How much to feed bottle calf?

[KDailey]

I got a bottle calf last week Monday, she was already 5 days old and hadn't been nursing well. It belonged to my boyfriend's grandpa and he didn't want to mess with it. It's a mixed heifer but probably has a good bit of Brahma in her although she is dark brown. Her name is Tootsie, short for Tootsie Roll, although now that she's eating better Ryan has started refering to her as "The Roll"

She was not eating well at all when we first got her, we practically had to force her to drink half a bottle twice a day. The only thing Tractor Supply had available was an "all species" milk replacer that had colostrum in it so that's what we got and it lasted about a week. When we ran out we got a big bag of calf milk replacer but it said to give it to calves 3 weeks and older. We had no other choice so that's what we bought. The second she tasted it she sucked it down lickity split! Apparantly she just didn't like the taste of the other stuff! lol.

So now she drinks a full bottle (2quarts) twice a day, morning and night but she always acts like she's still hungry and butts us and pulls at our pants legs.

How much should she be drinking and how do we know when to give her more each feeding and when to start her on grain/sweet feed?

 

[she-earl]

We feed our holstein calves 2 quarts twice a day. We also put calf starter feed and water in front of them right away. Some calves may have a little trouble going to complete milk replacer right away. If you see that her manure is beginning to look yellowish or loose, you may need to drop back a pint at each feeding to hopefully prevent a bad case of scours. The sooner she learns to eat the calf starter the better as this will help keep her from scouring. When she is six-weeks-old you could begin to wean her if she is eating the recommended amount of calf starter. She also could then have hay but don't give her fermented feeds as her stomachs aren't ready for that.

 

[redtailgal]

http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2952-bottle-calves

 

[Cricket]

Just remember if you increase, do it SLOWLY! I get 'caught' when I increase their milk and their stools seem fine for 2 feedings, then the on the 3rd one, they get loose stools.

 

[Cricket]

http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2952-bottle-calves

This is great, RTG!

 

[redtailgal]

Thanks Cricket! I'm glad that you liked it.