I have a Jersey bull calf "on order" ? as to feeding/vaccination

[redtailgal]

Jerseys can be more delicate than other breeds. I worked on a diary with holsteins, then on a diary with Jerseys, and while the holsteins were tough little boogers, the Jerseys needed more consistency in their routine.

Here are a couple articles that you may find helpful:

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

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

Others may do things differently, but this is what I have done for plenty of calves and it has always worked for me. Jersey's can be tough to start on the bottle. Some take right to it, but others, well, they wait until you have pulled your hair out before deciding to drink.

 

[Cricket]

I guess I should have said "I start them off at 1 qt per feeding 2x a day'. Then I keep tweaking it up until the poop starts to loosen up.

We had a couple of really tiny Jersey heifers born last year that did great on 2 Corona bottles of milk each feeding with a lamb nipple. I can't quite imagine what that would look like in a Hereford skin! (Last year I brought an unplanned calf home and my husband was having a bird. He finally realized I was saying 'calf' not 'cat'--wouldn't you think a cat would be easier to deal with?!)

Animalfarm, it's not just that bigger farms don't give enough colostrum, it's the timing, too. If I understand correctly, a calf is born with no protection against e-coli bacteria. So if he ingests poop before he gets a good colostrum feed, he WILL have bacterial scours. That will be compounded by overfeeding. But the e-coli actually destroys the lining of the stomach, so (I think) by the time they heal up, they're already old enough to wean. My heifer, Peanut, never got over a qt per feeding without her stools loosening--and I was only tweaking it up 1/2 cup to a time.

It's GREAT to have home-born and home-raised calves!

Patty, I'm getting my bull castrated and dehorned Wed.,--will ask my vet about vaccines. (Maybe we have the same vet) Good luck--we're always happy when someone gets a bull calf at the farm--good to know they'll have at least a little bit of the good life!