# How long to bottle feed a claf



## Fairlight (Jul 10, 2009)

I am wondering how long do you bottle feed your calves for?

I am a sheep girl learning and raising 5 calves. It was 6 but one was put down at the beginning of this week  

Fairlight


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## Farmer Kitty (Jul 10, 2009)

I feed our calves milk replacer for 2 months. Mine go off the bottle and onto a pail at a few days old. We've had less sucking issues and it's easier to adjust the amount of water they get that way. 

Sorry to hear you lost one.


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## wynedot55 (Jul 10, 2009)

sorry thast you lost a calf.bottle raising calves can be tough sometimes.watch them very close for scours.an be ready to treat them if you have to.


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## Imissmygirls (Jul 10, 2009)

Standard length of time is 8 weeks. Sometimes it's 12 weeks if the calf is small or you want to finish a bag of milk replacer. I've heard of pushing them as young as 4 weeks, but I don't agree with that.

As with children, your mileage varies.  One large bag of milk replacer should last to wean 1 calf.  But maybe not in a cold winter when you are feeding 3 times a day.  
On a homestead situation where you are bucket feeding mama's milk? I'd go 8-10 weeks and make sure calf is eating good hay well, and 5 lbs of grain a day with plenty of water.
I can say that and then have a growthy spring calf with lots of fresh grass  and it weans itself at 6 weeks and wants nothing but water, grazing and a little grain. 
Know your animal and feed accordingly.
And I second MissKitty on the bucket issue. The very best thing I have found to prevent sucking is grazing from birth. Jerseys especially are sucky and giving them access to fresh grass gives them something to do with those tongues. Grazing babies is something homesteads can do that commercial farms can't do practically even tho it may be great for the calf.


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