Things I have discovered in raising a bottle calf

Here are some things that I have discovered that have worked in my raising a healthy bottle calf.

1. Medicated Milk Replacement - This has been a dream for me. The kind I get has medication in it to keep the little guy from getting coccidosis. it is also a 20% milk made of all milk proteins.

2. Dyne - Another dream to have discovered. two squirts in the calf's milk bottle and he fills out very nicely.

3. Calf Starter,Sweet Feed, Cracked Corn - This is the concoction that I put together for my Bottle calf to eat when he started to eat solid foods. Funny thing with that, he hated the taste of the starter by itself and loved the taste of the corn and sweet feed. So I put all three together and he will eat about a 1lb 6 oz coffee can full of that mix a day sometimes more.

4. If you are going to think of Halter training them start when they are about 1 month old. Don't need to say any more about that subject

Dyne. I forgot about Dyne. I just posted a thread about my bottle calf - lethargy after duramycin shot. Write all you want I can use the info.

Hello we are novice at best. We have the goal of a small herd and found that bottle babies is the most feasible way financially to get started. We have acquired a bull calf ( 3/4 Norwegian Red 1/4 Jersey) who is approx two weeks old at this time. He was purchased from a caring breeder who left him with the heifer for two days. She the began feeding milk on the third day through the sixth. When we picked him up she provided two days of milk to take home with him.

What we began as a milk replacement was a Sav-A-Caf brand (no endorsement or criticism) mixing by the bags instructions. After about two days we began to see sign of scours. Spoke with reps at a local feed store who stated the mixture was too rich, like giving a child three large candy bars. We have switched to a medicated replacement (same brand) but mixing at half the directions. After only two feedings the scours has cleared but will feed the medicated for a total of 7-14 days. When we go back to the regular replacement it was recommended to continue with the half mixture.

Still learning and thanks to sites like this. Wondering at what age we might increase the number or size of feedings without harm to the calf.

I fed my two bottle calves a full 2quart bottle mixed per directions on bag 2 times a day. That amount is based on the research I did that a baby calf will drink a gallon of mom's milk a day. now when they would get scours I would add some powdered electrolytes to their bottle for a couple of days. If push came to shove with the scours I would give them a shot of Baytril or 2 sulfa pills to stop it.

Now some more details on what I said.
my oldest one: I got him at 11 days old and he was nearly starved to death. So in that case for the first week I gave him 4 half bottles a day spaced out over time. I was very careful to watch him while he ate so he did not scour during that time. once he was out of danger and that took about 10 days or so, I was able to feed him a full bottle two times a day.

my younger one: he was a twin that had been rejected by his mother. He was a month old when I was able to get him into the barn. because he was not in such dire circumstances i was able to feed him 2 full bottles a day

hope this info helps

Thank you for the info. We have begun feedings three times a day. Using the medicated MR and just a dash of the regular there have been no more indications of scours. Our little bull (Zeke) is growing like a weed and is very happy it seems. We will be getting his heifer next week born at about the same time. She is 3/4 jersey and 1/4 holstein. It is work with the bottle babies but rewarding to see them prosper.

Hello to all. We got our our latest bottle baby from the same farm and she is 3/4 Jersey 1/4 Holstein. They are both approx three weeks old now and realize there is a minimum of another three weeks of bottle feeding. As stated in our original post we are novice at best in this venture. We are confused about the weaning process over what seems to us to be conflicting information we have seen. The milk replacement instructions states to start the weaning at six weeks, replacing with a starter grain. Other sources say to keep them away from hay or grains for at least three months. This based on fact the rumen does not develop until that age. So any knowledgeable advice or instruction will be greatly appreciated.

Hi @Tootles, the other sources that are telling you to keep them away from hay or grains are totally wrong, because they don't acknowledge the fact that the rumen of a calf reaches full maturity at around 3 months. The fact is, the rumen begins developing and growing just days after birth, and matures at 3 months of age. I don't think those other sources that are claiming to avoid feeding any grain or roughage read much in the way of scientific studies with regards to rumen development in calves, let alone saw young suckling calves eating grass right along with their mommas...

A calf is often started on hay and starter as soon as possible, even though the calf may not eat much the first week or so, but they're there for the calf to start tasting some feeds and start getting them in the gut so that by the time it's weaned, it is already accustomed to the feed and there's no sudden switch over. The sudden switch over will cause digestive upset, which can get ugly, and this is definitely true for adult cattle as well! It's not uncommon for calves to be put on creep-feed as soon as less than a month of age; dairy bottle-fed calves are put on starter within days of being born.

To put things in perspective as well, when a calf is on his mom, he's consuming mostly milk for the first few weeks, but after a certain time he's getting more to the point where he's wanting to start tasting and sampling what his momma and other cows in the herd are eating too. So by the time that he's weaned (~6 to 8 months) he's already used to eating grass, or hay, or grain, or whatever his mother and other cows have taught him are good to eat.

Adding to this thread is some new things I have discovered recently:

My Bottle baby from last year Murray has been in with my newest bottle calf Mira. I have discovered that he has been "Teaching her how to cow" which is great for her since that way she will know that she is a cow and not a human. I am happy for both of them since Murray did not have an 'older brother/sister' to show him what it means to be a cow. She is also quite smart as well. I had her understanding the halter and lead rope in record time. It must have been because of Murray. I worked with him a bit in the barn with Mira watching what I did with him. Cows are such amazing people

@WyndSyrin
Are there directions on the Dyne as to how much to give each species?

Yes there are directions on the Dyne bottle on how much to give.