Bottle Jerseys?

[Bubbas Boys]

We have a chance to get some bottle jersey bulls from local dairy. I have read a lot of info on the opinions on the meat but I am wondering if anyone has a guess on the amount of hay it will take to feed them the entire 2 years. Also, can they be fed alfalfa or is just grass hay better? What weight will the probably get to in that 2 years and what kind of harvest should we expect? Thanks!

[myheaven]

there is a whole lot of variables to figure, so there is no feed them this much and you will get this out.

[gone-a-milkin]

Please be sure that your calves get their colostrum before you bring them home.
It is the single very best thing you can do to give them a fair start.

If you are getting brand new newborns, sometimes the dairy will give you the mama's colostrum too.
ASK, and offer to bring the bucket back after.

[Wild_Bill]

Kinda vague questions, but I'll give a go. They will be 1-4 days old when you get them. Figure 1 1/2 -2 bags of MR each. Hay is hard to say. I have 1 guy that wont touch the stuff yet. He's 3 months. If you have no pasture you will feed a lot of hay. Not so much this year, but next. In 2 years they will get up around 1000lbs. They are dairy breed so more bones less meat. If your live weight is 1000 you should put 400-500lbs in the freezer. I get these animals for cheap but unless you really want to bottle feed for some reason just get a couple weaned beef calves. You'll do better in the long run.

[Bubbas Boys]

Well, I have not been able to find any beef breeds of bottle calves for any where near the price of the jerseys that have been offered or near as close. That's why I thought it would be worth it to try them. Think? I can get them for $75 and yes they get colostrum. What do folks get bottle beef breed for? Thanks.

[blanket]

I just picked up the 2 Jersey steers that I bottle fed and raised from the locker this morning. they were 18 months old. Hanging weight was 510 and 587. Meat yield was 305 and 375. Amount of feed is difficult to gauge but Jerseys are little eaters. Rough guess would be 3 acres of pasture for grass, 2 bags MR each, square bail per day a piece. I wean them using 16% sweet feed. Keep plenty of salt and mineral available. castrate and dehorn as they can get frisky

[Bubbas Boys]

Wow, I didn't figure a whole bail per day per head. I guess that's why I asked. haha. I was thinking a bail would last a couple days per head. Do you know what the live weight was? Thanks for info!

[tab]

They must be tiny bales!! Figure aprx. 3% of weight per day in hay. My little jersey bull, about 6 months old, eats about 3-4 flakes of hay per day, sometimes leaving some to bed down in. No pasture right now. He eats some alfalfa pellets as he gets no grain.
I like jersey meat. We have raised and butchered two so far. I can't remember the weights and I think dgd may have *erased* most of my records. Some in my family do not like the meat as well as a beefer as it is super lean.
I second the castrating and dehorning, they can be buggers even as steers!

[Bubbas Boys]

Thanks everyone. Tab, did the folks that didn't like it think it was gamey or off tasting compared to store beef or was it just the lack of fat?

[Dixie Bee Acres]

BB, I have often thought about getting dairy bottle calves too, as it is a cheaper way to get started in raising our own beef. Many people swear jersey and gurnsey produce the best tasting meat.
But, I have recently been convinced, by folks who have raised beef and dairy breeds, that what you save in purchasing costs, you will more than give up in feeding costs.
In other words, a dairy steer might cost you $75-$125, whereas a beef breed steer might cost you $400
But, the beef breed will get bigger faster on the same amount of feed.

[Bubbas Boys]

Thanks Dixie, I was wondering about that. I have heard that Jerseys eat less but wondered if the extended time to grow out would add up to more cost overall. My problem is finding someone to sell a bottle beef breed. Would go to Arthur and try the sale barn but I am too new to try that I think. haha. Thanks again!

[Dixie Bee Acres]

At the rockville, Indiana salebarn a few weeks ago, there were a couple beef bottle calves there. I didnt stay to watch them sell but was told a whitefaced black brought $400 and a solid black brought $445.
I wasn't there so that's just hearsay, but, guessing here, those calves couldn't have been very old, I would guess about 100#-125# each.

[Dixie Bee Acres]

One thing you might do, which is my back up plan, this spring once i have an area fenced and a small shelter built, I'm going to buy anything I might need for bottle calves; the bottles, milk replacer, scours medicines, etc, then contact all of the local farmers who keep cattle, to let them know I am interested in bottle calves. Not extremely often, but sometimes a cow won't care for a calf, or the cow might die, or anything, at that point the farmer would much rather make a few bucks off the calf than to have to care for it himself.

[tab]

Bb, I don't think Jersey tastes gamey but being lean it needs to be cooked a little differently. The sticky that Ken Scharaback posted long ago about comparing different breeds is good reading. The sticky on bottle calves is real good reading.

I get my jerseys from a farmer who raises them for a few weeks. He does a nice job and I appreciate that. Getting calves from a farm seems to be less stressful for the little guys, less handling and exposureto who knows what.

I am too new to this to have a real good handle on which breed eats more. The one Angus we raised ate a lot more than the Jersey and he was nursing. He grew well. If you have your own hay it doesn't seem to matter quite as much as when you are buying it. Jerseys can have a nice disposition, or not.
Some say if you can raise a healthy Jersey from the sale barn, you can raise any calf