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Keep feeding this meal right up until they reach at least 100kg. Cleanliness and hygiene are critical. Wash the utensils in cold water, then in hot water( in that order) and disinfect daily. Have some good shelter in the paddock or free access to a clean shed. As the calves grow, don ' t increase the amount of liquid( thereby making more work for yourself), but rather increase the concentration of the powder. Follow the instructions on the bag exactly.
Wean calves off milk at 80kg for Friesians and 70kg for smaller breeds and make sure they have some good clean pasture with grass and not just weeds. A calf must be fed milk until it is eating at least one kilogram of calf meal a day. When weaning off milk first stop the evening feed of milk for a week then stop the morning feed. Do not move or stress the calves in any other way during this time and ensure that they continue to eat the calf meal. A calf can eat up to three kilograms of meal a day after weaning, depending on its size, and it will only really start to digest forage properly at three months of age. It is very important to keep feeding the calf well as it grows or it will be stunted and never grow to full size. Check with your vet as to when they must be castrated and disbudded, as well as what vaccinations they will need. For female calves the most important vaccination is for contagious abortion( CA). For all calves a vaccination for botulism and anthrax is very important. Worms can severely affect an animal ' s growth performance and it is necessary to deworm the young animal regularly, especially in the warm months of spring and summer. A young calf on milk may suffer from milk tapeworm and ordinary tapeworm. They should be treated for this from one month to six weeks of age, especially if they develop diarrhoea. Diarrhoea containing fresh or digested blood is caused by coccidiosis. This is very dangerous to the animal and it must be treated immediately with a sulphur based drug available at your co-op.
LIVESTOCK Before you can sell the animals, you will need to have some form of identification, so you ' ll need an ear tag applicator and ear tags. By law cattle must be marked by the age of six months. Growing animals need better nutrition than fully grown animals that are not productive. Make sure you have the capacity to feed and medicate your animals before purchasing them. Your animals will cost you money to grow out. Be sure that you are prepared to spend that money before you become an owner.
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