Hereford/Holstein X

[Auntina]

Oh oh....I have a problem with one of the calfs. She is refusing to eat today. She is tonguing the nipple, chewing on it and pushing it to the side of her mouth. She refused this morning, at noon and again this evening. I normally feed 2x a day but since she didn't eat, I made an attermpt at noon.
I just saw her wandering and sniffing around the barn. I ran to the house and made a 1/2 bottle, came back out, she was lying down. Tried to pick her up but she refused to stand.....and refused to eat again. Her stools are yellow, soft, not watery. My hubby thinks I need to give her some Penicillin just in case. I have no idea if I should or how much to give her. Subcutaneous or intramuscular? 20g or 18g needle? Any suggestions or am I in a panic for nothing?


I'm not positive but I believe she is 5 to 6 days old

 

[Cricket]

See you resolved your issue in the Emergencies section--good news!

WRB, I am sorry--I thought you were joking about the Hay Converters--interesting article!

Aggie--and I get grief for eating my friends?! That is a great picture!

 

[Auntina]

Cricket: Hopefully the issue is resolved. Now my other two aren't eating....lol Good advice on this site. Happy to be here. Also, the "Hays Converters" kind of caught me off guard, too. Loved reading about them.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Cricket: Don't worry about it. You're not the first to have that kind of reaction to that breed name lol. Always learn something new every day.

 

[Bentleyhomestead]

Considering Hereford Holstein crosses. What do you think a good price on them would be at a year old. How many months till they finish. If I get them at a year old would they be ready this fall. Would they take longer to bulk up?

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Considering Hereford Holstein crosses. What do you think a good price on them would be at a year old. How many months till they finish. If I get them at a year old would they be ready this fall. Would they take longer to bulk up?

Just think of it this way: If Hereford is on one extreme and dairy is on the other, then you'd have it meet in the middle. You would have a steer that still needs to be grained, but just not as much as a pure Holstein steer would. I also believe that a Herf-Holstein cross steer may finish at around 18 to 24 months (no different than from a Hereford steer or "regular" beef steer) of age--though it really depends on what weight (or how much meat) you want from that steer.

Prices also depend on weight at purchase. You'd probably have to expect the price for a dairy-cross steer to be around the same (or a little lower) as with a "lower quality" beef steer.