Weaning a Bottle Calf

[Nathan Justice]

I have a three month old Angus/Charolais cross. He was eating 2 bottles a day (One in the morning and one in the evening). I have recently (Approx. 2 weeks ago) made the switch down to one bottle in the evening. He is eating a pretty good amount of food on his own. When should I completely wean him from the bottle? He was 3 months old on June 20, 2016.

 

[cjc]

You can wean as early as 2 months old. As long as he is eating enough grain and hay you should be good. I have a 2 month old bottle calf I could wean today but I haven't because he is living with another calf who is younger (try explaining to him he doesn't get a bottle haha).

If you think he is ready go for it. Ensure he is eating enough calf starter, quality hay (like alfalfa), water and doing some light grazing.

 

[Nathan Justice]

You can wean as early as 2 months old. As long as he is eating enough grain and hay you should be good. I have a 2 month old bottle calf I could wean today but I haven't because he is living with another calf who is younger (try explaining to him he doesn't get a bottle haha).

If you think he is ready go for it. Ensure he is eating enough calf starter, quality hay (like alfalfa), water and doing some light grazing.

He is grazing about all day long. It's hard to feed just calf starter because he is in with goats. I feed them a Multi Species food. But I try to feed them separate. But it doesn't always work. I don't have a stable built just yet. I have calf starter but I don't want the goats eating it. He is in with two goats.

 

[cjc]

Is he taller than the goats? Put a hook on your fence and hang a bucket from it if he is. If the goats cant reach it then that should work, that's what we do.

I don't know much of anything about multi species food but you will get the best growth in your calf if you feed it the right foods.

Are you also providing hay?

 

[cjc]

Post a pic if you have one! I am really interested in these Charolais crosses.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

Two months is really pushing it @cjc, you and the OP are better off weaning at 3 months of age. The calf's rumen needs to get to maturity before its weaned off, otherwise if you wean too early you could compromise the health of the calf, and at 2 months old that calf's rumen simply is not ready to go off milk onto full feed. THREE months is best, four if you dare.

So, @Nathan Justice, you can wean that calf anytime now. @cjc, please wait a month longer!

 

[cjc]

@WildRoseBeef what's your thoughts on increasing the milk replacement? Some calf raisers just stay with the 150g bottles until weaning. I have been moving mine up to 300g's at about 4 weeks old. I also feed 3x a day rather than the 2x a day.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

You mean 150 g/L milk replacer formula, right? A 150 g bottle is pretty tiny for a calf.

Nothing wrong with bumping up the formula to 300 g/L for this age, because the calf is growing and needing more than what 150 g/L could give him. But of course what others say depends on what kind of milk formulas they've been feeding to their calves. Different formulas, different recommendations. Just keep an eye on the calves for milk scours, though by the sounds of it you've had no problems so far. <knock on wood!>

 

[cjc]

I got some interesting feedback on a cattle site about weaning a bottle calf. Every calf raiser I have spoken to has said 2 months and no later. Main reason of course is cost. Milk replacement is very expensive and unless your on a dairy and have a source you will lose your shirt on these calves if you feed them out to long. Most of the advice I got was to actually wean at 4 weeks and no later than 6 weeks. The idea behind rumen function is getting grain into them at a few days old. By the time they are 4 weeks old they should be eating 1.5-2lbs of grain a day and then at that point you introduce hay. I introduced hay early, at 7 days old but they are saying it is better to start with grain and introduce hay once they are off the bottle. All that being said my 3 week old calf isn't ready to be cut off the bottle yet as she is not eating nearly enough grain but she is getting there. I am going to aim for the 12 week range, I think that's fair to both arguments.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

You might be interested in this study: http://extension.psu.edu/animals/dairy/nutrition/calves/feeding/early-weaning-strategies

I can see the point about cost, that's understandable. The concern is just the health of the calf if weaned too early. But yes, I think aiming for 10 or 12 weeks to wean is a good target to aim for.