Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: Duckstick80]
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08/16/18 12:32 PM
08/16/18 12:32 PM
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Have you looked into buying hay and pellets for the winter yet? With the weather we've had during hay season it might be hard to find or expensive. He will also need access to water all day during the winter. No, haven’t even started to think about that far ahead yet. I’m surrounded by farmers and fields with hay bales stacked up starting to rot cause they’ve been there a couple years. I’m not worried about finding a hay bale up here.
Cold as ice!
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: 2ndjoborfun]
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08/16/18 12:40 PM
08/16/18 12:40 PM
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Congrat's something productive. Farming/livestock raising is a art & skill. Good luck & God Love YA Thanks man! I fed him a bottle of milk this morning. I think I almost drowned him, but I think that’s the way to do it if they don’t want to drink?
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: Jurassic Park]
#6303333
08/16/18 01:07 PM
08/16/18 01:07 PM
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KeithC
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Congrat's something productive. Farming/livestock raising is a art & skill. Good luck & God Love YA Thanks man! I fed him a bottle of milk this morning. It was a bi***! I think I almost drowned him, but I think that’s the way to do it if they don’t want to drink? You have to be careful or you will aspirate him. It can kill him or make him weak. Keith
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: Jurassic Park]
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08/16/18 01:18 PM
08/16/18 01:18 PM
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Keith, does that mean tire him out? He did seem to pant a bit, but I gave him plenty of breaks. It took about 40 mins to drink 4 1/2 pints. I will feed him again this evening.
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: Jurassic Park]
#6303357
08/16/18 01:48 PM
08/16/18 01:48 PM
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KeithC
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Keith, does that mean tire him out? He did seem to pant a bit, but I gave him plenty of breaks. It took about 40 mins to drink 4 1/2 pints. I will feed him again this evening. Aspiration is when you get milk or other fluid in the lungs. If he's panting, you probably did get some milk in his lungs. They can usually cough small amounts out. Aspiration can cause pneumonia. Keith
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: Jurassic Park]
#6303414
08/16/18 03:31 PM
08/16/18 03:31 PM
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RKG
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If you're bottle feeding him, you need to make it as natural as if he's drinking from the mother. Don't force the nipple into his mouth, and when he's done, he's done. He'll let you know when he's hungry again.
I don't think I caught an age anywhere in the thread so far, but unless he's pretty young, you want to get him moving from a bottle to a bucket, otherwise, it's gonna feel like a rodeo every time you try to feed him.
When I worked on a veal farm, we would have to teach in batches of 75 head. Put the milk in the bucket, get them sucking on your fingers, lower their head into the bucket, make sure milk is getting sucked up and work your fingers out. By about number 20, your fingers were raw, but you had to keep going.
On banding- it's a one shot deal. Make sure you get both of the boys. Our last "steer" was really rammy and cantankerous and when we butchered him we found out why- he was still packing heat on the left hand side! Fortunately, he still cuts and eats tender, although I would have liked a bit more fat on him.
Great experience though! Love having a beef in the field.
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: cowboy2005]
#6303544
08/16/18 07:03 PM
08/16/18 07:03 PM
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Keith, does that mean tire him out? He did seem to pant a bit, but I gave him plenty of breaks. It took about 40 mins to drink 4 1/2 pints. I will feed him again this evening. Aspiration is when you get milk or other fluid in the lungs. If he's panting, you probably did get some milk in his lungs. They can usually cough small amounts out. Aspiration can cause pneumonia. Keith Ok shoot! He seems fine right now. Gonna feed him in a couple hours. I hope he’s hungry and drinks this one better. What type of fence are you putting up? The plan is to put up square goat fence. They come in 16’ lengths and 51” tall.
Cold as ice!
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: RKG]
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08/16/18 07:08 PM
08/16/18 07:08 PM
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If you're bottle feeding him, you need to make it as natural as if he's drinking from the mother. Don't force the nipple into his mouth, and when he's done, he's done. He'll let you know when he's hungry again.
I don't think I caught an age anywhere in the thread so far, but unless he's pretty young, you want to get him moving from a bottle to a bucket, otherwise, it's gonna feel like a rodeo every time you try to feed him.
When I worked on a veal farm, we would have to teach in batches of 75 head. Put the milk in the bucket, get them sucking on your fingers, lower their head into the bucket, make sure milk is getting sucked up and work your fingers out. By about number 20, your fingers were raw, but you had to keep going.
On banding- it's a one shot deal. Make sure you get both of the boys. Our last "steer" was really rammy and cantankerous and when we butchered him we found out why- he was still packing heat on the left hand side! Fortunately, he still cuts and eats tender, although I would have liked a bit more fat on him.
Great experience though! Love having a beef in the field. Thanks for the tips! The calf is 1 day old today. Born early in the morning Aug. 15th. What age will they drink milk from a bucket? I can’t imagine standing there with a bottle waiting for him to come drink. Probably take hours! Not sure if he’s stubborn or if this is quite normal.
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: Jurassic Park]
#6303629
08/16/18 08:44 PM
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Ok right on! Thanks! He’s curled up right now relaxing. Hasn’t had a bottle since 10am, and it’s 7:45pm here right now. I plan to give him a bottle at 8pm. Think he’ll drink better or will he fight it? I don’t feel like feeding him at midnight lol.
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: Jurassic Park]
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08/16/18 09:31 PM
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Went outside and Blackjack was standing up and bellowing. Perfect! Drank the bottle like a champ after about 5 mins of trying to convince him I wasn’t gonna drown him this time lol.
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: Duckstick80]
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08/17/18 12:22 PM
08/17/18 12:22 PM
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Sounds like he is eating good. They make pails with nipples on that you can hang in his pen and fill with milk replacer. Did he get colostrum from his mom? You should watch him for scours if he didn't. It's quite deadly on young calves and usually happens in the first week. Yes he got his first 3 feedings from his mom. I’ll be feeding him milk replacer starting tomorrow.
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Re: Bought our first calf today!
[Re: RKG]
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08/17/18 12:47 PM
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Temperature is a big thing. Too cold, too warm- he'll refuse it. He'll seem hungry and waiting it, but will balk at it. A cow's body temperature is slightly warmer than our, so it should just feel a tad warm on the wrist. I actually checked the temp of the milk and it reads 102F which is apparently the optimal temp for the milk when feeding calves. I put the bottle filled with milk in a 5 gallon bucket and filled it up with hot water. 20 mins later the milk is nicely warmed. He guzzled another bottle down this morning. Seems to have it figured out now. He’s getting much stronger now too lol pushing and head butting me lol.
Cold as ice!
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