Calf Watch...Guess with me....

[babsbag]

I just don't have the pasture to support more than one so breeding is out of the question. Even getting one will depend on whether or not we get the land next to us and then the pasture will have to be irrigated. Grass fed beef will mean that the grass comes in a bale. We will see. I may take these bottle calves and raise them to weaning and sell them and get my beef for the freezer else where. It also depends on my goats and the dairy and if I am in production or if I have milk coming out my ears again.

 

[Goatgirl47]

I'm sorry that you didn't get a heifer, but at least he's healthy and the birth went well! Congratulations!
We have found out that bull calves are slower then heifers to find out where the teats are. Heifers also tend to get up quicker right after they are born.
He does look small to me, but that might be because this year we've just had fat beef cross heifers.
You might have already said this, but what did you name him?

 

[cjc]

Lucky you--a bull calf!! If I tried getting that close to one of my beefmaster momma's calves once she got on her feet, she'd had me for lunch. don't ask how I know this......

See now that's the kind of calving I am used to!

 

[cjc]

I'm sorry that you didn't get a heifer, but at least he's healthy and the birth went well! Congratulations!
We have found out that bull calves are slower then heifers to find out where the teats are. Heifers also tend to get up quicker right after they are born.
He does look small to me, but that might be because this year we've just had fat beef cross heifers.
You might have already said this, but what did you name him?

Thank you! That's interesting because I just spent the past hour showing him how to get lunch! He just doesn't get the teat all the way in his mouth and she's literally leaking! I've just been straddling him and helping him nurse, holding his mouth around the teat and his tail just goes crazy happy. I will do that 3x a day for the next few days until I am confident he is getting it on his own, if not ill milk her. He sure is small! It is her first calf though and yes, my calves are usually 100lbs at birth, I would put this guy at 40lbs. He is the same size as my 35lb dog. But that being said my beef cows are over 2,000lbs and this Jersey is probably 1,000lbs. She keeps kicking the calf off though which is just frustrating the hell out of me.

No name yet! Gotta think about that one.

 

[cjc]

I just don't have the pasture to support more than one so breeding is out of the question. Even getting one will depend on whether or not we get the land next to us and then the pasture will have to be irrigated. Grass fed beef will mean that the grass comes in a bale. We will see. I may take these bottle calves and raise them to weaning and sell them and get my beef for the freezer else where. It also depends on my goats and the dairy and if I am in production or if I have milk coming out my ears again.

Yes I always wonder what is the best time to sell our bottle calves. Problem is we are coming up to winter now and if we don't have them sold in the next few weeks you will probably have to wait until next spring. Not many people are in the market for a calf during the winter or any new cow that isn't slaughter ready for that matter.

 

[Bernard]

Congrats, that cow is somewhat underweight, She has very little reserves. When she hit peak production she is gonna be pulling completely off her back. you need graining, beet pulp and alfalfa hay.

 

[cjc]

@Bernard thanks for the advice but I don't think so. Vet just saw her and he told me to lay off the grain!

 

[Goatgirl47]

Most Jerseys need grain to keep in good condition, but the dairy we got our Jersey/Normande cows from had 100 percent grass fed Jersey cows. They had very good genetics, and our Jersey/Normande cow whom we got from them is as fat as a beef cow (or fatter) and she gets no grain whatsoever and only a scoop of alfalfa pellets 3-4 times per week during milking.
Our old Jersey cow we used to have only needed 1-2 pounds of grain each day.
All that to say, it really depends on the genetics of the cow.
But I think it would be wise to give her some beet pulp each day.

Are you planning on milking and and drinking the milk or are you just going to give it to your bottle calves?

 

[farmerjan]

Most jersey calves will weigh in the 45-60 lb range, so the calf isn't that small and she is a first calf heifer. Don't let her go more than 2 days before you milk her at most, or she will start to slow down her production. I would milk her completely out now, freeze the colostrum for possible future problems, and take some of the pressure off the udder. Also, there is an udder cream that has mint oil, that helps the circulation and will take the edema out quicker if she stays swollen. Milking and massage will help the "hard tightness" leave quicker. If you don't milk her, she will develop mastitis. Dairy breeds are meant to be milked, not just by one calf. If she is kicking him off it is probably because she is sore, and they don't have the same instincts to mother them like most beef animals, so the sooner you get the milk flowing, and the pressure relieved, the easier it will be on her. Also, if she weighs 1000 lbs as a 1st calf heifer, she is of very good size. My first calf jersey heifers are usually in the 900 lb range at 2- 2 1/2 yrs. Most 1st calf holstein heifers are in the 1100 to 1200 range at 2 yrs old. Most mature jerseys will only weigh 1100-1300. They don't have the bone structure to carry a ton of weight. No they don't have the fat of a beef calf, but they can withstand a fair amount of cold so I wouldn't put any calf coat on him unless your temps are staying down in the 20's. If you want to push the production you can grain her, but right now I would only give her a little to keep her in a head catch or whatever you are going to use to milk her. If you are going to put other calves on her, do it asap. The jersey bull calf will only be able to drink about 1-2 qts a feeding for a week or two or he will scour. Then he will need a little more but they can't use near what it looks like she will produce. Calves sucking on her and butting her will also help to break up the edema and soften the udder as well as signal the need for milk letdown to the cows system.

 

[cjc]

It was suggested to me to stop feeding her grain 2 weeks before she calved so I did that, I actually gave her apples in its place. Now that she's calved I've given her some grain and lots of alfalfa, which she loves!

She has stopped kicking off the calf so that sounds right. I have helped the calf nurse 4x today so she probably felt the relief and stopped kicking him off. I did milk her out a bit today just to make sure all was working well and it was. I will milk her out some more tomorrow too I have a ton of frozen colostrum already so I'll probably just feed it to my bottle calves.

I am going to use her as a nurse cow so not for us. I have 4 calves under 4 weeks on a bottle so they will be happy! I will likely just milk her and bottle feed it to them my beef calves are just too large.

I actually milked her as she ate! She's totally ok with it. If she starts to need something like a head gate I'll just halter her. I actually don't have a head gate just a squeeze. First dairy girl! Never been able to use one as my beef cows are way too wild for just a head gate