farmerjan
Herd Master
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2016
- Messages
- 11,560
- Reaction score
- 45,680
- Points
- 758
- Location
- Shenandoah Valley Virginia
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.
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.
