Suggestions for first time with newborn calf

We have a raise dairy goats.

There is a very good chance that we will end up with at least one orphaned newborn calf (Brangus) this winter. It will be less than 24 hours old. A local cattle farmer has told us we can have any orphans he saves since he doesn't have the time to take care of them. My kids are excited.

We have lots of experience with goats, colostrum in the freezer, and plenty of milk.

I'm assuming a need a calf bottle. Any suggestions? I'm ordering from Jeffers in the next few days and can get it from there, but I do have lots of local options, they are just usually more $$.

We have an extra lg dogloo with a heat pad (if it gets cold, we are in Florida) and cattle panel to make him his own area for a while. Once he's healthy and adjusted we will probably let him/her in our 2 acre pasture with the goats during the day.

Any other great suggestions? Thanks!

All you need is a one-gallon bottle with a calf nipple, nothing fancy. Some past members have suggested to go from a bottle to a bucket to make feeding easier, usually after a week or two of having to be on a bottle and transgress to that slowly over time, to train the calf from associating the bottle with food (milk) to learning to associate the bucket with food (milk). But that is your choice, as there's nothing wrong with keeping with the bottle until weaning.

Colostrum ASAP, then switch over (gradually) to milk. Hopefully the guy will give the calf some colostrum before you get it.

Creep feed or calf starter can be fed almost immediately, but just as free-choice. Let the calf find it on his/her own, and don't panic if it doesn't eat some right away, as it may take a week or two for it to want to have some along with the milk.

Calf won't fully start grazing until they're three months old, but they will taste-test and nibble a little before that age. They're more concerned with sleep and milk for the first few weeks, then play, milk and sleep after that phase.

AND, ask questions if you have them!

I highly doubt that you would need a heat source in Florida. Many calves are raised here in the upper Midwest without any heat sources. Do be sure to have bedding and keep the calves away from drafts and damp conditions. Otherwise they will do fine in most any weather. I've had them born outdoors in below 0 weather, and they did fine as long as they had a dry place to rest and were out of the wind.

Thanks! We probably won't know for sure if it got colostrum or not, so we will give what we have regardless. He has a very large meat herd and we would get an orphaned or abandoned calf. But, I have about a half gallon in the freezer, and can get more from a friend 10 minutes away. Then, in three weeks our goats will start kidding and I'll have more out the wazoo. I have 4 due in Jan/Feb, and one in March. I have some Calf Manna already too, since we sometimes top dress our thinner kids' food with it.

I'm sure I'll be back.

This may be a silly question because I know practically zilch about cows....but, will goat colostrum work for a calf? I know you can feed them goat milk, but was wondering if the antibodies from a goat will help a calf?

frustratedearthmother said:

This may be a silly question because I know practically zilch about cows....but, will goat colostrum work for a calf? I know you can feed them goat milk, but was wondering if the antibodies from a goat will help a calf?

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No, because of the difference in species you'd get a different strain of bacteria and thus different antibodies from goat colostrum than from cow colostrum. The goat antibodies I think would be ineffective at boosting the passive immunity system of the calf (not active, as that comes after the calf becomes "resistant" to the effectiveness of the colostrum after 12 hours or so) and so it might be like giving normal milk to a newborn calf instead of colostrum. I might be wrong in saying that, so don't quote me on it, but that's the only logical answer I can come up with.

That's kinda what I was thinking - thanks for the response!

Not a problem!

A calf will need a full gallon of colostrum within the first 12-24 hours. You should make sure you have the powdered colostrum replacer on hand if you can't get actual cow colostrum. There is a difference between the colostrum replacer and the colostrum supplement.