# First time bottle calf raiser, 1 or 2 and cost estimates?



## Ellie May (Oct 2, 2017)

Have raised lambs but am being given my choice of 1 or 2 jersey calves to raise for someone else. They will be about 2 weeks old when I get them. Can anyone give me a "rough" estimate of costs to raise 1 for 3 months or so, and would you suggest getting 2? I have been around single bottle lambs and they are VERY clingy and loud about being with their people, I wouldn't want a clingy calf bawling at me all day!


----------



## WyndSyrin (Oct 2, 2017)

I can speak from experience that having a single bottle calf will make that calf very clingy.  They won't bawl at you, but be prepared to teach that single calf what is and isn't acceptable. I have a 3month old and now a 2 month old calf and it is best to have two of them together. That way they will be well adjusted to other cattle.

To that end I would hope those calves are heifers and not bulls since that would not be a good first bottle calf. First thing I would do is look for a feed store that sells a20% protein/20% fat Milk replacer with Deccox. Figure about $50/bag and that will last you about a month if you only have one calf. You will need a Calf bottle that is 2quarts. You should feed him 2 bottles a day. If you want to give the calf some extra pep I suggest get a bottle of Dyne and put about 2 squirts in each bottle. At about 1month of age you will need to get some good quality calf starter. I use a combination of calf starter sweet feed and cracked corn. I put that in a large metal trash can and that mixture lasted 1 calf about 3 months. Total cost for the starter and sweet feed ~$30. Dyne is about $20 bottle. If you want to work on halter training the calf to make it easier to work with, then figure about $6 for a good nylon rope halter.

If I am forgetting anything I am sure there are others on here that can fill in the blanks with other things that you may want.


----------



## Ellie May (Oct 2, 2017)

What a great answer; thank you for taking the time to so thoroughly address all of my questions! You can be sure I will be back with more. In fact, I already have one ; ) Why would a bull calf neccesarily be tougher to raise? I will probably only be the foster mother for 3 months or so, would a bull (or hopefully steer) calf be tougher even at that young age? I had a 6 month old male calf for a while that ended up being castrated soon after I got him, I read that the testosterone wasn't going to kick in until somewhat later? Just a case of boys will be boys?


----------



## WyndSyrin (Oct 2, 2017)

First off I should say that both of my calves are male. the oldest one is already a steer and he has a very lovely personality to him. The younger calf has not been altered yet and he is already showing signs of being very stubborn. Bulls don't start being bulls til they are about 7months old, but it mostly depends on their personality on how crazy they will act. more so I would say that will bulls and to a lesser extent steers you need to make sure they understand that you are the boss and don't let them push you around. From what can tell you right now that they will start to get pushy when they finish their bottle. My two will head butt me, but I let them know very firmly that what they are doing is wrong with either an ear twist or a kick. Bear in mind a kick is what their momma would do so it won't hurt them, it will just tell them that what they are doing is not acceptable.

You will know when they truly show affection when they start to rub the side of their head up and down on your leg or they start to lick you. I have also started halter training both calves as a way to get them to accept human leadership. Something to consider

This is the name of the thread that started so you can see my two calves 
*My Calf experiance*


----------



## Ellie May (Oct 2, 2017)

Thanks again, will check it out. I've had a lot of animals all of my life and i'm pretty good at being boss (y).


----------



## cjc (Oct 4, 2017)

Get 2. I’ve raised a bottle calf on its own once for 1.5 months. He was lonely. Now I have to really watch myself with him in the field. He always try’s to mount me! The only one out of 14 I have I raised on the bottle that does that. 

For costs. It’s $80 here for a bag of milk replacer. I put 5 bags into each calf (lasts about 4 months) then I wean. I also feed grain. So with just feed it’s about $400-$500 a calf to get them to weaning age.


----------



## Ellie May (Oct 4, 2017)

Yes, I've signed on for 2. It's a rescue situation where apparently quite a few day old to 3 day old calves were basically left without food etc. The rescue jumped in, and are on top of it, and I'm assisting by fostering 2. A couple of the older ones have already died, and I am told several others have scours. I won't be taking them until next weekend (at which point the survivors will be 2 to 3 weeks old) am hoping that by that time they will be out of the woods? Or not...? I'm up for bottle feeding but maybe not full time intensive care...?


----------



## cjc (Oct 4, 2017)

Wtf is all I can say. Seriously what’s is wrong with some people?!? 

Bottle calves can be tricky when they get sick. Scours is common and usually easy to treat but it depends what’s causing it. There are a couple key things to look for in a bottle calf. 

A limp 
A hard navel. Will feel like a bullet under the skin 
A cough 
Runny, sunken in eyes 
Head down, looking like it’s mopping around 
A dirty, bald butt from scours 

All these things you can treat. When you get them keep them clean, dry and well fed. Offer grain, hay and fresh water always. Free choice. Do not over milk feed a jersey calf they get sick easier than other breeds. If they scour feed milk in the morning, electrolytes at lunch, milk at night. If they aren’t kept hydrated when they scour they will die. 

I think once you get them. Check them out and if you see anything I mentioned above, treat it ASAP. 

I think you’ll do just fine. I’ve had calves from back situations recover just fine


----------



## Ellie May (Oct 4, 2017)

Thanks, I haven't got all the details yet but apparently the situation was "deplorable". The rescue is working with a vet so they are getting every reasonable chance.


----------



## WyndSyrin (Oct 4, 2017)

I am in agreement with cjc; wtf is wrong with the people that chose to let those babies get in such shape. Makes me want to shut them in a 2X2' cell and leave them without food and water. Scours needs to be attend to ASAP. As soon as either of my Bottle babies got the squirts I was on it with Batryl, and Sulfa pills to treat then Electrolytes in their milk for at least 4 bottles. I use an electrolyte that is a powder that turns their Milk Blue.(Cue the Star Wars reference).  I second the motion to keep them Clean, Dry, and well fed. Having never dealt with Dairy breeds I will defer the expertise to those that know more. 

Being as they were practically starved, you will want to break up their feedings into smaller ones. Just as a bit of trivia a calf drinks from mamma about 1 gallon of milk a day. That is the same as giving it 2 2quart bottles a day. You will want to break that down into smaller feedings until they can take more. My oldest bottle calf Murray was in that situation at 11 days old and we gave him 4 half bottles a day for at least 2 weeks until we were sure that he was not scouring. Then we went to a full bottle in morning and a full bottle at night. We always had fresh water, a Salt/Mineral Block, a square hay bale, and either grain or calf starter available to him at all times.

Now if you should happen to get very attached( and believe me you can) what I have been doing for my boys is keep them on their 2/day bottle along with everything else. They will stay on that schedule until they are 7months old. Which will be January of 2018. My reason is this: IF it works for the cows out in our fields then that is good enough for me.


----------



## farmerjan (Oct 4, 2017)

cjc has raised several bottle calves and has dealt with a jersey.  I raise multiple bottle calves, have been doing it for over 40 years.  Mostly now I foster them on a couple of cows that I use as both milk and nurse cows.

Okay all that aside.  Since these are being treated by a vet due to the deplorable situation they came from, the vet's advice is what you should listen to first.  Since you have also raised bottle lambs then you know the basics.

People tend to over feed a jersey bottle calf in the beginning because they " are so cute and they look so hungry".... They are smaller than say a holstein or even most beef calves;  therefore, smaller stomach, smaller meals.  Yes 3 x a day feeding is preferable until they get eating good and aren't scouring.  1 to 1 1/2 qts per feeding is plenty.  Seriously.  If they were in a perfect world on their momma, they would be drinking a pint to a qt.  several times a day so their stomach would not be getting an overload of milk.

It is figured that a calf from birth to weaning will consume one bag of milk replacer.  That is in the neighborhood of $75.00.  You want an ALL MILK  milk replacer,  NOT soy based.  I for one do not use medicated milk replacer,  nor do I believe in feeding medication UNLESS the animal is sick;  not as a preventative.  These sound like they have a couple strikes against them so again,  DEFER to the vet that is involved.  They will be on milk for 6-12 weeks, depending on how much grain and hay they are eating.  You want to allow free choice consumption of the grain unless they are trying to eat it all in one minute. Say a small coffee can full twice a day (about a lb or so) and all the good grass hay they want.  Do not feed alfalfa to them this young, it can cause bloat.  Anything like orchard grass or any decent fine blade hay will do.  The hay helps their stomach evolve into the rumen and for the roughage, which will both slow down the speed that the feed travels through their system, but also to develop the microbes that will help them to digest it  and to get them to where they will have a cud to chew.

Again, talk to the vet that is treating them.  Do not mix the electrolytes in with the milk replacer;  it actually will act more like an enema.  Most all the packages say not to mix it in the replacer.  Feed one or the other, then a couple hours later you can feed the other without any problems.  Coccidiosis can cause scours, often shows up as some blood in the manure.  Again, these guys have probably had everything they could get so mostly I think that just getting them on a regular schedule of feeding and not too much at a time in the beginning, will be their best  chance of getting going.  I am sure since they are rescues, you will have to be in close contact with the vet or the group that rescued them in the beginning.  If you know bottle lambs at all, them common sense will get you through alot of this.


----------



## Ellie May (Oct 4, 2017)

Thanks for your thorough and informative advice, I'm sure I will be referring back to it repeatedly. Unfortunately, because the Jerseys were the older ones, 2 of those have already passed. Will see what I end up with, perhaps just Holsteins.


----------

