Bottle Calf

angus214 · Jan 11, 2012

I have a bottle calf that is 3 weeks old we have her in the barn in a stall with a heat lamp. She is taking a bottle in the am and one in the pm. The temp has been 65 high and 50 low but it has now dropped off cold and she is shaking do I need to put a blanket on her? The high today is 55 and 40 tonight and tomorrow 47 and low 24. Thanks for any help

CAB · Jan 11, 2012

No, just bed her well.

leanbeef · Jan 11, 2012

Those aren't extreme temperatures at all. And our bodies shiver when we get cold...that's how we create heat and get warmer. As long as she's eating good and not acting sick, she sounds fine. If she stops eating or appears to be getting sick, give her an antibiotic like LA300 to help fight off a cold.

kfacres · Jan 11, 2012

how much are you feeding it? the correct amount of good warm milk will do miracles.

the heat lamb is not needed, turn it off, put it away... fire hazard.

all babies shake right after nursing- it's a natural reflex to help with the body and getting that milk where it needs to be.

if she starts getting droopy, a little bounce back will help.

We raise tons of bottle calves every winter in plastic hutches (I live on a dairy), the only ones unable to generate enough body heat for themselves are the 30-40 lb purebred jerseys- we feed them 3x a day... the half breeds can do it on their own into the teens and zeros.

DL · Jan 11, 2012

angus214 said:
I have a bottle calf that is 3 weeks old we have her in the barn in a stall with a heat lamp. She is taking a bottle in the am and one in the pm. The temp has been 65 high and 50 low but it has now dropped off cold and she is shaking do I need to put a blanket on her? The high today is 55 and 40 tonight and tomorrow 47 and low 24. Thanks for any help

What does this baby weigh? That does not seem like enough calories/nutrition for a full term calf -- IMHO she is being underfed - if she is shaking/shivering unrelated to when you feed her she is cold - likely she has little to no fat reserves and she is likely to get cold - put a blanket on her until you can give her (until she gets) enough nutrition so that she can use it to gain not to keep warm

Calf should get about 10% of her body weight in milk - if she weighs 80 lbs that is 8 pounds which is about a gallon; if she weighs 120 lbs she should get 12 pounds which is about one and a half gallons. This does not include

If you are feeding her one bottle twice a day you are feeding her 2 quarts twice a day - which may be too little depending on her size

Bottom line - calves use the calories first to stay warm, then to maintain body weight, then to grow - if they do not get enough calories they will lose fat reserves to maintain body temp - 60 degrees F is thermo neutral for calves, below that it is cold and they require more calories to stay worm. If it is cold (under 60 degrees for a calf) she will use /need extra energy, if it is 20 F she will need 50 percent more calories just to stay warm

Every year in the US calves starve to death because their humans do not feed them enough

BTW - what are you feeding her? The best is milk based (not soy based) calf milk replacer (not multispecies) that is 20 or 22 % for both fat and protein

good luck

kfacres · Jan 11, 2012

not necessarily DL... with the milk replacer we get, the largest calves (140 lb holstein calves) ever born receive 3 pints of milk; 2x every day.

We raise every calf on the place this way-- unless it's a pure jersey- and in that case, they get fed 1.5 pints 3x a day until they are 3 weeks old. then 2.5 pints 2x a day until month and half of age, then 3 pints 2x day.

a quart is 4 pints.

DL · Jan 11, 2012

Cut the BS said:
not necessarily DL... with the milk replacer we get, the largest calves (140 lb holstein calves) ever born receive 3 pints of milk; 2x every day.

We raise every calf on the place this way-- unless it's a pure jersey- and in that case, they get fed 1.5 pints 3x a day until they are 3 weeks old. then 2.5 pints 2x a day until month and half of age, then 3 pints 2x day.

a quart is 4 pints.

one of the things people are discovering in regards to feeding dairy calves is that they have been woefully underfed for a long time - as it turns out it is an emerging welfare issue for the dairy industry - just because it has been done a certain way for a long time doesn't make it right or best - and when it is cold these calves need more energy (ie more food) - many of the health issues seen in dairy calves are related to either inadequate colostrum and or inadequate calories - figure out the calories in you pint of milk replaces, then figure out the maintenance caloric need for you 120 pound calf, then drop the temperature -

you might find this information interesting ...

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/organic/news/2010-07a4.htm

GoWyo · Jan 11, 2012

Cut the BS said:
not necessarily DL... with the milk replacer we get, the largest calves (140 lb holstein calves) ever born receive 3 pints of milk; 2x every day.

We raise every calf on the place this way-- unless it's a pure jersey- and in that case, they get fed 1.5 pints 3x a day until they are 3 weeks old. then 2.5 pints 2x a day until month and half of age, then 3 pints 2x day.

a quart is 4 pints.

Yo - BS, a quart is 2 pints (2 cups = 1 pint, 2 pints = 1 quart, 4 quarts = 1 gallon)

kfacres · Jan 11, 2012

duh, what was I thinking.. or more importantly, what was i typing...

GoWyo · Jan 11, 2012

With your conversion factors you could have 4 pints of ale before worrying about consuming a quart <beer>

angus214 · Jan 12, 2012

She is a little hereford heifer and she weighs about 68 lbs I am feeding her save a calf milk 2qts in the am and 2qrts in the pm. She is also eating some hay and I am going to start putting a little calf starter in the stall for her.So should I start to give her 1 pint at lunch as well? Thanks for all the help

DL · Jan 12, 2012

angus214 said:
She is a little hereford heifer and she weighs about 68 lbs I am feeding her save a calf milk 2qts in the am and 2qrts in the pm. She is also eating some hay and I am going to start putting a little calf starter in the stall for her.So should I start to give her 1 pint at lunch as well? Thanks for all the help

With a baby of that size sounds like you are doing a good job - I would offer her a bottle in the afternoon - if she is hungry she will take it - if not she won't - if she takes it in the afternoon she may not drink the whole bottle at night -you kind of make it up as you go along! Good idea with the starter and the hay - was she premature or just little??

kfacres · Jan 12, 2012

from my experience, all bottle babies will suck the bottle if offered, regardless if they need it or not. Most often times, novice feeders will overfeed, which results in scours. and then death...

Just my 2 cents... but then again, I have no idea what I'm talking about... I just raise a couple 100 more bottle calves than 99% of the people on this board a year...

RidinHeifer · Jan 16, 2012

Cut the BS said:
from my experience, all bottle babies will suck the bottle if offered, regardless if they need it or not. Most often times, novice feeders will overfeed, which results in scours. and then death...

Just my 2 cents... but then again, I have no idea what I'm talking about... I just raise a couple 100 more bottle calves than 99% of the people on this board a year...

thank you!!!! I am just now raising my first calf that isn't abottle baby and i agree that most people overfeed! Stay at what you're giving her and no blanket-that will crush the hair down and make her colder(it will push all the warm air she has held in with the hair out and will do no good. I watched a great angus heifer die this spring because the breeder didn't do what eveyone told them and overfed the girl-tried to give her 3-4 bottles a day when she was about 4 days old.

2 bottles a day, make sure you are using the milk based replacer and not soy, that could help as well with overall growth and performance. I would give her some hay and see if she would want toit would be fine

kfacres · Jan 16, 2012

also a bag of calf crunch from the local elevator is a great option to start offering at about 2 weeks of age, high in protein, and loaded with molasis... we wean our bottle calves mostly at 6 weeks of age, but the smaller ones can stay on until 8.

Angus2131 · Jan 16, 2012

Cut the BS said:
also a bag of calf crunch from the local elevator is a great option to start offering at about 2 weeks of age, high in protein, and loaded with molasis... we wean our bottle calves mostly at 6 weeks of age, but the smaller ones can stay on until 8.

We have had our share of bottle feds and we always feed them up til about 8 weeks of age. We also had them on high protein sweet feed mixture. We never put blankets on them and never used heat lamps. We just made sure they were bedded pretty well. We would use straw and wood shavings that we get from a friend of ours. Ours would suck on anything you put in front of them. We actually had one that we weaned off of the bottle and she would go out and nurse on the other cows that were still nursing. So you may want to watch for that if you have the mothers that don't care who sucks from them. We just separated her from the rest. She finally stopped.

angus214 · Jan 16, 2012

Thank yall so much she is doing good so far she is on two bottles and eating hay good. I put a little calf starter in with her for when ever she is ready to eat it. We will be going to our distrect 4H show and then Dixie National we will be gone 2 weeks do you think she would be ok to take and leave in my trailer so I will be able to feed her? Thanks for all the help

kfacres · Jan 16, 2012

I know this is going to sound stupid.. and I'm going to catch plenty of grief for saying so... but here goes.. since Angus2131 said what she did...

My parents will throw an extra calf in with the cows each year after their calves turn about a month old. This calf is taught to steal off the other cows- because they keep a good eye on them, and have a control lack of mastitis, etc... the risk of spreading something from cow to cow is minor... About weaning time, the extra calf lacks what the other have- but not by much. They have the philosophy that the extra calf can basically live on nothing- and bring in just a tad more money in the end...

My dad has also been known to take certain heavier milking cows- and after weaning their calves- put a second one on them to raise for another 4 months or so. Keep in mind, these are plain jane Shorthorn and Angus cows. 2 calf crops a year for those particular cows.

The calves we're doing this with are the Milking Shorthorn/ Red Angus calves-- which are basically 3/4 beef-- in the end you can't tell much difference b/w them and their pure beef heritage counterparts of similar age-- but there is a tremendous difference in them and their bottle raised siblings...

On the same note- I also teach my bottle lambs to steal while the ewes are eating at the bunk and could care less who's sucking... I hate bottle lambs- and would just as soon knock them-- but as long as I don't have to prepare a bottle 2 or 3 times a day-- they're fine... Calves are different as after a week they are taught to drink from a bucket... Bottle feeding is WAY too much work, for the extra expense and lack of return in ratios....

Angus2131 · Jan 16, 2012

Pretty interesting. We took these in cause dad would get phone calls from other farms that a mother didn't take the calf. LOL All have been sold but one and that was in mine. You are right about them not being up too par with the rest. She doesn't have the growth that a calf would have on a real cow. Though she was on high protein feed and what not IMO it's not the same as your traditional cow/calf pair.

kfacres · Jan 16, 2012

right, give t hem time, they'll eventually catch up...

to be honest, some of my very best brood ewes- are actually bottle babies... some chosen to be that way, so naturally bottle lambs..

the mother of mom and dad's new herd bull-- was also a bottle calf-- momma was an old 10ish cow, calved the second week of july.. kicked the bucket in the heat...

Bottle Calf

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