I fill the milk replacer cup to the 8 ounce line, instead of the 12 ounce line, like the bag says,. I have had Great success with the Clostrum Replacer they sell at the farm store, I have found with the Clostrum Replacer that if it doesn't mix well in hot water, it doesn't work well, if it mixes well, it works well. I have used it on at least a dozen calves, and haven't lost a one. I've also found that Clostrum does help a calf that is up to 3 days old, that are half dead from never nursing. That being said I Don't Recommend that a novice calf buyer Ever buy a calf unless they for sure have had Clostrum. Also if a calf is 3 weeks old or older and suddenly gets the scours i have found it's usually from Coccidiosis and the best cure for scours at that age is 1/2 Teaspoon of corid powder in their electrolytes. Also the best way to prevent scours in a calf you just bought is to give them a bottle of electrolytes when you get him home, and wait 4 hours after the electrolytes before feeding any milk. The only exception to this is if it's a new baby calf and you don't know if it has had Clostrum, then in that case, Always give the calf Clostrum every 6 hours for a 24 hour period. Also if a calf gets the scours Never take milk away from them. Feed them milk twice Daily and give them electrolytes every 4 hours, make sure to stagger the milk replacer 3 hours apart from the electrolytes. And don't let a scouring calf go more than 6 hours without electrolytes. The best electrolytes that I have found are made by the Company Calf Manna,. I have found that the electrolytes that have the physillium husk in them don't work. I'm not making this post to take away from your video. I'm posting my personal experience with raising calves for 6 years.
I've never had any luck with giveing colostrum after 24 hrs honestly , the replacer I haven't tried every kind the sell but same deal very low success rate . I have used electrolytes before sometimes they do help .keeping your pens bleached and limed will eliminate most of the trouble with coccidiosis that and leave the sale barn calves alone Best thing is get a good calf to start with especially for someone new to it. We keep frozen colostrum for orphans ( give a lot away ) . Appreciate the input might help some people out , my way isn't the only way just what I know works for us
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I like your video, I wish I had seen a video like this ,then I bought my first calf. I bought a sick calf from a guy who had bought the calf the day before from the sale barn. It wouldn't drink it's bottle and it had scours real bad, and it could barely stand,. The guy who sold him to me told me it was just tired.... A friend of mine who became my mentor in raising calves, helped me use an old glass pop bottle to dump eggs down him and the next morning we gave him the Clostrum, because my friend thought he would be dead in the morning, so he didn't want to waste the Clostrum lol. Anyway the next morning he was up bawling and he drank his bottle down, and he slowly got better. And he ended up out growing a calf that was 3 weeks older than him. The best calf to buy is a calf that has a good start in life. A relative of mine got super cheap calves from a dairy and they were all dying at 5 days old, even though they had Clostrum, I had the vet come out, and it turned out those calves were loaded with Worms, . He quit buying from that guy.
@@1herford604 that's why we made the video to warn about sick calves . It's like pushing a rope up a hill dealing with a mishandled calf and it discourages a lot of people after they lose one . Now days any orphans we get go on a nurse cow ( l look after several beef herds ) but used to feed over a hundred a year from the dairy and had really good luck might lose one out of twenty but I was getting good calves and we'd been doing it for decades so I had infrastructure already warm and dry helps a lot too.
Thank you, I do raise a few bottle calfs and you are 100% correct. I'm lucky I have a great little dairy farm I buy from. I butcher at home did my first Jersey steer . The best beef I've ever had. I have 4 now 2 Jersey steers and 2 Jursey Angus crosses.
We have did Jersey. We also just got a jersey angus cross. Was the meat still as good? Any difference? We had to pay more for the cross. Just curious if it's worth getting more
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay I remember my Dad getting a couple of bottle calfs when I was a kid. He didn't know what he was doing and it didn't end well. Wish he had seen this video my friend!
I am raising two bottle calves bought second hand from an auction. They both seem to be doing well and they’re about a month old now. When can I assume they are pretty healthy? Now that you’ve pointed out all the health issues from buying from an auction- when did you lose your calves? Is there anything else I can do to get them healthier?
Usually shows up quick but loseing one at 2 or 3 months isn't unheard of just don't over feed them and keep them dry and out of the wind is about all you can do . If they look pretty good now your probably fine just keep an eye out for pneumonia
I've raised jersey bull calves that I buy from a local dairy. They hold them 3 days to insure they have colostrum. I butcher at 15 months, tender and delicious.
Just bought our first cow on a online auction today. We raise sheep and goats and wanted a cow for beef. Looked at all the Jersey bulls and this one was sucking on fingers in each picture. We got him home and gave him a bottle of colostrum and he sucked it down like it was nothing.
I am trying to find out about weaning the bottle calf I just bought. I bought him to nurse my dairy goat that had lost her kid and was giving a gallon of milk/day. Hadn't planned on getting one, but I hadn't planned on the goat losing her kid either. So now I have this Jersey bull calf that came from an organic dairy farm at a week old. He's doing well on my goat at this point. Want to raise him as grass fed beef. When should I wean him off the goat and do I have to give him anything besides hay/grass to start with?
You can wean him at 6 weeks but you have to use a starter feed , be best if you have the milk to wait till 12 weeks or so . Hold off on hay until after weaning grass is fine . Jersey bulls can be rough especially off the bottle castrateing would be a good idea
@@HomesteadingtheHardWay Thank you for getting back to me! My goat has plenty of milk, and I have extra in the freezer. My neighbor has raised cattle, I was going to ask him about castrating him. I was hoping to not have to buy feed for him, just let him go on grass like if he were still with his mom. I have alfalfa/grass hay in with the goats, which is where I am keeping him till he is a little bigger, then I'll be putting him in with the horses.
I just bought some beautiful calves from a small local dairy here. They leave most of the calves with their mom for a month. But I'm having a difficult time feeding them a bottle cause they are older calves. Any recommendations
I've been bottle feeding newborn calves for years. But this is the first time I've have attempted one. That was a month old. The difference of strength from newborn to a month old calf is amazing.
Skip the bottle and go to a bucket they will probably take right to it ,you might have to stick their nose in it and rub a little on the mouth so they can taste it
If they came from the Creamery you should be able to raise them . The beef might not be what you want unless you feed them very well and I'd band them for certain .
@@19372most jerseys have yellow fat and it has an off taste if you're not used to it . They also tend to not have the best finish or carcass. Holstein beef is great but I don't think there's a dairy anywhere close to get one especially one that's been handled well
@HomesteadingtheHardWay ok . We got these from a fella in Robbins. We do bottle calves every couple years here in Onslow county. Just had a Holstein processed 438lbs dressed. We did a jersey years ago and it did taste a little off but we didn't age the beef
@@19372 I can't get away with it my crowd complains to bad . Occasionally we'll run one into hamburger just for us or use it to cut venison it's only really noticable in an un seasoned steak to me . In gravy or spaghetti etc. you can't tell it . We're in Lenoir county not very far away
