Calves

[chris elk]

With us planning on lambing everything outdoors this is going to free up a good size shed , I want to have something in it and thought calves, I'm a novice with cattle had a few years ago , are they easy to look after ? Is there any money in them? Are there contracts that you can get from anyone who supplies calves? We have a couple of dairy farmers near us but that's it , worth asking them? Thanks in advance. Chris

 

[Yorkshire lad]

Your best buying direct from farm if you can . If they are B&W have someone lined up to buy them as they aren't the best sellers in a market unlike continentals which every one wants
Most B&W finishers seem to want batches ideally dehorned and vaccinated
Rearing under contract is OK to start off with ,but it means there is someone else wanting a slice of a small pie

 

[chris elk]

Thanks , are they easy to look after ? How long are they in milk ?

 

[chris elk]

On

 

[kfpben]

I keep mine on milk for about 8 weeks. They have usually been on milk at the dairy unit for 1-2 weeks by the time the passport comes through and I pick them up.

Best to wean on weight/strength and amount of concentrate eaten though.

 

[Yale]

Ok if you keep TB out.

If not,a nightmare.

 

[chris elk]

I suppose you'd have to be very careful of where they come from ? Are you guys feeding on home rations or bought in pellets? When do you generally sell them ? I suppose the only real way of finding out is trying a batch of 20 and see how I get on!

 

[Yorkshire lad]

Your biggest problem will be scour and pneumonia .

 

[Yorkshire lad]

Ours are all from one farm in a TB4 area same as us. They all have rispoval intranasal, the first jab of rispoval 4 and are dehorned by us. They are on milk for 7 weeks here. They are fed a mixture of pellets and our own home ration. We sell them on when they are around 16 weeks and weigh around 170kg. We have 2 milk machines so milk is always consistent (temperature, ratio of powder to water etc). We don't have a problem with scour. Pneumonia crops up but the minute a calf starts ailing its jabbed with Resflor and touch wood, we don't loose them. Ideally you need the same couple of people doing the calves all the time so individual problems are picked up straight away. Even though the calf feeding machines do a wonderful job you still need good stock persons to keep things running smoothly.

 

[Henery]

With us planning on lambing everything outdoors this is going to free up a good size shed , I want to have something in it and thought calves, I'm a novice with cattle had a few years ago , are they easy to look after ? Is there any money in them? Are there contracts that you can get from anyone who supplies calves? We have a couple of dairy farmers near us but that's it , worth asking them? Thanks in advance. Chris

What you need is a Volac calf feeding machine, I have a spare , the only way to do it .... in my humble, and fairly experienced opinion.
DM if I can help !

 

[Zippy768]

Ours are all from one farm in a TB4 area same as us. They all have rispoval intranasal, the first jab of rispoval 4 and are dehorned by us. They are on milk for 7 weeks here. They are fed a mixture of pellets and our own home ration. We sell them on when they are around 16 weeks and weigh around 170kg. We have 2 milk machines so milk is always consistent (temperature, ratio of powder to water etc). We don't have a problem with scour. Pneumonia crops up but the minute a calf starts ailing its jabbed with Resflor and touch wood, we don't loose them. Ideally you need the same couple of people doing the calves all the time so individual problems are picked up straight away. Even though the calf feeding machines do a wonderful job you still need good stock persons to keep things running smoothly.

Where/how do you sell them?

 

[chris elk]

Thanks gents do you have a buyer for them ? Or do you just take to market?

 

[kfpben]

Personally just take them to market. The Angus and Hereford X tend to do very well, the Friesians Bulls struggle a bit sometimes.

A dealer offered me a sum for the lot in the spring (I rear in batches) but I think I would have been underselling them.

 

[devonbrion1998]

Yes as yorkshire lad says you will have to be on the ball for any signs of scours or penumonia
they can go down hill very quickly if you dont have an eye for early symtoms within a day or two they can get to the point of no return.
But im sure you know your stock and the signs of an unwell animal just make sure your sheds are well ventelated and you have the meds on hand because you will need them no matter how hard you try...Go ahead and get a batch we allways did well with ours..i would buy in nov/dec get them weaned off the milk powder and push them on with good cake then sell as the grass is coming on in april or may big demand for young grazing cattle at that time of the year...all the best and good luck

 

[Yorkshire lad]

Where/how do you sell them?

All the B&W are sold at home in batches by weight , we sell the continentals at home by weght and at local market

 

[chris elk]

How much space per calf ? Just so I no how many I can fit in the shed. I take it there's a profit in them if done well , we no longer have any cereals in the job so it would be bought in feed either pellets or I could do a ration with friends barley / beans etc . Sorry for so many questions. I just keep walking past the shed and it aggravates me looking at it with nothing in it!

 

[Err0l]

How much space per calf ? Just so I no how many I can fit in the shed. I take it there's a profit in them if done well , we no longer have any cereals in the job so it would be bought in feed either pellets or I could do a ration with friends barley / beans etc . Sorry for so many questions. I just keep walking past the shed and it aggravates me looking at it with nothing in it!

Have you thought about storing caravans 10x easier and 10x the money.

 

[devonbrion1998]

Depending how long you intend to keep them in as the do double then treble in size pretty quickly
so allow them enough room to grow.start them off on milk pellets then weaner pellets then try and find a local farmer that mills a bit of feed maybe a ton bag would work better rather than buying bagged feed at £7/8 a time.
I would always go for a good calf pay a bit more they eat the same..and always a trade for good calfs if you get the timing right named sires is a must these days.

 

[devonbrion1998]

yeh you got a point with them caravans..no mucking out aswell
ant quite the same when you lean on the gate and look at them though..

 

[Yale]

yeh you got a point with them caravans..no mucking out aswell
ant quite the same when you lean on the gate and look at them though..

No risk of having to drag a dead one out of the pen though.