When can I turn a bottle calf out to pasture

[Kettle Creek Cattle]

Hello all,

Being as though I'm new to raising a bottle calf, only ever raising feeders, I was wondering when I could put my calf out to pasture with the rest of my herd? Currently I have a 2 year old pregnant momma (Hereford), a 1 year old Hereford bull, 2 spring calves ( about 450 - 500lbs) and a baldie steer (that'll hopefully be going to freezer camp within the next week or so). My calf is currently 5 weeks old so I know I got a little while yet, I was just wondering when she could go out. Currently my pasture is not divided and I don't have a way to keep the other cows away from her when she goes out to the big yard lol

 

[farmerjan]

Let her out for a little bit when you are there. Watch the other cattle. They will want to see who/what she is. Some might pick on her, then they might not. She will want to run after being kept in. The 2 yearlings may want to play with her. Since she is a bottle baby, she ought to come to you for feed/bottles etc. so you ought to be able to get her in without too many problems. If they don't pick on her, she will just follow along and then you can call her to come in for her bottle and lock her in at night for safety and peace of mind.....
One thing, you really need to get the bull separated from the 2 yearlings. They will be coming in heat and will get bred too young. Seriously, most of ours will be in heat by a year old..... my jerseys have come in heat as early as 6-7 months old. You don't want them to have a short first heat and get bred. I have one family of very fertile beef cows.... 2 of them were bred while still on their mothers, before we weaned them, and then didn't know they were pregnant until too late to abort them; and they calved at 18 and 19 months..... they did okay, and raised the calf, but they are smaller cows and will never get any bigger now. Luckily they did not have any problems calving. But it stunted them. A heifer at 10 months, that gets pregnant, cannot grow and feed a fetus, then calve and milk and feed a calf without it taking a toll on her. You cannot feed her enough to make up for the drain on her system. Once the growth has been stunted, you cannot reverse it. Then there is the possibility of them having trouble calving. I like herefords.... but they are known to have bigger heads and shoulders... so a bigger concern for a too young first calf heifer to be calving.

Run the bull with the steer, and even the pregnant cow til she calves, but you need to get him separate. I don't advise bulls for someone with less than 10-20 cows because he works for a month and then is a freeloader for the other 10-11 months. And they get wanderlust when there is nothing interesting to keep them home (cows coming in heat). Is there is anyone you can rent a bull from instead of owning one.....or can you rent him out so that he is not there looking for trouble to get into? Renting a bull can be tricky since there is possible problems with STD's in cattle.... but a bull getting out can be a real problem too.
He is a good looking bull, but as he gets sexually mature..... meaning in his prime, he might be a problem. The best dispositioned bull can still become a PITA if he decides to go galavanting "looking for love". I don't want you to be surprised down the road. Bulls are a WHOLE DIFFERENT BALLGAME than steers.

 

[Kettle Creek Cattle]

Thanks for the great info! I do plan on fencing off a few acres for my bull and am gonna run a steer with him. It was supposed to be done this year but the election infection made it impossible for me to get any materials out to my place. Even now building and fencing materials are hard to come buy. I do have it lined up that he will be going to 2 different farms next year. I'd rather not have him, but I have no access to a vet to do AI anywhere. There isn't another cow within 40 or 50 miles of me so he'll just have to bang his head on a tree when he's done with my cows lol. Unless he wants to have a go with one of the cow elk that lurk around my property haha.
I was kinda banking on my yearlings and bull to mature around the same time and hoping that they hold off till the weather breaks and I can get some more fencing up. Basically, if I get rid of my bull, then I'll just have 4 heifers/cows that are freeloaders cause I won't be able to get them bred.
If he decides to turn into a jerk, or get out of the pasture then I'll move him to the freezer

 

[farmerjan]

As a yearling, your bull is fully functional and able to breed. We routinely use 15 month old bulls to breed. Don't use him on many cows.... 10-15.... but a bull can be functional at less than a year. Most farmers here won't keep or use a bull much past 6.... to me he is just getting real good.... and you can judge his offspring.

I get the not having access to a vet or other to do AI. I was not criticizing about the bull.... just wanted to make sure you were aware of some of the pitfalls. I think that you are doing good with not having been raised in a "cow" environment.

Any chance that either of the other 2 places could take him sooner? Solve your problem with the fences for a little bit and safeguard the heifers? It would be to your advantage to have him there to breed them all in the same time frame; better heats with more activity and then to have the calves all born about the same time.... easier to watch them closely for a couple weeks rather than a couple months.


I sure hope he stays nice and calm and not get wanderlust. Herefords overall seem to have a pretty laid back disposition. But you can understand "boys" when they get a one track mind...... Hope he just stands in the shade and says,,,, oh well, she feeds me good so no sense in banging my head on the tree......LOL

If you got the calves off a dairy... do they breed AI? Many farmers around here will go breed a neighbors "family cow" or if they have a few beef cows. I do AI for a couple families on occasion. If they breed their own AI it is not that big a deal to get them to get a few straws of hereford semen to use on yours..... might be an alternative. Let's just hope that he likes you too much to become a pain in the butt.....

 

[Kettle Creek Cattle]

Man...I sure am glad I found this site!! You've been very helpful. I definitely did jump the gun when I bought him. He was some girls 4h project and she raised him up from a bottle baby, had him halter broke and leading. Then the pandemic hit and the shows were all canceled for the year so her dad made her sell him. The sold him with his papers at a bargin price so I jumped on it before I really thought it through. Now I kinda like him. So far he's been nothing but calm. I do realize what hormones can do to his demeanor and I'm hoping he stays calm. But if he starts getting crazy I'll sell him or eat him.
My steer on the other hand....he's crazy as a loon and I cannot wait till he's frozen in my freezer haha. I was not looking forward to feeding him this winter, but again this stupid virus has the butcher shop all but shut down as well.

 

[farmerjan]

I admire that you are smart enough to know what you don't know. I have 50 years cattle experience and I still learn. I am not an expert.
A couple pointers to working with him. Do not rub or pet him face to face.... head on. Cattle assert their dominance with pushing. Bulls more so. I rub a couple of our bulls faces but do it from their side, standing next to him so he doesn't see you as any type of threat to his "standing - dominance". You have to make sure that you always are the dominant one in the way you handle him.....confident, not aggressive. Keep him used to the halter. Tie him so he learns he cannot get away from something if the halter is on. That may help you down the road if you are leading him or trying to "hold on to him". Most guys (and gals) that show bulls also have a nose ring. It is like a piercing.... and it hurts like he// if you pull on it. They lead with a halter, /rope and a rope attached to the nose ring and can have a good chance of stopping a bull if he gets unruly. So, it might be a suggestion down the road if you can find a vet to do it. But he is getting big so would have to be done in a chute and he would get his nose numbed.... think piercing your ears.
Nothing wrong with keeping him friendly, but you don't want a "lap dog" ; they have no idea of their own strength and can hurt you without even meaning to. NEVER turn your back on him to walk away from him. Walk at an angle and always keep him in the corner of your eye. This is really sound advice to handling most any cattle.
He can run faster than you can.... don't give him a reason to run after you.... even in play.

Our slaughter houses here have up to an 18 month backlog. Not looking to get any better. If you don't have a date for the steer you need to call and see what their lag time is and make your appt.

We had a red poll bull that was the best dispositioned and wonderful. Bubba liked his rubs, he would come to call to the bucket and I could slap his nose if he was too pushy trying to get into it for grain (split a couple with his big head). I could go out in the field, call him and take a bucket and walk in the cattle trailer and he would follow me in and load right up. He always liked going in the trailer because it meant he was going to a new pasture and would have some "girls" to see. He broke a bone in his hock (rear leg), and vet said he would probably always be lame, and that there was a slim to none chance it would heal right. He would have to be kept completely away from all the cattle and we could take the chance. He lived with the sheep for 6 months...healed up and we used him for breeding another 5+ years. Finally his size and the arthritis made it difficult for him to get up and down with that back leg since cattle get up hind end first..... he was over 12 or 13 and we decided that it just wasn't fair for him to suffer.
So there is an example that a bull is not always bad.... but as much as I would rub all over him, I tried to never confront him head on..... and I trusted him to never hurt me.

 

[Kettle Creek Cattle]

Farmerjan,
I'll be the first one to say that theres a lot of things I don't know about cattle, not even ashamed to say it. I am however alot further along than I was last year at this time haha. I do enjoy learning everything I can about raising them. I'm forever grateful for all the info you're sharing. Until I found this site I was basically winging it. I'm sure there are days where my cows thought "what the he// is this guy thinking". We're getting through it tho haha. Thanks again for sharing a lifetime of knowledge with noobs like myself. I'm sure my cows thank you too

 

[farmerjan]

I am always ready to learn and to share what I have learned. Trying to share with others is the only way we will all get ahead.
Glad to have another "cow person" here.

 

[MoreAU]

And they get wanderlust when there is nothing interesting to keep them home (cows coming in heat).

The best dispositioned bull can still become a PITA if he decides to go galavanting "looking for love".

This is so true! I had a bottle baby bull that I had to sell for those very reasons. He was 5 and I could not keep him in my pastures. There were times when he got real close to me with some good nudging in the belly, and times when it scared me too. He was smart and started keeping a few feet distance when he realized he had scared me. Anyway, it got tough leading him back to my fields because he was in love with the neighbor's girls. He eventually caused one too many problems and I had to find him a new home. I'm glad it wasn't the freezer just yet. At least I have visiting privileges! I miss my baby boy!