New Calf, Any "I wish I had known" advice?

[Sycamore_Springs]

Hi All. I joined this site interested in goats. As it turns out, goats are on the back burner for now. My husband has been working hard to expand our pasture for my horse to move here this May and we got a call yesterday that someone had a bottle baby calf that needed a home. It is coming from a trusted source, so no worries there. My husband raised cattle as a teenager and had many bottle babies. It has been about 15 years, though.

We will be getting the calf tomorrow, at about 1 week old. We have a paddock for it and a small shed for it, so good to go on that front.

My husband is the one that is familiar with all of this, so I have no doubt we will do OK. I like to be prepared for everything, though.

My question for you veteran bottle baby calf raisers is:

What first time around advice do you have? Not the basics, really, but the stuff that no one told you? If you could go back to your first time around, what would you have done differently? Is there anything you would pay special attention to?

Wish us luck!!

 

[Latestarter]

Well... goats, calves, they all have hooves, right? Grats on the new addition!

 

[jhm47]

DO. NOT. OVERFEED. A hungry calf is a healthy calf. This calf will be bottle fed for several more months, and when it finishes it's bottle it will act VERY hungry. That is because it's brain tells it that it needs to suck longer, while it's stomach is actually full. The sucking instinct is very strong, and many people think that since a calf is still acting hungry that they should feed it more. This will cause scours, and can cause calves to die. Good luck!

 

[Sycamore_Springs]

Thanks! We are being careful not to. Right now it only finishes a bit over 3 pints, twice a day. It was a twin and seems to be a bit on the smaller side. It takes a while to finish what it does, but does suck aggressively.

 

[raeleigh26]

Watch him. Often. That fleeting half-thought that something is off,when there's no evidence of anything wrong can only be developed when you take the time to know when everything is right, and their health can go from perfectly fine to nearly dead in a couple of hours.
Have all the supplies for the worst case scenario on hand. You don't want to be searching for scours bolus at 11pm on a Sunday.
Test the temp of the milk. Don't guess. A few degrees too cool can chill him and that opens up the door to all kinds of problems.
That adorable baby head butting you for his bottle will be a scary and dangerous baby very soon, don't allow him to bully you, set rules and boundaries now, his mother would.
Avoid anything that causes the dead calf flop at all costs, stress invites illness.
Introduce grass, feed, hay, mineral as soon, but gradually, as possible, and make changes slowly.
Keep the grounds clean, calves will nibble, chew, and eat anything that catches their eye, including a Styrofoam cup, plastic bag, metal cotter pin, or baling twine. I had a calf almost eat a balloon that flew into my field, another pulled a chain off the gate and was chewing on it (it was small enough to swallow, I now wire the gate chains to the gates)

 

[Ferguson K]

If you think it can't fit, it can. Calves are escape artists, especially when there's not an adult to show them the way.

 

[cjc]

I had my first calf born at the farm last year. I wish I would have done the proper vaccinations. I ended up losing one of the two we had born at the farm last year.

I wish I would have vaccinated her and cleaned her navel better. She died from a navel infection. very sad

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry to hear of your loss. Some learning experiences, especially with animal husbandry, are not a lot of fun...

 

[greybeard]

A young calf will not recognize dangers thru instinct alone. Normally, the momma will try to keep it safe, but a bottle calf will rely on you to do this. Above all else--be there!
Sometimes, not even the momma can prevent harm.

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry Greybeard...