Monday, January 30, 2012

Things to look for when purchasing a calf

The email inbox seen a lot of activity last week about cattle and calf questions, but there was one that stood out that I wanted to share.
“I have a question?  What are the things you need to look for when purchasing a calf.  I bought one last year and I believe that it did not get the what he needed. I never owned cattle and I would like to start.”
It doesn’t matter wither I’m purchasing a calf directly from a dairyman, rancher, or livestock auction there are some things I pay attention to. It makes it a little easier when buying directly from the owner because you can ask questions, but observing the calf provides a huge amount of information as well.

The first thing I pay attention to is the breed of the calf. It really doesn’t matter to me what breed the calf is with the exception of a few I stay away from.

I avoid Jersey bulls or steers.Although they take to bottle feeding extremely well, many people do stay away because they can be a handful to handle. I don’t know if I would say they have an aggressive behavior, but they are different than other breeds. As they grow, you need to be aware of them at all times when your around them.

I also avoid Longhorn steers because they have a lower resell value. All the steers I raise are resold somewhere after they have reached about 600 pounds. Longhorns sell cheaper and it takes longer to get the weight on them making it harder to see a return.
 
Know Longhorn heifers is a different story, well it has to be the right Longhorn heifer. The other thing I look for is the general condition and health of the calf. Not that I will not purchase  a sick calf, but it will affect the amount I’m willing to pay.

I not going pay top dollar for a calf that has something wrong with them.  I have been doing this long enough to spot the problems almost immediately. Someone that is new to purchasing calves things do move quickly in a sell ring. 

I always show up early and look them over as best as I can. Sometimes they may be laying down, but you can still get a good ideal of the overall condition. Once in the ring they will be moving around and you get a better judge of the calf.

I start looking the calf over at the nose. If there is any snot or mucus coming from the nostrils then I am not going to be interested. Then I want to take a good look at the eyes.

If the calf’s has one or two eyes that are cloudy or milky looking, then the calf is either has an infection or it could possible be permanently blind. I look to see if the calf has clear eyes and looking around making eye contact with objects. If the calf’s eyes are clear but it is just looking at the ground or stairs off in space or isn’t looking around, then I am not interested in the calf. Next I look at the calf’s ears.

If one of the ears on the calf is drooping, there is good chance it has an ear infection. If both ears on the calf are drooping straight down, then it could be weak or running fever, but is ill. I want a calf with ears straight out or up with some movement.

I want the calf to have a straight back. If it is hunched/bowed up or has a sway then the calf is sick.
The calf’s tail must be dry. When a calf has a wet tail then it has been scouring and I don’t need a calf that is already scouring from the start. If it has dry poop on the tail that’s Ok or fresh poop. I just don’t want the tail to be wet.

I also pay close attention to the way they’re acting on their feet. If their hooves are folding under when their walking or causing them trouble to stand, I’m going to be cautious about purchasing the calf. If the calf’s hooves are folding under on the back legs, I will not buy the calf. This is called buckling and if the calf is doing this once it falls or lies down it won’t be ably to get up.

Then take a look at the calves navel next. I am looking for a calf with a normal size navel. If the calf’s navel looks puffy, swollen, or enlarged then this calf has a ruptured navel. They’ll be fine with it but resale value is extremely low. 

Ideally I want a calf with straight back, clear eyes, no snot, a dry tail, and standing on it’s hooves well.
 
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Cattleman and Goliath- Bottle Feeding the Giant

A fellow cattle rancher I had never meet before stopped by the house a few weeks backs. I walked out to the drive as he was pulling up. He had driven by the house a few times and notice that I always had a few bottle calves. He wanted to know if I would be interested in one more.

He had a 20 day old calf that it's mother had passed away the day before. I didn't get all the details on what happen to the mother, I was mostly concerned with the calf. I followed him over to his ranch and right away I was thinking this could be interesting. We drove through a pasture with some of the biggest Brangus cattle I had  ever seen. I noticed all the calves were crossed with a Charolais bull and were carrying some size to them.

Sure enough I follow the cattle rancher to his pens to where inside stood large calf. I had to question him if he was sure that calf was only 20 days old. He assured me that it was. I loaded up the calf and took it home knowing this could be a challenge. Any orphan calf that has been nursing form it's mother for three weeks isn't going to want to be handled or feed from a bottle. When you add the size and strength of this calf, things may not go well trying to get it to nurse a bottle.

Goliath quickly meet my expectations with the first attempt to feed him from a bottle. I placed him in a pen with another calf for a few hours to get use to the new place. I figured having a buddy would help him settle in. Goliath was doing fine until I stepped in the pen to feed the other calf. He ran over to the corner and just kept staring me down, snorting some, and shaking his head letting me know I shouldn't come any closer. After the other calf was finished it was Goliath's turn.

I tried walking up to him slowly but he just kept moving away. Finally I  got him in one of the corners of the pen with one arm around his neck and holding the bottle in the other hand trying to get his mouth open. He rose up to his back feet pawing and clawing with his front trying to climb over me. I stood my ground holding him in the corner but it was taking all I had. I got a finger in the side of his mouth avoiding the rear teeth. Calf have an extremely powerful bite that can do some serious damage to your fingers but I needed to pry his mouth open to get the nipple of the bottle in.

Most calves I a can simply hold them in a corner and kneel on one leg to get to their height and pop the nipple in, but not Goliath he would have steamed rolled me over in a blink of the eye. Instead I had to stand holding him in place and fighting to get the nipple in. After getting the bottle in place he didn't want anything to do with it shaking his head from side to side and fighting the whole time. It took about 40 minutes to get a half of bottle in him. It was all I could do.

The following morning was round two. It went pretty much like the first attempt to feed him but little better. I was able to get a bottle down him by letting it run in his mouth and him just swallowing. On the third feeding he was still fighting the whole time and never sucked but would swallow. At least he wasn't clamping down and stopping the flow of milk replacer.

Finally during the fifth feeding and after half a bottle of just swallowing he took his first draw from the nipple. It didn't last long but he did try. The next feeding he started suckling the nipple and on day five of working with him he quit running from me, by the seventh day he was coming to me to suckle form the bottle.

I can't say he was the hardest to take to bottle feeding because I have had calves take up to fourteen days before they sucked. He was definitely the strongest. It scared me some placing my finger in his mouth to get the bottle in. His mouth was big enough to fit my whole hand in there. I wanted no part of those teeth. He is a good baby now nursing off the rack and growing.


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Sunday, January 22, 2012

First time heifer had problems calving and calf is not getting enough milk

Emailed Question~
“My first time Hereford heifer recently calved and had problems during birth. She abandoned the calf. It received plenty of colostrum its first couple of days (we put the cow in a head stanchion and let the calf nurse multiple times the first few days). We have since been allowing the calf to nurse twice daily off of its mother and giving it 3/4 bottle of milk replacer midday. So far it is doing well but we are now concerned the mother is not producing enough milk. We are probably going to transition to feeding the bottle three times daily. I was wondering if you had any ideas about the best way to do this without causing scours. Any help would be great. Thanks.”

Response~

First, I wouldn’t let the possibility of the calf scouring influence my decision on wither or not to switch the calf over to just bottle feeding. In this case I would continue to keep the calf on the heifer as long as possible or for at least 3 months.
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I understand the heifer may not be  willing to let the calf nurse and has to be restrained for the calf to do so. Normally after a few weeks the discomfort of the calf nursing subsides and the heifer’s attitude will likely change. It takes some time for swelling in the heifers tits to go down and she fully accepts the calf.

I would continue to bottle feeding one bottle of milk replacer midday and allow the calf to nurse the heifer at it’s choice placing the heifer in restraint twice day if necessary for two weeks. If things go well the heifer will accept her calf and also start producing more milk. I have ran into situations when it was not possible to do.

The calf was just not getting enough milk from the heifer or the heifer just became so difficult to handle it was best to remove the calf completely. In the cases that I have removed the calf only after a few days, just a few calves started scouring. I would estimate the risk of scouring in these cases would be small. By the way the calf can still scour if left just on the heifer. If the calf was to start scouring then I would proceed with treatment of the calf and move forward.

By separating the pair during the night and bringing the two back together in the morning, you can get a good ideal about how much milk the calf is getting from her mother. Observing the bag size before and after nursing and the amount of time the calf spends trying will help to judge the amount of milk the calf is getting. One little tip that is almost a dead ringer for knowing the calf isn’t getting enough from the heifer is: If the calf gives up on trying to nurse the heifer and comes to you looking for a bottle. The calf  knows which option is producing the best results.  

You always have to follow your gut in these cases. If you have the feeling the calf is just not getting enough then you have to make the decision which route will be the best.

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Scours
Tips When Calves Don’t Want to Suckle a Bottle