8 months. I know nothing of pigs to get a feel for the trade.

[sammyd]

you can wean at 8 weeks with no problem if he is eating plenty of starter grain.
If you only feed hay or let him graze pasture then yes you will have to have him on the bottle for many months.
1 bag of milk replacer is all that you need if you run a good calf starter grain of at least 18% protein and plenty of fresh water available at all times.

I would take the deal.

[chronic66]

It is not all about feeding them, those bottle calves can get sick just from the trip home and it won't show up for a few days. You better have meds on hand and a sharp eye to know when to use them. They can be hard to keep alive.

[mrs whodunit]

Calves here go for $500ish.

And as chronic66 said keeping them healthy can be hard.

[Pig in a poke]

Yes, apparently so (hard to keep them healthy). The guy with the calf texted me last night that he went out to feed him and found him dead.

Thank you for all the input. We plan to do more reading and asking questions so we can be prepared for a future opportunity.
Thanks again. Very helpful replies.

[CountryMom22]

Sorry about the calf. That would have been a great learning experience.

[collegeboundgal]

it sounds to me like the guy already knew the calf was sick and was trying to unload him before he died. Two healthy pigs for a half dead calf doesn't sound like a good deal to me.