# when to transition from bottle to bucket?



## farmgirl (Mar 25, 2009)

I would like to know when to transition my calves to a bucket.  They are two weeks old, and do very well at the bottle, with no problems, they both finish about the same time.  When should I start?


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## wynedot55 (Mar 25, 2009)

you can start trying to get them to drink out of the bucket now.


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## Farmer Kitty (Mar 25, 2009)

I switch my calves at 3-4 days old so, go ahead anytime now.


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## JerseyXGirl (Mar 25, 2009)

Do you have to transition from bottle to bucket or can you just wean them from the bottle?


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## wynedot55 (Mar 25, 2009)

no you can wean them from at bottle at 2 or 3 months old.


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## Farmer Kitty (Mar 25, 2009)

If you have water in front of them so they will learn to drink from the pail that way then you can keep them on the bottle. But, they will need the water pail as you can not get enough milk/milk replacer in the bottle as they grow older. It's also easier on you doing chores if they go on pail. 

One of the reasons I start my calves so early on the pail, besides ease of feeding, is sucking problems. We used to have trouble with the calves sucking each other. This can ruin udders and navels in a hurry. I found pail training early helped solve this.


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## Imissmygirls (Mar 26, 2009)

Kitty, that's a subject I don't recall reading about for the beginners: the dangers of allowing sucking on animal parts.   NEVER let them form any habit like that.
It's one of the reasons farmers use calf hutches: to separate them so they cannot suck.


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## Farmer Kitty (Mar 26, 2009)

Imissmygirls said:
			
		

> Kitty, that's a subject I don't recall reading about for the beginners: the dangers of allowing sucking on animal parts.   NEVER let them form any habit like that.
> It's one of the reasons farmers use calf hutches: to separate them so they cannot suck.


Another reason for calf hutches is isolation. If one calf gets sick they are not together and the illness is more contained. Even when they are set right next to each other.

I've always had our calves separate. We had issues though of calves even after weaning sucking. The jerseys were the worst. Tried the no suck contraptions and besides the fact that I hated them, they didn't work.


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## m.holloway (Mar 27, 2009)

Thats a fact. I still find sara-lu sucking on reba sometimes and thought about it. And they are 16 months. Yes farmer kitty, reba with the leg prolbem, As soon as it's day light I'll look for what you said. And yes it has to be on a weekend. Where are the vets than???Sara-lu even does it when I even put the fly stuff on her. I thought it would taste bad. But when I got them at 7 month, I was learning so much other stuff that I didn't notice that. But now that I have more hands on them I notice reba teats are sometimes winkley. Weird Cows.


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## dfunnyfarm (Mar 27, 2009)

How do you transion from the bottle to the pail?


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## Farmer Kitty (Mar 27, 2009)

I use the nipple from the bottle and give it to the calf. Then gently push their nose into their pail. DH uses his fingers and lets the calf suck them and then gently pulls their nose into their pail. Either way your holding the pail in one hand and dealing with the calf with the other hand. Either works it's just a matter of individual preference.


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## Imissmygirls (Mar 27, 2009)

Yes, Kitty, Jerseys ARE the worst for sucking.  For the uninitiated: sucking on immature udders/teats can cause mastitis at best and blind teats at worst.  You don't want it to happen!
In nature, calves are nibbling grass like momma to fulfill their mouthing urges. I liked to pasture my calves asap to help with the sucking, but that is not always possible. ( Winter?)  So separation is the best thing and I would agree with Kitty that changing to bucket asap helps them forget sucking too.
When I was ahem... young.. we never used the bottles at all. Calf went right on the bucket after initial nursing on the cow.  
THere was some research done on the sucking reflex and how the saliva that is produced during sucking ( that slimy slimy stuff) helps the calf's digestion and is necessary and desirable for calf health.


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## tamspring (Mar 28, 2009)

I hear there is a milk replacer grain out there that you can give to a calf? when should you do that/ I have a calf that is month and a half she is drinking two bottles in the morning and two at night. she always seems hungry.


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## Farmer Kitty (Mar 28, 2009)

What breed is she?

First, I would recommend putting that calf on a pail and off the bottle. 

Second, yes she can have calf grain. Start with a little bit in front of her and move up until she gets to roughly 5-6 pounds a day(assuming she is a large breed). At that point you can add some good quality hay and wean her from the milk replacer. Your local farm supply store, feedmill, feed store should carry it.


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## wynedot55 (Mar 28, 2009)

she is the right age tobe slowly introduced to a calf starter feed.an slowly increase her feed to 5 or 6lbs a day unless she is a small breed calf.an then if a small breed 3 or 4lbs a day.


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## farmgirl (Apr 1, 2009)

Update, today I decided to transition my two boys to the bucket, It was not as easy as I thought or remembered.  I put their bucket in front of each one and put the milk replacer in their buckets, it took me 3X as long to feed today, but it will get better.  I led them to their milk with my fingers, at times I put their nipple in their but they would take it out and suck on it, so fingers it was, they both drank all their replacer with a lot of resistance from T-Bone, but I stuck with it.  My question is do they do the same if they drink the same amount from a bucket as from a bottle.  What about that grain with milk replacer . My boys went outside in a confined area for the first time on Saturday, and did they kick up their heels


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## Farmer Kitty (Apr 1, 2009)

They should get the same amount of milk replacer as they did with the bottle. 

If you  haven't started them on calf grain yet, go ahead and start them. Large breeds goal is 5-6 pounds of grain a day. Small breeds 4 pounds. When they reach that then you can add hay and wean them to water. As they eat more and more grain decrease their milk replacer amount that you add to the water.


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