# bottle fed calf question



## Mironsfarm (Feb 3, 2011)

ok i got a hole bucnch of goat milk frozzen and i was wondering how much do i feed to a bottle calf? i went to the sale tonight and got 4 of them for 170bucks this is what i have found on another site 

When feeding a newborn or small calf start with a quart of watered-down goat milk that consists of three-fourths milk and one-fourth water. Heat the milk mixture to lukewarm. Feed the calf three times a day instead of two. This aids in digestion and keeps the animal from scouring. Increase the amount fed until you have built up to a gallon a day. Gradually reduce the amount of water until you are feeding just milk.

what do you all thinnk i should do thanks


----------



## boiledfrog (Jun 2, 2011)

I've been feeding a quart of milk replacer morning and night. With free choice grain and water. I'll wean at 4 weeks if they are eating 2 pounds of grain a day. I was told this is what the industrial outfits do. I really can't say this is best for the calf. I've hear wonderful things about goat milk and calves. Good luck, I hope to get a goat as soon as I can. Hopefully next year.

Edit 6/24 Ya my head is fizzy. It is a 2 quart bottle fed morning and night. I'm using an expensive calf raising grain that claims I can wean at 4 weeks. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Thanks for the info.


----------



## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

> I've been feeding a quart of milk replacer morning and night


Are these mini's.
I have never heard of anyone feeding only 2 quarts a day to a full size calf and expecting it to live.




> start with a quart of watered-down goat milk that consists of three-fourths milk and one-fourth water.


We've fed goat milk to calves but we start at 2 qts twice a day and keep that until weaned. Free choice 18% starter grain and fresh water the first week.


----------



## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Miron, sorry but agree with Sam, 2quarts over the day is not enough. I feed that amount to my calves twice a day and not watered down either. Also give calf meal but not free choice because the birds eat it before the calves. Water available at all times. Calves are weaned no younger than 8 weeks and because I gradually wean, they will be nearly 12 weeks by the time they have their last feed.

Boiledfrog, no way in the world would I wean a calf at a month old unless I wanted slow doers. I do my calves well, pay the dollars to do so and reap the benefit further down the track. 

Cheers,
Ronnie


----------



## Mironsfarm (Feb 3, 2011)

ok so let me get this straight. i need to feed them 2 quarts every feeding and straight goats milk (not watered down) for about 8 weeks.until i wean them. give them grain fee of choice and water free of choice? 

what do i do if they start to get scours? do i take the water out or cut back on the milk?

what about the grain do i need to put some in there mouth or just let them find it on there own?

thanks again i am new to the whole cow/calf thing =)


----------



## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

What are you planning on feeding them when the goats milk runs out....At four gallons a day? You will be running short in no time....Topside


----------



## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Miron, my fault here because I didn't read things correctly, but yes your initial post had the right of it pretty much except leave the water out of it.

I take it these calves are not much more than 4 days old? in which case your right, start of with about a quart per feed over two feeds, even a little less if they are very small, and feed at least twice a day. If you choose to feed 3 times, split 2 quarts evenly between the three feeds. Over the next five days or so, gradually raise the amount of milk per feed until it is getting just over 4 quarts per day. (I should explain that we work in metrics and mine are fed 2.5litres per feed twice a day which is just over 2 quarts.) At this point you can decide if you want to continue to feed 3 times a day. If you don't, decrease the middle feed but add it to the other two so they are still getting 4 quarts per day.

It's a bit late now probably, but always a good idea not to feed new calves for the first 12-24 hours but to give them electrolytes instead. Calves stress very badly with transportation, being pulled off their mothers, new environment etc. and will often scour. If yours do start to scour, pull them off milk immediately and give them electrolytes instead. Keep them clean, warm and make sure they have access to fresh water - the scours aren't the killer, the dehydration that goes with it is.

As for calf meal, I start them with a small amount once they're established on the bottle. I don't stuff it in their mouths although many do but I found that didn't help much. I put it in a dish in their feeding pen and their natural curiosity make them inspect the dish and what's in it. Some get stuck into right away, others muck around with it for weeks. High quality hay is a good idea too - again they'll end up sleeping on it before they eat it but they do get the message. 

How long you feed them is up to you, how long your milk will hold out, and your wallet. 8 weeks in minimum in my books.

Calves are fun, enjoyable little beggers to rear but it often doesn't come without it's downsides so to be prepared for some glitches. Ring your vet if you have to, ask here if you have to but always ask somebody if your not sure.

Cheers,
Ronnie


----------



## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

topside1 said:


> What are you planning on feeding them when the goats milk runs out....At four gallons a day? You will be running short in no time....Topside


I did wonder about this too but assumed........ Miron, you do realise that 4 calves drink one hell of a lot of milk and that you are unlikely to have been able to freeze anything up to 250 gallons of milk?

Cheers,
Ronnie


----------



## Mironsfarm (Feb 3, 2011)

so far i have frozzen 137 gallons of milk and i have 5 goats that i am milking a day that give a gallon plus a day so if i do run out is it posssible to switch over to powder milk? i had no choice to take all 4. i wanted just 2 but it was 4 or none i am going to sell 2 in a couple of weeks to make my money back hopefully.

ok so i am going to feed 3 times a day for 5 days streach 2 quarts over 3 feeds leave fresh water and leave grain out what about alfalfa hay is that ok or no?


----------



## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Miron, just something to think about...at my place:
Small Jersey calves get 2 pints twice daily.
Normal size Jersey calves get 3 pints twice daily.
Small Holstein calves get 3 pints twice daily.
Normal size Holstein calves get 4 pints twice daily.

Hope this helps, enjoy your new hobby....Topside


----------



## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

I will probably catch some flak for this but hay has no place with calves until after weaning.


----------



## trbizwiz (Mar 26, 2010)

I would not play around with different types of milk. Try to sell 2 right away on CL or what ever as bottle calves. Pick th etwo you are selling and start them on MR not goat milk. The two on goat milk will definitely do better than the two on MR. Also i find pig scours meds to be very good at fixing scours. I also skip the mid day feeding and instead give a dilute electrolyte. I give 2 qts of MR in the morning and 2 in the evening. I give 2 scoups of bounce back electrolyte at noon in 2 qts of water. Bounceback calls for 4 scoups, but I figure that is for a scouring calf. I do give scouring calves 4 scoups, but I give the healthy ones 2. When I start to ween, I give them a bolus of digestive enzymes. It comes in a tube and you dial how many mls you want to give insert it in their mouth adn squirt it in. it is a thick waxy looking stuff. Your goat milk calves wont need it probably but the MR guys will. If you give pig scours meds or any antibiotics give it just to build back their gut bacteria. 
I ween earlier that Ronney. Mine do grow slower, and they are no match for my beef calves on momma's side. But I figure with milk replacer they would not be anyway. Maybe with goat milk I would feed longer. But I am not racing anyone ot finish. i let them live and grow until they are done.


----------



## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

sammyd said:


> I will probably catch some flak for this but hay has no place with calves until after weaning.


Well I guess I'll give it to you then....LOL!! Not you maybe, but that idea.:lookout:

A calf raised on its mother is nibbling, grass/hay by two weeks of age. Its eating well and cudding by a month if not earlier. Long before weaning, its grazing/eating hay like a pro.

Introducing hay after weaning only is not just unnatural, it doesn't work as well. I know two dairies that read the "research" and don't provide their calves with anything but milk and grain until after weaning. Their calves are consistantly poorer than the other dairies that offer hay/pasture to their calves from day one. Sure, they do ok, but they don't thrive as well as the ones who are being allowed roughage. 

Asking the calves to start doing the most natural thing in the world for cows to do(eating long-stemmed fiber), only after weaning, well its just silly.

Sure, keeping calves on just grain and milk till weaning, it works. But that does not mean its best or that it is detrimental to feed hay.

I've read the "research", I've seen whats "reccomended"......and I simply disagree and don't believe it.


----------



## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

Just my experience.
I know some want to wean "as early as possible", but I've never seen any calf that didn't do better for three full months of milk. If this is an animal that you want to live a long productive life, give it the best start possible. There is no substitute for a good foundation.

I see too many dairymen weaning early so they can ship the milk,then playing catch-up on their replacement heifers. Feeding them more expensive feeds so they grow fast. Treating with vet meds because they hadn't had time to build their immune system well before they were weaned. Losing a heifer simply because she was too small to be weaned yet, but the calendar said she was 6 weeks so no more milk! Not only is it heartbreaking, it doesn't pencil out in the end. They spend more for a poorer animal than if they had just kept her on milk another 4-6 weeks and let her grow to better potential.

Now those who only grow calves or have fewer calves can possibly afford to wean earlier because their calves usually get better care. They are usually better grown. But that doesn't mean everyone should. I hate especially seeing new people being reccomended to "wean as soon as the calf is eating solids well". 

If its a terminal calf that will be in the locker by two years, I might skimp a little if I had too. But only if I had too.

I know a lot will disagree, thats ok. I'll keep weaning my babies at 3-4 months of age.:cowboy:


----------



## trbizwiz (Mar 26, 2010)

That is good advice Ozark. Especially if you have the milk to give. If you are buying replacer there is an alternative. It is not what is best for the claf, but it will work. The main cost will be time. But one thing Ozark said is critical. If you ween early you must provide good care. you must put an eye on the calves a few times per day. Check their condition. Observe them eating and drinking. Look at their waste. Observe their affect, are they wagging and ears up. are they alert and bright. There are many more things to observe as well. But definitely, if you want to sabe on MR you'll need to spend extra time and care. If you can feed milk from any mammal or MR go with the milk. Just be cautious changing from one to the other.
I ween bottle calves early, but I let my beef calves nurse for 4 to 6 months. Obviously more milk for longer is always better. Weening and getting them on grass is cheaper. THe risk is higher. Just look at your options and chose your poison.


----------



## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

a calf on the cow is a whole different story than a bottle raised calf. A calf chewing some grass alongside its dam is a nice picture but the reason it's still on its dam is that it is not able to use the nutrition available in the grass fully yet.
Hay in a bottle calves diet is a no no. Let the grain and water work in the rumen to make it big and hard working before you fill it full of hay that will not provide the same benefit.


----------



## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

Calf on cow, bottle calf, same thing, they start nibbling hay/grass as they feel like it. Having it available to a bottle calf is common sense. No one is speaking of "forcing" a calf to eat hay(not sure how one would do that anyway??). They will start consuming when they are ready.


----------



## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

I have only had two bottle fed calves over ten years so I am very much a novice, but both desperately sick Jerseys (the heifer I have now had a case of scours so bad the smell made me gag, and a respiratory conditon so severe she was in an out of a coma), man the toughest of the tough less than week each under the worse conditions, one bull, one heifer. I feed replacer, one quart twice a day, electrolyte paste and a large dog coat to wear when they struggled, and free feed creep and good hay, water with supervised turnout on pasture to prevent bloat (anything more than a bit of noshing and and galumping about and she comes in), and daily grooming with stiff brush, to simulate moms attention, and a friend, normally a goat or sheep. The bull is now eight years old, a big strapping steer, my little heifer, by the grace of St. Francis, is a healthy bouncing three month old so far


----------



## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Young calves having access to forage is not about nutrition, it is about developing the rumen. I agree with Ozark, a little forage in front of them is a good thing.


----------



## bantams (Sep 7, 2003)

I generally feed 6 quarts every day to a bottle calf, over 2 or 3 feedings. And offer hay at 2 weeks old.
A calf on its mom starts out nursing 2 gallons a day, and quickly drinks up to 6 gallons if you let them. Feeding 2-4 quarts a day is enough to sustain a calf, but they don't grow a whole lot. The more milk they get, the faster they grow (to a point!).


----------



## trbizwiz (Mar 26, 2010)

With milk replacer that is a recipie for scours. But with goat milk or cows milk it probably would work. Over feeding MR is not good for a bottle calf. Of course being a bottle calf is not good for a bottle calf. Momma is always best. 
I just wanted to clarify on the feeding part. Not be argumentative.


----------



## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

it has been proven that forage has nothing to do with developing the rumen


----------



## trbizwiz (Mar 26, 2010)

I do like to give my bottle calves a probiotic towards the end of weening. Mine only get milk replacer so I figure they must be lacking in the benificial bacteria that an utter fed calf would receive.


----------

