My angus cross Holstein bull calf is 6 days old. How much milk to water ratio shoul I feed him and how often. Also should I leave fresh water out for him. He seems like he is starving when I feed him. I am feeding him Dumor ultra milk replacer. 8 oz to one nursing bottle of water. And feed him in morning and afternoon. Can someone help me out. Thanks.
Weight and price of different cattle
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Sweetened
Herd Master
Farmeroak, you should start a new thread so people can help you there.
Cowguy, i think youve offended people and put them off. You asked for their opinion, they gave it, and you fought them on it. Now they are unwilling to be consults.
Price depends on your market. In the canadian prairies right now, you could probably get 900-1000 for your bull, even as a feeder. Cattle are going stupid here, cow calf pairs on angus are anywhere from 2500-8000 each; open heifers are 1200+, replacemrnts about the same. TWIN bottle calves (possible free martins) are selling for 6-800. Our dexter, had we not traded for her, with calf at side was 1500, and shes 14 years old.
You will have to figure out pricing yourself. Call some dairy barns and find out what their culls are going for (usually decent confirmation, sometimes registered, but only milking on 3 quarters or producing 3 gallons a day instead of 6 etc). Check the auction houses in your area for beef prices. Good luck. This is a great community, but they dont take kindly to feeling as though they waated time and effort where itll never be used.
Youd pay big money for that info from an ag specialist or breeder.
Cowguy, i think youve offended people and put them off. You asked for their opinion, they gave it, and you fought them on it. Now they are unwilling to be consults.
Price depends on your market. In the canadian prairies right now, you could probably get 900-1000 for your bull, even as a feeder. Cattle are going stupid here, cow calf pairs on angus are anywhere from 2500-8000 each; open heifers are 1200+, replacemrnts about the same. TWIN bottle calves (possible free martins) are selling for 6-800. Our dexter, had we not traded for her, with calf at side was 1500, and shes 14 years old.
You will have to figure out pricing yourself. Call some dairy barns and find out what their culls are going for (usually decent confirmation, sometimes registered, but only milking on 3 quarters or producing 3 gallons a day instead of 6 etc). Check the auction houses in your area for beef prices. Good luck. This is a great community, but they dont take kindly to feeling as though they waated time and effort where itll never be used.
Youd pay big money for that info from an ag specialist or breeder.
Thank you. Not sure how to do that. New to this site as well.
Sweetened
Herd Master
Welcome to the forum! I see you got it figured out, well done! Someone should be able to help you there.
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COWGUY1123
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Thanks sweetened
greybeard
Herd Master
I've also seen and heard of that Angus/Holstein cross sell very well as a steer at the salebarn. Same with 'some' heifers--the extra milking ability is seen as a plus. I personally wouldn't keep it as a bull to long-the Holstein influenced bulls aren't much better natured than a Jersey bull.
greybeard
Herd Master
I agree she looks much better than the others you posted, but as I said, I am not much of a dairy cattle guy. You would want to have a good look at her udder--from what little I can see of it, it looks pretty tight for a cow that's already had and (presumably) raised a calf at 3 years old. OTOH, being dairy they may have pulled the calf and sold it very early and milked her or didn't milk her and she dried right up.
yes--tip or remove her horns if you do buy her.
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COWGUY1123
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Thanks graybeard Im going to ask sometime this week to make sure that she is pregnant. He could have been talking about a different cow in a different field?????
Ridgetop
Herd Master
I'm with all those who replied already - get rid of the Holstein bull now and the Angus bull about a minute later! I am sorry to say that they are already too old for you to hold over for meat sale next year. They are worthless as breeding stock unless they have excellent pedigrees which on the Holstein should include annual milk weight yields of all his female relatives. Your Angus is also worth nothing without records since most cattler breeders buy breeding bulls with backfat records and scrotum girths, again on a majority of relatives. A recordless bull is not worth much. Your new Holstein bull calf should go into the freezer at 300lbs if you are keeping him on milk. Since you have the milk available bottle or pail feed the calf and make sure he is halter broke. Milk fed veal will bring your best profit on dairy bull calves. Don't try to raise dairy bulls or steers for beef and expect to make anything. First, a bull doesn't put on meat like a steer does. After you pour feed into him for a year or two you will not have that much more meat on him and will have spent a lot on feed. Plus bulls are hell on fences and with your cows around they will break down your fences to get to them when the cows are bulling. The problem is that you are trying to raise dairy bulls for meat. First, no rancher raises bulls for meat, only steers. Dairy bull calves are sent to the calf man and raised until 2-3 months on milk (the milk is usually bought cheap from the dairies because it is the milk from the cows on antibiotics, etc. that can't be sold to the creamery), hay and grain. Then they are sold as feeder calves. The buyer castrates them and raises them on pasture for another year. Then they are sold in large lots to the feedlot where they get grain for a few months until they are about 18-20 months old BUT the dairy breeds are mostly turned into hamburger for the big restaurant chains. The best beef will be a beef breed. You need to do some research into whether dairy cattle or beef cattle bring more money in your area.
If you want to keep doing the Holstein calf thing and can get them cheap ($l00 with a colostrum feed maybe) you can raise them 2 ways. First, for veal - feed only milk by bottle till 300 lbs then sell the calf. Line up buyers ahead of time then you can trailer straight to the butcher for them - figure the cost of time and gas and add it to the price you charge. The buyer is responsible for the slaughter fees, cut and wrap. Veal calves take more m ilk since they don't get any other feed. They are trickier to raise since their gut never develops properly - their milk stomach can only support them until about 3 months old so these need to be terminal calves. Second way for starter beef calves, feed milk but also add hay, plenty of fresh water, and 1 lb of grain per day. Make sure you raise at least 3 the same age all at a time. They get only 1 gal of milk daily, split into 2 feeds am & pm. At 2 months old take all 3 calves and sell at the auction as one lot. They will bring more in a lot of at least 3 calves the same age. If you feed properly and clean them upo for the auction you will get a good price for them. Most people sell their 2 month old calves dirty and with scours. If yours are clean, fat and healthy you will get angus prices for your young Holstein calves. Don't hold them beyond 3 months. The price drops at that point. With our dairy goat herd we raised calves and the cattle auction man told me how to get the best prices that way. I got top beef prices for my dairy calves at 2 months because they were glossy, fat and no scours. If I held them longer than 2 months I didn't get any more for them, and had an extra month of feed in them.
Stay away from bulls, they are too dangerous, and don't put on meat like a castrated animal does. One reason your cow is looking thin is that the milker is putting everything into the pail. She does need her hooves trimmed badly. Dairy breeds are built differently than beef breeds. Your dairy cattle should never look fat - if they look fat when milking they are probably not good milkers.
by
If you decide to ignore the advice of getting rid of the bulls, CASTRATE THEM ASAP. Bulls are dangerous and more trouble than they are worth which is why so many large dairies inseminate their cattle and just keep one bull as a backup cover. JHM is totally right - you do NOT want to breed that Holstein to any of your cows since they are Jerseys which are a small breed. Calving will kill the heifer and possibly the cow too. Even Holstein dairies breed all their heifers to small breed bulls like Angus or Jersey for first fresheners because Holstein bull calves are so large. If you want to raise cattle on pasture, buy some young beef steers (or calves that you can have the vet castrate for you) and raise them to about a year then sell them without putting them on feed. It will be cheaper and your gain will be higher.
Dehorn your cattle and make sure your cows have magnets. Hope this helps. With the 30 acres of kudzu pasture you might consider meat goats.
If you want to keep doing the Holstein calf thing and can get them cheap ($l00 with a colostrum feed maybe) you can raise them 2 ways. First, for veal - feed only milk by bottle till 300 lbs then sell the calf. Line up buyers ahead of time then you can trailer straight to the butcher for them - figure the cost of time and gas and add it to the price you charge. The buyer is responsible for the slaughter fees, cut and wrap. Veal calves take more m ilk since they don't get any other feed. They are trickier to raise since their gut never develops properly - their milk stomach can only support them until about 3 months old so these need to be terminal calves. Second way for starter beef calves, feed milk but also add hay, plenty of fresh water, and 1 lb of grain per day. Make sure you raise at least 3 the same age all at a time. They get only 1 gal of milk daily, split into 2 feeds am & pm. At 2 months old take all 3 calves and sell at the auction as one lot. They will bring more in a lot of at least 3 calves the same age. If you feed properly and clean them upo for the auction you will get a good price for them. Most people sell their 2 month old calves dirty and with scours. If yours are clean, fat and healthy you will get angus prices for your young Holstein calves. Don't hold them beyond 3 months. The price drops at that point. With our dairy goat herd we raised calves and the cattle auction man told me how to get the best prices that way. I got top beef prices for my dairy calves at 2 months because they were glossy, fat and no scours. If I held them longer than 2 months I didn't get any more for them, and had an extra month of feed in them.
Stay away from bulls, they are too dangerous, and don't put on meat like a castrated animal does. One reason your cow is looking thin is that the milker is putting everything into the pail. She does need her hooves trimmed badly. Dairy breeds are built differently than beef breeds. Your dairy cattle should never look fat - if they look fat when milking they are probably not good milkers.
by
If you decide to ignore the advice of getting rid of the bulls, CASTRATE THEM ASAP. Bulls are dangerous and more trouble than they are worth which is why so many large dairies inseminate their cattle and just keep one bull as a backup cover. JHM is totally right - you do NOT want to breed that Holstein to any of your cows since they are Jerseys which are a small breed. Calving will kill the heifer and possibly the cow too. Even Holstein dairies breed all their heifers to small breed bulls like Angus or Jersey for first fresheners because Holstein bull calves are so large. If you want to raise cattle on pasture, buy some young beef steers (or calves that you can have the vet castrate for you) and raise them to about a year then sell them without putting them on feed. It will be cheaper and your gain will be higher.
Dehorn your cattle and make sure your cows have magnets. Hope this helps. With the 30 acres of kudzu pasture you might consider meat goats.
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COWGUY1123
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thanks and the jersey up above that I am going to be getting will actually be a first time caller so she is actually a heifer
