Calf rearing - beginner

Just out of interest, What kind of breed are you thinking of getting?

It years since I raised calves so there is not much i can offer as between forgetting little tips and vaccinations has changed a lot since then. There is vital tips I haven't forgot, keep the calves clean, disinfect and no draughts. Best of luck.

Carefully examine the milk replacer you do intend to give them

You are looking for high protein supplied by whey/dairy....you want to avoid anything with too much palm oil or **** coconut etc....the particles/globules with that are larger than those produced from a dairy source dont absorb well in the intestines and promote scour and are generally inferior shite imo......a good rule of thumb is avoid any powder that's darker in colour than very light/pale yellow....the label will tell you what's in it and where the proteins are derived from generally (and if it doesn't that could be your first warning)....it can be tempting to go for the cheaper stuff when it comes to CMR but trust me, its 100% a false economy...but then again the whole thing is a false economy if you ask me.

Always have fresh water in front of them and a small amount of crunch/good quality straw from day 1 to entice them to start nibbling and get them off the powder a bit quicker.

If they do get a scour treat them obviously but the main battle in terms of keeping them alive is keeping them hydrated...a fairly well fed calf that's kept hydrated normally won't go downhill as fast as one that's dehydrated.....I lost almost none when I learned that....a lot of scours run their course over 3/4 days and if the calf is hydrated and fed and you can keep them going that length they'll generally survive (rookie mistake to withdraw feed when they scour) and if a cdlf needs treatmentand you feel its beyond you call the vet before yhey deteriorate (judging that is s matter of experience..you might panic too early or not panic early enough whrn you are starting off - unless you are ftom a fayming background).....obviously prevention is better than cure with all of the above but no matter how hard you try youll have a bout of hardship at some stage.

You can make up your own electrolyte with glucose, salt, water and bread soda I think ...save you a bit on buying the sachets that you can put into good CMR so you have less problems.

Likewise natural yoghurt diluted in water this can get them back on track after a scour/setback

And lastly even though its clear you have your mind set (and who am I to question - but I'm going to anyway)....are you really sure you want to do this to yourself?

IMO this post is just another fooking vegan/anti farming livestock/bloodstock troll post. They normally start off about this time of the year.

Changing water every day should be OK

On the crunch Their intake might be very low initially but try to have a small amount of fresh crunch snd straw in front of them daily....maybe s handful to begin with as it will only get spoilt....I used to use a tiny smount of dried alfalfa to get them chewing and found it good...but not necessary at all (it was only because I had access to it for free - I'm not sure you'll ever see that recommended anywhere....

You will get to know the rate they eat at and put out appropriate amounts....I used to use wydale feeders after a few weeks and give enough that all in a small group got their fill and top up as necessary to take a bit of the work out of it....those feeders allow you to pour in a decent bulk amount and the wedge shape traps the meal so only a small amount spills out...then as the calf eats it makes more room for more to fall so that the calf can take what it wants and the trapped stuff doesn't spoil...those feeders are expensive at around 200 a pop though....I found the wydale (blue feeders) milk feeders with the soft white teats easily the best of the feeders too (superior to peach teats , milk bar in almost every way - their main dusadvantage they were easier for calves to up end by pucking underneath than a lot of other brands.....another thing you should do to avoid problems is supervise them while drinking (if you are not using an autofeeder) as sure as night follows day some rill feed faster than others and puck the slower drinker out of the way creating two problems in that the once that gorge themselves are at increased risk of a nutritional scour (which might be easily sorted enough but still a pain in the hole) and the ones that don't drink adequately/are bullied can go downhill on you.

The electrolytes on arrival I used to do if they were coming from a mart as it might have meant it had been a while since they had drank and they will probably have a better appetite for first feed making them easier to manage and its no harm to hydrate them...if they were coming from a local farm I normally not bother and I'd slowly get them in on the CMR I'm using if different from what was being fed with small feeds....you won't kill a calf by not giving a full feed straight away and allow them time to better adjust over a day or two of small feeds and less overall than what you want to get them on... but if you give them a big load of CMR the first day you will increase the chances of giving them a digestive upset and headaches for you.

If at all possible keep them in small bunches even though it might increase your work load, if one gets a scour it wont spread to as many and it will reduce bullying.

I don't think an open sided shed would do for young calves.

I was told that it is best to give calves clean straw to pick at as the straws pricks their stomach lining and this is good for getting their digestive system up and going. Would it be okay to use Alfalfa instead of straw as it is similarly prickly (if that is the correct term).

We buy in Alfalfa for the cows calving as it dries them up on the straw beds and generally is a better option than silage. It would be high in protein too which I am assuming would be good for the calves?

Well that fncks that idea.

Where is everyone getting the Alfalfa?

Was slightly out on the protein %.