# Gift from the Neighbour



## cjc (Mar 20, 2017)

Just wanted to share a gift we got from the neighbor yesterday! Our neighbours daughter usually raises Jersey Heifers for 4H club but decided this year that she wanted to raise sheep instead. They had already bred one of their girls to sexed semen and their cow gave birth to a Jersey Heifer Calf 5 days ago. They called us and asked us if we could raise her, so of course I said yes 

We named her Sassy. I am working on grabbing another angus bottle calf to give her a buddy. I was going to take it easy on bottle calves this year but this just may have started something


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## babsbag (Mar 20, 2017)

Why are calves so cute? I was at a dairy last weekend and there were about 6 of them in huts and I wanted to smuggle them all home.  Those eyes are dreamy.


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## CntryBoy777 (Mar 20, 2017)

I've always loved the look of a Jersey calf, so sweet. If I were to have some cows, I'd have to have a couple of Jerseys.


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## cjc (Mar 20, 2017)

@babsbag @CntryBoy777 calves are adorable and especially jerseys. I got my first jersey last year and now I have 3. They all have the funniest personalities.


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## Southern by choice (Mar 20, 2017)

Congrats! That is fantastic! So sweet!


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## Poka_Doodle (Mar 20, 2017)

Such a great gift!!!


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## babsbag (Mar 20, 2017)

The ones at the dairy were Jerseys. There was one with white patches that was really sweet, sucking on my fingers. Of course he only sells the bull calves so it would be hard for me to raise them from a baby and then eat them. I would rather have a cow and let her raise them and let me stay more detached. I could milk her, use the bulls for meat and sell the heifers or swap heifers for bull calves. I have it all figured out...now the time and the facilities.


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## cjc (Mar 20, 2017)

babsbag said:


> The ones at the dairy were Jerseys. There was one with white patches that was really sweet, sucking on my fingers. Of course he only sells the bull calves so it would be hard for me to raise them from a baby and then eat them. I would rather have a cow and let her raise them and let me stay more detached. I could milk her, use the bulls for meat and sell the heifers or swap heifers for bull calves. I have it all figured out...now the time and the facilities.



It's hard not to get attached I get that! My jersey this year had a bull calf and he is now a pet. Cant seem to part with the little guy.

I just picked up an Angus bottle calf, paid way too much for, it...$400 for a 2 week old Angus. I am getting him at 4pm, I will upload some pictures later.


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## TAH (Mar 20, 2017)

Congrats on the heifer! 

Love the eyes


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## Chickens (Mar 20, 2017)

Dang it now i wanna cow lol


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## samssimonsays (Mar 20, 2017)

CONGRATS! SHE IS DREAMY!


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## Goatgirl47 (Mar 20, 2017)

Beautiful! Congrats!


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## cjc (Mar 20, 2017)

Got Sassy a little buddy!


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## babsbag (Mar 21, 2017)

Sassy will like that.   I like raising everything in pairs or more. I have a preemie goat baby right now in the house and he is alone. I am thinking of pulling another kid and bottle raising it just so he will have a buddy. I need to wait a few more days and make sure that he is going to make it before I add another bottle kid for no good reason.  

I don't have pasture unless we were to plant and irrigate and it cost $$$ to run the well so I can't keep cows as pets. I am pushing it even thinking of a milk cow. I saw an ad for a bred milking shorthorn with a 4 month old calf for $600.00. Of course they "say" she milks well, is an easy keeper, etc. but for that price all four of my eyes had better be open. But what it did is start my thinking about a cow...again.


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## Baymule (Mar 21, 2017)

I love cows and especially love calves. Adorable!


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## farmerjan (Mar 21, 2017)

So, I have to ask. Is she a GIFT or a can you raise this FOR US ? kind of thing?   Boy, it'd be nice for most people to have a "give it to you" neighbor like that!!!!  She is cute, I have never had a jersey that wasn't cute. 
You really paid for that angus calf.  Here hol bull calves are in the $60. range and beef calves when you can find them are anywhere from $50 to $150.  Saw one go through the stockyards that the momma died for $15.  a couple of weeks ago.  I should've bought it, but didn't want it to be a month or more old when this heifer calved.
I am now keeping my eye open for one as I have a 1/2 jer 1/2 hol heifer due in the next month.  Bull bred to an angus so am not sure of an exact date.  She is not real friendly, so it may be a bit of a battle, but I will try to put calves on her.  She does come right to the gate to come in for grain, which I am giving her a little so that I can get her to keep coming in.  Got to get a neck chain on her this week and see if I can get her to go in the head catch so that I can work with her.  I will take her calf away as soon as she calves so that I can convince her to take a couple more grafted on her.  Then I will bring her in to her calf and get a couple more on her and bring her in and out for a couple weeks until she accepts them, then they will be able to go out with her.
She wasn't supposed to get bred this soon, I planned for her to have an early fall calf, hoping that my ankle/knee issues would be doing a little better.  Oh well,  you do what you gotta do.


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## farmerjan (Mar 21, 2017)

babsbag said:


> Sassy will like that.   I like raising everything in pairs or more. I have a preemie goat baby right now in the house and he is alone. I am thinking of pulling another kid and bottle raising it just so he will have a buddy. I need to wait a few more days and make sure that he is going to make it before I add another bottle kid for no good reason.
> 
> I don't have pasture unless we were to plant and irrigate and it cost $$$ to run the well so I can't keep cows as pets. I am pushing it even thinking of a milk cow. I saw an ad for a bred milking shorthorn with a 4 month old calf for $600.00. Of course they "say" she milks well, is an easy keeper, etc. but for that price all four of my eyes had better be open. But what it did is start my thinking about a cow...again.



A pair like that at $600. is a good deal around here.  I would jump on it if it were here, providing she didn't have any obvious faults.  If she weighs 1000 lbs she is worth .50 to .70 a lb as a cull cow so she is worth the price alone here .  Don't know what your prices are out there.


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## cjc (Mar 21, 2017)

farmerjan said:


> So, I have to ask. Is she a GIFT or a can you raise this FOR US ? kind of thing?   Boy, it'd be nice for most people to have a "give it to you" neighbor like that!!!!  She is cute, I have never had a jersey that wasn't cute.
> You really paid for that angus calf.  Here hol bull calves are in the $60. range and beef calves when you can find them are anywhere from $50 to $150.  Saw one go through the stockyards that the momma died for $15.  a couple of weeks ago.  I should've bought it, but didn't want it to be a month or more old when this heifer calved.
> I am now keeping my eye open for one as I have a 1/2 jer 1/2 hol heifer due in the next month.  Bull bred to an angus so am not sure of an exact date.  She is not real friendly, so it may be a bit of a battle, but I will try to put calves on her.  She does come right to the gate to come in for grain, which I am giving her a little so that I can get her to keep coming in.  Got to get a neck chain on her this week and see if I can get her to go in the head catch so that I can work with her.  I will take her calf away as soon as she calves so that I can convince her to take a couple more grafted on her.  Then I will bring her in to her calf and get a couple more on her and bring her in and out for a couple weeks until she accepts them, then they will be able to go out with her.
> She wasn't supposed to get bred this soon, I planned for her to have an early fall calf, hoping that my ankle/knee issues would be doing a little better.  Oh well,  you do what you gotta do.



She is a gift that I get to keep . They just wanted to make sure she went to a good home,it wasn't worth the few hundred dollars they would get for her. Their daughter really loves the mother of this calf so the daughter insisted her dad call me and ask me if I would take the calf.  I have his daughters 4H cow from last year as well. They are great neighbours to say the least!

Ya did I ever pay for that calf haha. My husband is half Chinese so we have been calling the calf Guí Li, said like Gway La. Means too expensive haha. Oh well, he is a dam good looking Angus calf that's for sure.


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## farmerjan (Mar 22, 2017)

That's wonderful that she is yours to keep.  And if the angus works out, he is well offset by the jersey heifer.....will you be able to eat him?  or sell him?  
My jer/hol cross surprised me a bit early, has a heifer calf and now I am trying to find a couple of bull calves to graft on her.  No one I trust has any bull calves....that never happens...usually can find a couple.  Got a few more phone calls out, there are some farms that I won't get calves from as they always have issues and I am not intending to have sick ones or to bury them.  The new momma has a pretty decent udder and I don't want to have issues with mastitis or have to milk due to my crazy schedule right now, so calves are the answer...if I can find a couple.  Always something.  We had beautiful warm 65* yesterday, then it got windy and is supposed to drop into the 20's tonight.  Then 70's by the weekend.  Never seen anything this up and down that I can remember.


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## cjc (Mar 22, 2017)

farmerjan said:


> That's wonderful that she is yours to keep.  And if the angus works out, he is well offset by the jersey heifer.....will you be able to eat him?  or sell him?
> My jer/hol cross surprised me a bit early, has a heifer calf and now I am trying to find a couple of bull calves to graft on her.  No one I trust has any bull calves....that never happens...usually can find a couple.  Got a few more phone calls out, there are some farms that I won't get calves from as they always have issues and I am not intending to have sick ones or to bury them.  The new momma has a pretty decent udder and I don't want to have issues with mastitis or have to milk due to my crazy schedule right now, so calves are the answer...if I can find a couple.  Always something.  We had beautiful warm 65* yesterday, then it got windy and is supposed to drop into the 20's tonight.  Then 70's by the weekend.  Never seen anything this up and down that I can remember.



I am not sure what I will do with the little guy. Likely sell him as a yearling. Our other neighbours usually try and pick up a cow or two off of us to raise for the farm status we get in BC. If you have 2 cows on your land you don't have to pay property tax...for the most part.

Question for you on my jersey heifer calf. I let them run around in our riding arena during the day...it is for horses of course but we don't ride anymore so it has become a bottle calf paradise. The riding arena is filled with sand. The silly calf keeps eating the sand! I called another calf raiser and she said she probably just wants something gritty in her stomach and she has access to hay and grain both of which she is putting in her mouth. I can't leave her in the riding arena because I just cant get her to stop eating sand! Any idea? The only thing that comes up on google is that she is missing something in her diet, but what is she missing?!


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## Baymule (Mar 22, 2017)

I had lambs eating dirt from fresh gopher mounds. I had some Azomite that I bought to mineralize the soil in the garden, so I offered them some. They licked it right up. It is rock dust from an ancient lava flow, from Utah. I now keep it out for all the sheep. I bought it on Amazon.

http://www.azomite.com/


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## greybeard (May 17, 2017)

cjc said:


> Question for you on my jersey heifer calf. I let them run around in our riding arena during the day...it is for horses of course but we don't ride anymore so it has become a bottle calf paradise. The riding arena is filled with sand. The silly calf keeps eating the sand! I called another calf raiser and she said she probably just wants something gritty in her stomach and she has access to hay and grain both of which she is putting in her mouth. I can't leave her in the riding arena because I just cant get her to stop eating sand! Any idea? The only thing that comes up on google is that she is missing something in her diet, but what is she missing?!


I know this is an old question, but it's not neccessarily something the calf 'needs' as what it wants. Most sand naturally has a fairly high % of salt content in it (compared to dirt or soil) , as well as other small particles of various minerals.   It is not unusual for any bovine to choose to ingest salty substances even if their rumen is full of forage and/or feed, and even if they have salt/mineral available to them in more traditional forms. 
The calf may be eating the sand simply because it likes the taste of the salt or other mineral, whether the calf is deficient in that regard or not.


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