Getting Calves on Saturday

[ChickenLittle]

I found a place to get Jersey bull calves and will be picking them up on Saturday and bringing them home. The previous owner has castrated them for us and is dehorning one of them. They will be about a week old, one may be a little bit older as he was already born when I called her last week. I will be feeding milk replacer to them until weaning but I want to raise these as grass fed beef cows. What do I need to know to be able to do this?

Also Milk Replacer up here is about 108 dollars for the good stuff which is a bit pricey. How much am I going to need per calf from the time I get them until weaning?

Any other help would be great. This is my first attempt at raising calves for meat and I want them to have a great life here. Most of my property is fenced in so they have access to lots of grass and I do have good quality 2nd cut hay I feed to my horse that I can feed them over winter.

Speaking of winter as it starts to get colder do I need to worry about using a heat lamp with them or will they be okay without one. Our highs for this week are around 65 degrees and lows in 40's at night.

I live in Vermont so it will get a lot colder by the end of October. They should be about 6 weeks at that time.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Hey neighbor! I'm also in VT!

Where are you finding MR for $108? I think we were paying about $80. Granted, that was this spring. Prices could have gone up since then. I think I figured it was approximately 1 bag per calf per month (assuming you feed according to the directions and it is a big bag).

We do grass fed beef too and we also use dairy breed bull calves. In the past we've always butchered when they were about 18 months old, but we are going to try growing them out longer this time. We'll keep them over this winter and butcher in the spring.

I wouldn't give your calves a heat lamp. Just make sure they have a good place to get out the weather.

 

[ChickenLittle]

Hey neighbor! I'm also in VT!

Where are you finding MR for $108? I think we were paying about $80. Granted, that was this spring. Prices could have gone up since then. I think I figured it was approximately 1 bag per calf per month (assuming you feed according to the directions and it is a big bag).

We do grass fed beef too and we also use dairy breed bull calves. In the past we've always butchered when they were about 18 months old, but we are going to try growing them out longer this time. We'll keep them over this winter and butcher in the spring.

I wouldn't give your calves a heat lamp. Just make sure they have a good place to get out the weather.

Hey you're not to far from me I am about 20 minutes from Charlotte .

I found the milk replacer at Agway and the only other milk replacer I was able to find is either full of antibiotics or soy and I wanted to try and feed the replacer that is only milk proteins nothing else added. It is a 50lb bag so I am hoping it will last for a while for each at that price. I don't like to give medicine unless it is needed and I don't like feeding soy at all to any of my animals.

I was reading on here and a lot of people were saying that they feed less than the directions on the bag to prevent scours. The directions says 1 cup of replacer powder to 2 quarts of water twice a day per calf. I am thinking I am probably going to start them out on half that for the first week or two?? Not sure if that's right or not but I really don't want them getting sick. We are still tossing around the idea of processing them earlier than 18 months maybe at a year but not sure how well that will go for Jerseys. I picked them because they are a bit on the smaller side and finding room for 500lbs of beef will be easier than 1000lbs lol. I just messaged the owners she is selling all her excess bull calves for $20 each and did the castrating and dehorning on one for an extra $40 more. so not too bad.

Do you keep calves over the winter? What type of hay do you feed?

 

[Ropada]

Hi There

I just saw your comments on milk replacer and scours. My experience is with goats but if fed at the recommended ratio scours is a given. What I always did was just add more water, maybe 25% more. Important to change the ratio but not the actual amount of replacer you are feeding

 

[ChickenLittle]

Hi There

I just saw your comments on milk replacer and scours. My experience is with goats but if fed at the recommended ratio scours is a given. What I always did was just add more water, maybe 25% more. Important to change the ratio but not the actual amount of replacer you are feeding

The recommended ratio on the bag is 1 cup of powder to 2 quarts of water. I am thinking that since my calves are Jerseys that I can probably get away with 1/2 that per calf at least to start. So I would mix the feed with 2 quarts of water and then split it in half and do 1/2 for each calf.

Not sure I understand what you are saying about adding more water..so you keep the amount of replacer powder you use the same and just add more water as they grow?

 

[jhm47]

Since this is your first attempt at raising calves, I'd like to make a few suggestions for you. Here goes:
1. Start them on 1/2 whole milk from the supermarket, and 1/2 milk replacer for the first day.
2. Don't be afraid of the milk replacer with the antibiotics. It will help to reduce the possibility of scours for the first month or so.
3. Do use the 100% milk protein replacer. I'd look for places that sell the same quality for less $$$.
4. You did well in having them castrated and dehorned. Dairy bulls are notoriously dangerous, even at a young age.
5. Keep their bedding dry and deep, and keep their quarters draft free. They will be healthier and you won't need a heat lamp.
6. Start them on a good quality starter ASAP. Getting some solids into them will help to reduce the incidence of scours.
7. Keep them hungry. Give them 3/4 of the recommended amount for the first week, and gradually increase to full amount.
8. When you feed them, give them 3/4 of the powder and 3/4 of the water that's recommended. Don't cut the powder and feed full amount of water. These are Jerseys, and their digestive systems are not as big as other calves.
9. Let them eat a bit of hay ASAP. Our calves on pastures are eating grass as early as one week of age.
10. If they start to look sick, get help immediately. I've seen calves go downhill and die in less than 12 hours, so quick treatment is essential.
11. I'd be somewhat flexible on "grassfed" Jerseys. Jerseys are notoriously "hard keepers", and probably won't grow to their potential without some grain. Some species of grasses have less nutrient value than others, and since Jerseys don't have a lot of body capacity, they may not be able to eat enough to grow and put on muscle/meat. This is why I would not rule out feeding some grain.
12. If you have trouble, ASK QUESTIONS of someone who has lots of experience with cattle.
13. Good luck!!!

 

[ChickenLittle]

Thank you JHM47 that helps a lot.

We are going to use hay for bedding rather than shavings as it allows for more air pockets and would hold the warmth better. They will be in at night when it is cold an out on pasture during the day so they can get to learning about grass right away. It seems that there is no hard or fast rule for the milk replacer. I have been reading online and each article I read has different information on it. I will definitely ask questions as they occur. The cool thing is that they had a whole week after being born with mom so they already have a pretty good start of it.

I am flexible on the "grass fed" portion. My main goal is to keep them healthy and happy and to provide good quality meat for my family. I have read that feeding lots of high corn or soy feed is not good for cows and actually makes the meat much less healthy for us to eat so if they need some feed I can find them some I will just make sure I shop around a bit and find something healthy for them.

 

[jhm47]

If these calves have been on their respective cows for a week, I'd make doubly sure that they are switched over onto replacer gradually. Start with 1/2 and 1/2 and gradually increase the replacer till in a week they are on 100% replacer. The "good bugs" in their stomachs need time to acclimate, and this will give them time to adjust.

 

[ChickenLittle]

If these calves have been on their respective cows for a week, I'd make doubly sure that they are switched over onto replacer gradually. Start with 1/2 and 1/2 and gradually increase the replacer till in a week they are on 100% replacer. The "good bugs" in their stomachs need time to acclimate, and this will give them time to adjust.

I definitely will do that. We don't want them to have any problems at all. I get to meet the owner and her herd on Saturday when we go to get the babies so I can ask more questions. I know that she runs an organic operation and only keeps as many babies as she has stalls to put them in. Then each year she sells her extra babies for very cheap. I am considering the next year maybe getting a heifer calf as well and then breed her for the following year so I can have a cow to feed the baby rather than having to do it myself. I will have to plan a lot for that though.

 

[ChickenLittle]

We just put together the nipple buckets for feeding them. Kind of nice that they came with the nipples brackets and everything and were about the same price as the buckets that I bought that are that size without anything added.

Headed to get the milk replacer from Agway and will check out the calf starter prices as well while I am there.