Raising Bottle Fed Calves

352 Shares

Here is how my first week went with raising bottle fed calves. It has been an adventure, but there is a lot of fun with raising bottle fed calves.

How it Started

Last Friday my husband came home and told me that our local dairy had bull calves for sale and that they needed good homes. I have been wanting calves forever! However, we didn’t have any cow to nurse them so we would have to bottle feed. He told me that we would have to bottle feed them. Being the animal lover that I am, I said that was perfectly fine. However, we needed to feed them in the morning and after school.

Ok, so my mornings get earlier, but I will be bottle feeding calves! We talked about it a lot Friday night, then Saturday morning we went to our local dairy to see what they looked like. For South Texas that weekend it was unusually cold, so we knew they needed a warm barn with lots of hay. We found two little ones that we liked and brought them home.

What we Needed

Since we were going to be raising bottle fed calves, we needed to stop at our local feed store and get some bottles, powdered milk, and the dairy recommended some powdered electrolytes. Kind of like gatorade for cows. We picked up our supplies and headed home with happy hearts and smiles.

We were going to be keeping them on my in-law’s side of the road since they had a barn and we don’t have one yet. Yes, I live across the street from my in-laws (Everybody Loves Raymond style) and it works out nicely. We drove up and unloaded them from the truck and put them in the barn. They were unsure and a little nervous, but who wouldn’t be. The two calves were 2 days and 4 days old. Quite the start of their life, born, taken from your mama, put in a truck and taken somewhere new. I was determined to give them all the love so they felt safe and happy.

So, we had the calves and all the materials now we just had to raise them. Easy right? Not exactly. They told us the two day old calf would probably still be learning how to use the nipple on the bottle. Yep, we had to teach this little calf how to use the nipple. Well, not only that, but the four day old calf was still learning too. He didn’t want to eat, we had to hold him and help him open his mouth and then it was like he didn’t know how to suck yet.

raising happy calves — First Day with Mushu

Before I get too far we decided to name the two-day-old calf Mushu and the four-day-old calf Cricket. By the end of the weekend Mushu had figured out how to eat from the bottle and he was eating like a champ.

Cricket still wouldn’t suck and he didn’t seem as active. He just wanted to lay there. I was getting worried, but my husband said that he was still probably cold from where they had him, and maybe a little nervous. We kept at it.

Disclaimer: I have great in-laws. They volunteered to feed them the electrolytes around noon to keep them hydrated. Since we were working we decided that 5:30am and 5:30pm were good times to keep the feedings even.

Curveball

On Monday some friends that have cattle called and asked how our calves were doing. We told them that Mushu was doing just fine, but we were getting worried about Cricket. After telling them what Cricket was acting like, they rushed over to give Cricket a shot. They were pretty sure he had pneumonia. They said that he would start to get better, but we needed to give him the shot every day for a few days and keep an eye on him.

Tuesday was definitely an improvement for Cricket. Cricket got up on his own (we had been having to pick him up) and he drank the bottle on his own. I was so excited, I felt like a proud mama! Tuesday night was the same way. We felt like we were really making progress.

Wednesday morning, he got up and ate again on his own. I was sure that he was getting better and would be doing as well as Mushu in no time. Wednesday night, he didn’t really want to get up but we halfway picked him up and he got up the rest of the way. I just figured since he was getting his shot at night, that it had probably worn off by the evening and that was why he was feeling sluggish. He still drank the bottle so I was ok with that.

Heartbreak

Thursday morning he drank slowly, but he did drink about 3 pints. However, Thursday night I knew something was wrong, He couldn’t stand on his own because he was so weak. We got him back to the hay and he laid down and we covered him with hay and added a warm water bottle to keep him warm.

My in-laws checked on him later and gave him some warm milk and he drank it, Friday morning when we got to the barn he had passed away. My heart was broken. I know that we did the best we could and everybody had said when raising bottle-fed calves you can do everything right and still lose some.

One Week

It has been a very busy and trying week. We lost Cricket, but he was very loved in the short time he was with us. Mushu has continued to get stronger and brings smiles to our faces when he figures something new out.

He has started to eat grass and follows me around the barn while I’m cleaning it up. My favorite is when he gets excited and starts bucking and running.

raising bottle calves — Playtime fun with Mushu

It has been very different since we got these little calves, but a good different. Obviously, I miss Cricket, but he is better now because he is not suffering. I have always wanted cows, but I didn’t think I would be brave enough to actually have them. I surprised myself with how quickly you can learn something and do it on your own.

My Thoughts

When getting cows, I think it’s easier to get them as early as you can so y’all can get used to each other. That has made the most difference for me feeling brave and not nervous. Yes Mushu will get much bigger, but he is getting used to me and knows that I will not hurt him. So, he won’t be as nervous the bigger he gets.

When getting bottles for the calves, I highly recommend the screw top bottles. Just because, the bigger they get they can’t suck the nipple off the top and get milk everywhere. I found some great screw top bottles on Amazon and the vent hole on the top works really well. The bottle breathes while Mushu is eating so we don’t have to take the bottle out of his mouth to let air back in.