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Please critique my bottle feeding schedule

536 views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  topside1 
#1 ·
I'll try to make it short. I got two day old Jersey Bulls from a dairy that I'm going to raise for beef. They're about a week old at this point.

I'm giving each 2 feedings a day. Each cow gets a bottle that has a little over 8 oz of 24/18 Herdfirst milk replacer and then I fill up to the 4 pint line. I feed that once in the morning and once in the evening equaling a total of 2 full bottles a day (8 pints total).

I also have water available to them and starter grain.

Please feel free to provide constructive criticism on this schedule and any opinions/experience you have. These are my first cows and while I have mentors, there's a lot of conflicting ideas out there.

Thank you!

Jake
 
#2 ·
2x a day feeding of the amount you said should be ok. One thing that I learned was to make sure to use a good quality milk replacer that has all milk protein. Some of the lower quality/cheaper MR has a soy-base protein and I avoid that.

One wants to keep them on a consistent feeding schedule and not overfeed. You don't want scours. Watch them like a hawk for these first couple of weeks and really pay attention to how they are acting/pooping. I'm assuming they got their colostrum from their mama/dairy when they were born. Have fun with them and good luck to ya. Hope all goes well.

BTW-Welcome to the forum.
 
#3 ·
Thank you! I'm using Herdfirst 24/18. It was about $62 a bag so it better be the good stuff!! I also checked to make sure the protein was from milk. They were on colostrum for at least a day before I bought them.

In your (or anyone else's) opinion, how long should I plan to have them on the bottle before weaning.

Thanks again!
 
#4 ·
Sounds like you got some real good MR there. I know the price of it can be pricey. But everything's pricey now. LOL! But anyways, some people will say 2 months, 3 months, 4 months.....I always kept mine on milk for 4 months. You can begin giving a calf starter type grain real soon and grass/hay for them to nibble around,plus water. Any bottle calves I have raised ran with a herd of cows so they mimicked them. Take care.
 
#6 ·
Jake, you are feeding the correct amount of MR, that's exactly what I do. I never increase the ounce amount or blend until they are a month old and then only increase slowly. I only raise Jerseys and all of mine were weaned at 8 weeks old or until the bag of power was used up. Sounds like you are on the road to success....Topside.
 
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