skinny bottle calves

You could weigh them....use a bathroom scale, pick one up and weigh both you and the calf, then weigh just you. Keep track of the weight, the amount of milk and grain, write it down and do this on a weekly basis? I've never had a bottle calf, so I'm just guessing, but I think that's what I'd do if I were concerned.

thank you! also i tried the bathroom scale thing and lets just say it didn't go so well haha

how much do you think i should be feeding them?

I feed 3 pints per feeding. Once they are around 30 days old I boost the amount to 4 pints per feeding. Everyone has their own feeding routine, that's just mine. If your calves are dropping solid manure than your routine works for you....Hug your calves and try not to worry so much....Topside

topside1 said:

I feed 3 pints per feeding. Once they are around 30 days old I boost the amount to 4 pints per feeding. Everyone has their own feeding routine, that's just mine. If your calves are dropping solid manure than your routine works for you....Hug your calves and try not to worry so much....Topside

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A lot of folks follow the instructions on the milk replacer bag. All calves aren't the same. I, like you, have never started out a brand new calf with the full recommended ration. And you cannot go with any feedback from how much they want, as you know.

To @caroline rayburn , those calves look just fine. And if you already have them consistently eating starter feed, they may never need the whole 4 qt. ration. More experienced folks around me will have a one 50 lb. milk replacer ration per calf until weaning. I have never managed that. But, if they are eating high-protein/high-energy starter already, you are ahead of my typical progress.

They look like nice calves to me. We always start our bummers with 4 quarts per day split between morning and night with calf mana as soon as their able and have never had a problem

thank you everyone, their supposedly about a month old now so should i up their feeding? sorry im not very educated on this