I'm sorry to read that your calf died. It's always sad when you lose an animal.
I can offer you some advice for the future. I grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York and know from experience that very few farmers give their bull calves enough colostrum and some don't give the bull calves any colostrum at all. Colostrum is extremely important for newborn calves. It contains antibodies from the cow that will help protect the calf from getting sick in the first few days of life. In fact, without it, very few will survive. The reason farmers don't give their bull calves much colostrum is because they don't usually want to waste it on bull calves. Bull calves are almost always sold with in the first few days of life and the heifer calves are the ones the dairy farmers are willing to spend extra time and money on anyway.
If you choose to raise a calf in the future there are several things I would do:
1. Only buy a calf from someone you trust and who you know gave the calf plenty of colostrum after it was born.
2. Never buy a calf that is not lively. Young calves that are healthy will be bright eyed, they will bounce around, and kick up their heals. They generally won't lay around and sleep all day.
3. Healthy calves also have a strong sucking reflex. If the calf you're looking at does not have a strong sucking relfex I would hesitate to purchase it.
4. I would also avoid a calf with scours. If it has scours it may mean that it didn't get enough colostrum and became ill. It may also mean that the farm carries a disease that you don't want to bring home.
5. Always feed a very high quality milk replacer. It should have milk proteins as the main source of protein because a young calf doesn't have the ability to break down plant proteins yet. The milk replacer will cost more, but it will be worth it. Goat's milk may also be a good way to get nutrition into your calf.
6. Make sure the calf has access to fresh water and calf starter/grain and hay at all times for the first few weeks. Once it starts eating plenty of calf starter or grain and eats hay you can start to wean it from milk. Most calves are weaned around 2 months of age on a dairy farm, but it varies when raising calves off a farm. If the calf seems to be doing really well you can wean them earlier, if they don't eat much grain or hay you can keep them on milk longer. It's entirely up to you.
I hope this helps you out and I wish you success with your next calf.
steff bugielski said:
The little guy died today. I think it was the replacer. He seemed to eat enough but if he was not getting any nutrition from the soy he was starving while eating.
So I am once again in the market for a bull calf. Anyone got one. I am in NY but will travel some.
steff