New here.

[Lammie]

Just found this forum. Just have a few acres of chickens, donkeys and calves. We had 2 heifers that we bought about two years ago but they have go on to auction since then.

About 3 weeks ago we bought 3 bull calves at the sale barn. They were supposed to be bottle broke. Two are holsteins bred with something else, one's brown and white and the other is solid dark brown. The other is a semital, (I don't know if I'm spelling that right.) This calf has never taken a bottle since we bought him. He eats calf starter and hay and drinks water. He's hale and hardy. I would think that someone made a mistake at the sale barn if I hadn't talked to the boy loading our trailer who said that the calf came off his dad's place and they had just taken if off his mama that morning.

They have all three been banded. All are doing well. I'm bottle feeding milk replacer with the other two.

When do I need to have them vaccinated?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I grew up in the country but this is my firat experience bottle feeding.

[warpaint]

Welcome!!

[Saltydawg]

Newborn calves use the Colostrum from their mommas for immunities while they are young.(colostrum is the first milk a momma cow makes...calves need to nurse within at least 24 hours to get its benfit...within one hour is best. Think of it like a vaccination that momma gives them)

You will find a lot of different opinions concerning vaccinations...when, how often, and which ones.
Health and Nutrition forum is where most posts on that topic are covered.

Mine are usually 4-6 months of age before they get their first set and it works for me. Other people have different programs.

I believe the generally accepted rule is you don't vaccinate calves until they are at least 2 months old.

Your best bet would be to ask your local vet.....he/she will know best what vaccinations are recomended for your area.

I believe Simmental is the breed you weren't sure of the spelling on.

Oh and welcome to the boards

[Lammie]

So then you think that my Semmental calf is okay? He's bigger than the other two. He's eating. I figure that since I've had them for going on a month now that if he were going to die he would have done it by now. He just seems kinda, well, lonely.

[Saltydawg]

If he's eating well he should be fine.
You say he seems lonely. Is he by himself or is he with the other calves? Cattle are social animals and should always have a buddy when possible.
Some bawling from weaned calves is normal...they miss momma.
There are quite a few threads on these boards concerning caring for young calves. Do a search for bottle babies and you should find some good info.

[ethan]

hi my name is ethan adams i am 15, i live in twin falls id we moved here not long ago i just started a job at a hourse ranch. you

[Lammie]

He's with the two other calves I am bottle feeding right now. He doesn't bawl. He seems to like it when I am around, though. He likes to have his neck scratched and will come up tp me and stretch out so that I will scratch it.

I suspect that he was significantly older than the other calves at the sale barn. He had ear tags already, he was much bigger, stronger and had really good lungs. I worried about him for a while after I got him home and he wouldn't suck. If he just came off his mama, then he wasn't bottle broke. I paid quite a bit more for him than I did the other two, as well.

Thanks, everyone.