How do you raise a calf on a bottle and keep them looking good in the end?

Have a 2 day old Okie Dokie X Cornerstone shorthorn heifer and unfortunately her mother did not make it.  So I am bottle feeding her and of course it gets easier and easier as she gets more used to doing it.  In the past I have raised commercial calves on a bottle for a while and then sold them, but this one is a purebred and want to show her and see how she can do.  Never really had any success bottle feeding as the calves always seem to get pot bellied.  What have you done in the past as far as feeding.  How much, how may times a day, when did you start on creep?  Any info and how it turned out would be appreciated.  She is on millk replacer feeding her two times a day, 1 quart bottle. 

If you can find a nurse cow or can foster her off on a cow that has lost her calf.. that is the best.    Since that isn't always possible..  there are a few things you can do..    Increase the number of feedings to 3 or 4X per day.  Get her started on a good creep feed & let her have as much as she wants.   

Alot of people will say not to even bother but I have actually seen some success stories.  We had one calf that lost its mom at 1 month of age.  When they are that old they will not take a bottle.  We let him run with the other calves and cows and he lived on creep feed.  He was champion angus bull at three county fairs and won his class at the state fair the following year.  I imagine I won't be as lucky next time.  

You need to find a milk based milk replacer - I believe Vita Ferm or Vigor Tone makes one, there may be others.  Most milk replacers are soy based, and that contributes to the "bottle calf belly".  I've seen calves raised on the milk based replacers go on to show successfully.  It will be more expensive, but well worth the investment if you're trying to raise a show calf, IMO.

Ditto what DLD says...    Nutrition Specialties is the brand of our milk based milk replacer - our local coop sells it.  You can smell the milk in it when you open the bag.    Seems like the bottles are 2 qt ??  I'll have to go look..

We feed the 20% fat Moorman's Ultra Suckle 2000 3 times a day and it is 2 qt.

We have a neighbor with dairy goats and a calf seems to do real well on raw goat milk as substitute for cow milk.  That got pricey too, but it wasn't far to get it.

I will check into that milk based replacer.  I don't know if the brand we have now is milk based but I assume it is not.  Now that I think of it we have a cow that lost her calf about a wee ago.  I have been so busy I totally forgot about that.  Will try to get them paired up tomorrow.  Thanks for the info.

We had a cow have twins this year in the cold snap in January she would not mother the one so we decided to bottle feed him. After looking into how much milk re placer was going to cost it proved to be about half the price to buy milk from a local dairy. It is working great we put the milk in a gallon jug and let it set in hot water to warm it up. He drinks two gallons a day and is growing great. Some guys might have some treated cows that they will give you the milk from.

I don't know what goat milk goes for in your area, but it is 14 dollars a gallon here, milk replacer is much cheaper, if you can find a dairy that would also be a good option.

The secret is good milk replacer 3x/day, a pelleted calf starter and NO hay for the first 6 weeks. After that you can reduce the milk to 2x/day with a little bit of fine stem grass hay. Switch over to a complete pelleted creep feed and limit the hay until weaning at 4 months. You'll have $500 in feed by weaning but it will look just like a calf raised on a cow (maybe better). 

Ruebush Shorthorns said:

I will check into that milk based replacer.  I don't know if the brand we have now is milk based but I assume it is not.  Now that I think of it we have a cow that lost her calf about a wee ago.  I have been so busy I totally forgot about that.  Will try to get them paired up tomorrow.  Thanks for the info.

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I'd worry about grafting him on a cow that hasn't been suckled in a week.  I'd tend to think she's already gone dry.  She may still have milk in her udder, but I'd almost bet that she won't produce enough to raise a calf.  Go with the good calf starter, just don't follow the directions.  Most directions say twice a day and you should feed it at least 3 times a day if you're going for a good looking calf.  Increase it's milk slowly.. you don't want the calf to start scouring.  If he does get a little loose, don't panic, just give him a calf size sulfa bolus and try not to mess with his eating schedule too much.  We start ours on Calf Manna right away.  When baby wants to nurse more, I put a few pellets on my fingers and let him suck them off.  Before long he'll be eating the pellets by himself.  Read the directions on the Calf Manna, but I know when he's eating so much of it everyday, you start adding grain.  Also, and this is very important.  Buy a new nipple and DON'T make the hole larger.  It's important for the calf to get frothy when he's nursing.  That gets the milk mixed with saliva and aides in digestion.  And feed the little bugger as long as you want.  If he's eating well, you don't have to go past what directions say, but you'll just be adding extra fat and bloom to him if you feed longer.  Good luck!

When we have bottle calves, we feed them a bottle of milk twice per day. For feed we usually give them a mixture of 50/50 Startena and a regular Co-op feed as soon as possible. Then start giving less Startena and more regular feed until eventually it's all regular feed.

We've kept several good looking bucket heifers as cows and my dad's bull was bottle raised. We feed all those until at least 6 months old. We wean the ones that we're raising to sell in a shorter time.. but if you're going to keep one, don't wean until after 6 months. It makes a difference. 

Jill said:

I don't know what goat milk goes for in your area, but it is 14 dollars a gallon here, milk replacer is much cheaper, if you can find a dairy that would also be a good option.

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I still have a few gallons of goat milk in the barn freezer that I used to use for runts when I raised pigs. I think I paid like 20 bucks for a gallon, but the runts normally ended up turning out better then most of the pigs out of thier litters.

i've put calves on cows at ten days after they lost them.  They'll usually come back to their milk.  Just get the bottle of ace out and dope her up and let him suck her.  It usually works.

I have a 50 lb twin bottle baby growing like a weed and looking great

Milk based milk replacer 20-20 or 22-22 fat and protein - if the heifer didn't get colostrum you should probably get milk replacer medicated with tetracycline

If this is a heifer you are interested in keeping as a cow the last thing I would do is get discarded dairy milk or unpasteurized milk from a dairy - you are asking for problems either now (mycoplasma) or later (Johne's disease). I would also avoid goat milk as the protein fat content is different than cows milk and you don't know what diseases these goatsm might pass (JD for example)

depending on the size of the calf and the weather will determine how much she needs - the 50 lb baby in bitter cold weather was taking 5 bottles a day (fed in 3 feedings)

if you have other cows let this baby out with the cows she very well may learn to steal -

creep feed now - calf manna with your feed mix is good, good grass hay

good luck - on the day she doesn't run up to you demanding the bottle you know she is learning (has learned) to steal!

I raised bottle calves for years, and have also raised a few purebreds that were either shown, or good enough to be shown. 

Make sure the milk replacer is a milk based, not soy.  And don't skimp on the replacer!  To prevent a "water belly", use more replacer to less water.  We routinely fed the calves up to 2 1/2 quarts a feeding, but in a 2 quart bottle I'd put in 2 to 2 1/2 "cups" of the replacer, and fill with water.  Gradually increase the milk.. start out with a quart to a quart and a half, and move her up every few days as needed.  Some feedings she won't drink as much as others, and you'll waste some replacer, but you'll get a quality calf. 

We started our calves on a sweet feed mix as early as 3 or 4 days old.  We'd put a small handfull in their mouths after they were done with the bottle.  The sooner you can get their rumens working, the better off. 

We weaned at no younger than 12 to 14 weeks.  Again, this is going to be expensive with the cost of replacer, but you'll get a good heifer.

Good luck

Bump for reference, The neighbor called and wanted to see if the Boys wanted 2 calves!  Any more tips would be great!

Tony

we have a dairy.. and raise all of our calves on the bottle...  often weaning at 6 weeks... our calves grow out to be successful cows.. and they get shown... on our beef side of things.. we do the same thing.. feed 3-4 pints 2x day.  calves could be a bit thin, but that ain't all bad...