Homesteading Forum banner
61 - 80 of 209 Posts
only 2 died in the last 4 years? WOW. you are amazing! you are obviously VERY good at what you do (raising calves).
even the dairies around here seem to dump off dead calves bodies weekly. You should teach them a thing or two! :)
 
Discussion starter · #62 ·
Missy 3 pints per feeding, twice a day. MR mixing directions are generic, and calf owners need to use common sense and adjust to calf size and experience. Also MR price has dropped dramatically over the last year. I rarely use it because I have goats and a cow too. Yes only two, luckily I have extra time to spend raising them. Keep up the good work, lots to learn though, keep asking questions....Topside
 
Topside: I also have goats, but no cow. I currently have orders for 9 heifers plus several others more, but I have only one right now, so I'm on the hunt for more. I talked to that lady that I am going to sell the 1 heifer to and she is ok with me keeping the heifer calf until she has no scours....or she says I can even give her a different one instead, so thats cool. she also wants one more. AND she is going to trade me 3 - two week old bull calves for the 1 heifer calf, so I am happy about that. she said they are holsteins but one is a jersey/holstein cross. now I just have to find more heifer calves.

far as the MR goes.....I am going to switch over to it again. Thats great about the price drop. I will check and see what it runs now in this area.
 
not around here they dont. they only time I got a bull calf for $20. was when it was at an auction and the bull calf was tiny and skinny but already nibbling on hay (I resold him a week later for $150.....not bad).

usually I have to spend $45. to $77.50 currently for a bull calf, and the dairies either refuse to return my calls and when I do talk to them they wont sell any calves to me, they say that they take them ALL to the auctions and they are rude on the phone.

I have only bought one heifer so far, as I prefer to deal with the bull calves, and I paid the same for her = $77.50.
so I am currently selling them for the same as I pay the same for them.

another person (in response to my online for sale ad) wrote me and asked me why I sell the bull calves for so much and the heifers for same price, well that is because I just paid the same, and since I have no idea if the heifer is breedable or not someday when she grows up......to me they are all the same.
I sell for people to use as beef or herd sire bulls.

I wish I could get bull calves for $10. to $15. because I can sell them just weaned for $150. to $200. (depending on how nice they look). I can also get more for jersey calves than holsteins.

I dont understand why the dairies around here arent overly excited to sell their calves to me, as I would happily pay them twice the bull calf prices you listed - per each calf.

yeah :Bawling: Maybe I should have held out for more bulls in the trade.
 
check out these prices sulphu springs tx...I saw the sale on the internet



Market Report
UPDATED 9/29/2009
Livestock Head Count:1510 Dairy Head Count:386
STEERS
UNDER 300lbs. 80-132.5
300-400 lbs 80-116
400-500 lbs. 72-106
OVER 500 lbs. 70-99
HEIFERS
UNDER 300lbs. 70-125
300-400 lbs. 70-104
400-500 lbs. 70-94
OVER 500 lbs. 68-88
PACKER COWS 28-54.5
PACKER BULLS 45-57.5
STOCKER COWS 390-960
COW/CALF PAIRS 550-990
CALVES 3-185
DATE OF SALE 9/28/09
Fresh
Good 925-1550
Medium 600-925
Plain 425-600
Holstein Springers
Good 900-1325
Medium 700-900
Plain 400-700
Bull
Breeding Age 250-550
Small 75-250
Bull Calves 3-75
Heifer
Breeding Age 550-850
Small 250-550
Heifer Calves 50-250
DATE OF SALE 09/24/09


Sulphur Springs Livestock and Dairy Auction

P.O. Box 480,
Sulphur Springs TX, 75483

Phone: 903-885-2455
or 903-885-3311
Fax: 903-885-7739

E-Mail: ssls
@sslivestockauctions.com
 
My calves are doing great. I hope to get more tommorrow.
The heifer is over her scours and she seems to be very frisky and has a big appetite. I switched them to Milk Replacer numerous days ago, and they are doing very well. I just love them. I am going to miss the little buggers when they go to their new homes :Bawling: :eek:
 
oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the Milk Replacer was priced at $54. (if I remember correctly) and that was for a 50 pound bag of it (20/20 gold - NOT medicated). When I raised three calves last winter I raised them on Jersey MR and it cost me $84. for a 50 pound bag of it (22/22).
 
Thanks Topside :)
I was wrong about the price of the MR (the 20/20 Gold) it was only $45.75 (not $54.).
I bought 3 holstein feeder bull calves yesterday, they look to be about 4 months old?? They are very tall, but thin (1 weighed only 210, the other one 180). 2 had a bit of a cough (which of course I am treating with antibiotics and ALL of them are quarantined for now) and had mud caked in their eyes. one of those had a blue eye (I am putting eye antibiotic in their eyes tonight hoping it will clear most of it up). I have seen eye that were completely blind and way past the blue stage at being swollen and blood red and looked like they were about to burst (in one of my past goats) and within less than a month her eyes were like new. The 2 boys went right to eating alfalfa and drinking water from a bucket, and seem to be doing great - I expect they will be fine.
Then there is the #3 bull calf. He is so skinny and most likely pneumonia as well, that he could barely stand up (probably 4 foot tall or more and weighs only 160 lbs) and blind in both eyes (blue in one and half blue half brown in the other) due to infection (dried dirt stuck in his eyelashes and eyes). My guess is that some IDIOT that I would LOVE to choke, didnt even notice or care to notice or ignored the fact that he developed bad eyes, did not treat them (which is so simple), then the coughing, then the poor calf couldnt find his way to the feed and water, so he ended up severely thin, so much so that by the time I got him he was nearly dead and could barely stand up but refused to due to the fact he was scared and in pain and could not see.
I had a horrible time dragging him - dead weight - by myself to put him in the enclosed barn (safe and nice and dry and warm in there with NO wind). I fully expected he would die by end of that night cause he was in such bad shape. A big storm (lots of wind and rain) hit hear starting last night and I knew he'd be best off in there.
First thing, he got a shot of antibiotics and a bottle of milk replacer. I put the nipple in his mouth and he drank it like it was yesterday that he was last on the bottle, even though you could tell that he had been weaned for quite some time. Then I went back in later in the night and put eye antibiotics in his tearing eyes. Then this morning, I went out there and he was walking around bumping into things while looking for me as he heard me come in the barn. I gave him a big bottle of formula and a big flake of alfalfa and he drank the milk and was enjoying eating his hay when I left. I also put in there a bucket of water. I expect he will gain sight back in at least one of his eyes - which is just wonderful, I also noticed his coughing is already down to only a couple coughs while drinking the milk (he sucks it in too fast). Noone that seen this calf now would say he would make it, however I truly believe that he will be fine.
Is there anything else that you think I should do for him? oh, and I also gave him a dose of vitamin paste for calves/cows. I figured he needed it - since being so thin. He is nothing but skin and bones. literally a skeleton, yet he has an appetite like my pigs, LOL. I figure that if he was of normal weight for his size, he would weigh twice what he weighs now at 160....maybe 300 lbs? I don't know. I want to eventually deworm him but am not sure when to be doing that. I figured now was too soon since he is already on antibiotics and I don't want to overload his system.
 
Missy Moo...Just wondering how the #3 Calf did? Where you able to save him? Hope so.

I purchased 3 bottle calves this year for the 1st time. Holsteins. 2 were in good shape but one was very poor and lethargic. I was able to pull him out of it, but I wasn't sure if he was going to come around or not for a while.
 
Im trying to raise a few heifer calves buying them from sale barns and not having great luck. Ive read alot of the post on here and have gotten some really great info and want to think yall for the pointers. I have one question and the answer may already be on here, the question is i have a heifer calve that is starting to cough and at times it looks like her belly is jumping and now today she has a swoolon spot on here cheek what should i do? Shes about 4weeks old. thanks
 
I lost every one of those weaned feeder calves - every last one :Bawling: and of course ALL of my money invested, plus lots of physical labor hauling the dead bodies and smelling them for weeks later. they all died within a couple days of each other. one of the seemingly not to bad sick ones took a turn for the worse and died first (regardless of medications), then the totally blind really sick one died. then the last one hung on for a few days longer then it too died. :grit:
I havent bought any calves since - weaned or not.
I never knew they were sick until seeing them close up which wasnt until they loaded them into my van, so I learned something.....no more buying ANY calf until I see it first. if I cant see it or they wont let me, NO SALE!
if one could just go back in time - wow - wouldnt that be nice. it seems that if it is sick enough to need antibiotics, its best to just kill it straight away and go on about your life. if the calf coughs or gasps or wont eat or has slime coming out its nose, its sick and I am not going near it.
one thing I have noticed is that if I get a healthy calf then it never gets sick here, but if I get a sick one it will surely die, so all in all I learned my lesson, and now I feel bad because I miss that darn blind extremely sick big calf. :Bawling:
 
funny thing is I thought that calf would be ok. he got better and then all the sudden got worse really quickly and died. weird.

anyway, next time I am sticking with newborn healthy calves. I have much better luck with them.
 
I have a question, other than tubing a dairy heifer to ck for it being a free-martin is there any other signs that can be seen visual? The reason im asking is theres a guy that has 3 holstein heifers he said there weined and way around 150 to 220 and i want to make sure there not frees. Any help would be appreciated. thanks Rusty
 
MissyMoo,
Just curious as to what froms of antibiotics you used? Sounds to me all them calves had pnuemonia in a bad way. I have also seen it to cause them to go blue eyed too. Micotil,Nuflur, and draxxin would have all been great choices here. Also a side of a sulfa drug to help too.
Bob
 
Madsaw,
yeah I kinda figured they had pneumonia as well.
I got a calf once that had a touch of it and penicillin worked (just a couple shots of it) then all gone. I've even given only penicillin to one of my past goats that had SEVERE pneumonia and everyone told me she would for sure die, and she got well. she gained weight and had a baby and I had her for months before selling her. prior to that, she was a sick skeleton that had to get down on her knees to be able to get enough air in her lungs just to keep alive when I got her from the auction/sale barn.
I've used LA-200 on goats and penicillin and have had mixed results (either 1 works or the other works or none work), so I used penicillin on the calves and then LA-200 on one of them, however nothing seemed to even make a dent in it. Might as well as been giving them nothing at all. I've never used the antibiotics you mentioned but I am assuming they are from a vet. I am not a vet, therefore it would cost hundreds of dollars here for me to have a vet come here and check out the cows and give them medicine (I have called the vet before to get pricing), and from me hearing others on here doing just that only to see the calves dead anyway.....I was not going to or able to spend that kind of money. Now, I figure if they are that bad off, I am moving onto the next calves, cause I have no hope they will survive if they have it more than just a minor case of pneumonia.
I hate to say it, but I am a low-income, hard-working & single female - new to all this farming stuff (which I dearly love but I have only had livestock for about 1 1/2 or so years now), and I would rather lose the approx. $200. I lost in purchase prices and medications than lose hundreds more than that just to see them die anyway. Now that I look back, I think a smart Veterinarian wouldve told me to put the poor things to sleep.
I believe those 3 calves were left sick way too long, and then put under ALOT of stress prior to my getting them settled here (I'd like to choke the jerk that let them get to that condition - it shouldve been his/her's job to put to sleep those poor calves).
the poor things suffered GREATLY :( and I will NEVER see calves go through that again. I feel as if I prolonged their misery. the 2nd calf that died was 210 lbs and seemed to just have a very occasional cough.....like once every half hour or something and still I gave him antibiotics and then he got sicker and sicker and died anyway. they must've had some severe strain of sickness because it took them down HARD. the sickness was not satisfied until it killed everything that was alive. :(
It was definitely a learning experience for me thats for sure, but it hurts because I value the lives of others (animals and people) and feel really bad about losing them. :(
 
Missy,
If you read some of my post it will give you a idea as to teh routine I use when dealing with pneumonia. Of the 3 drugs I always leave Micotil to be used last. This is a very good drug, but very dangerous to humans. There is so many strains of pneumonia out there now days the common penicillin will not even slow it down. With draxxin its only 1.1cc per hundred weight. Which a vet will sell you a dose per calf when you need it. Which should be under $10. Nuflur is a older drug and you use more cc's and retreat in 3 days still will fall into the unser $10 for a 200 calf. Its been so long since I have used Micotil that I will not even touch base on the cost or the amount. Also a bottle of Sustain3 calf boluse for the sulfa. Alot of times you can just get by by giving the Sustain 3. The S3 can be gotten at a farm supply store. Which I would say if you buy any calfsits always good to have them on hand just incase.
Bob
 
61 - 80 of 209 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top