Saplings you will know what you’re getting. Seedlings, not so much…that’s why apple trees are grafted.
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Homesteading Skills
- Thread starter Al-Jim19
- Start date
Going through a bit of a ‘trial by fire’ with my first bottle calf.
He came to me with a bad case of scours (severe diarrhea common in calves that get taken from their mom at birth) on Friday when I picked him up in Ohio. He’s been shitting liquid ever since.
I feel horrible for him, but I’ve got him on ‘resorb’ electrolytes and brought him into the basement next to the geothermal system and put some fresh hay down for him before he bedded down.
All I can do now is pray he makes it, I guess? I’m just trying to make him comfortable as possible. Fingers crossed he pulls through.
He came to me with a bad case of scours (severe diarrhea common in calves that get taken from their mom at birth) on Friday when I picked him up in Ohio. He’s been shitting liquid ever since.
I feel horrible for him, but I’ve got him on ‘resorb’ electrolytes and brought him into the basement next to the geothermal system and put some fresh hay down for him before he bedded down.
All I can do now is pray he makes it, I guess? I’m just trying to make him comfortable as possible. Fingers crossed he pulls through.
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Good luck man! They’re like pets dogs when you raise them from that age
Aside from being WAY cheaper to buy them this young, the main purpose of this whole experiment (to see if I can keep it alive) is to raise a more gentle and people friendly herd.
My big steer (1000lbs) makes me nervous. I don’t walk into the pasture with feed anymore. He knocked his feed tray (mortar mixing tub) out of my hand and almost put me on my ass. He also ‘bucks’ when he’s excited about eating and I don’t trust him to not plough into me in excitement and trample me to death or cause injury.
I’d have to wait for someone to drive by and see me on the ground before help would come if I got hurt, so I have to be careful here with no one living with me. ‘Training’ calves to be used to me from conception seems like it’ll be a worthwhile endeavor (hopefully.)
Calf made it through the night at least and took about 75% of his morning electrolytes before laying down to rest. I’ll give him the rest of his bottle in a bit. If he makes it until tomorrow, I can start mixing milk replacer in with his electrolytes for 2 days before I can feed him as ‘normal’ (in quotes because we haven’t yet experienced normal because he had explosive diarrhea the very next morning after I got him home which was less than 12 hours.)
38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
Totally understand. I’m in the middle of trying to source a couple of calves myself for the same exact reason. I don’t need a 500 pound puppy that I need to try to raise to be a gentle animal.
I see where this is going and it can only end one way.
You’re not far off.
I had no intention of letting it sleep anywhere inside the house and originally had it set up in my garage. Temperatures have been dropping pretty drastically at night and they get risk of hypothermia when they have active scours. They’re really SUPPOSED to be kept between 50 and 70f for their first month or so of life anyway, so I guess apart from having to clean up liquid shit every day, this is the way it was going to end up anyway what with us going into the worst part of winter and all.
Going forward I would suggest a different breed of cow. Like a Brown Swiss. We kept a few Brown Swiss on the dairy farm of 200 head because of their temperament. They are very much like a pet and make great show cows.
And get the calf in the spring after it's been weaned. Winter is a tough time to have a calf (as you are finding out) and A baby needs its mother's milk to be healthy as an adult.
Ain’t nobody got time for dairy
Seriously, I’m dedicated to my mini farm, but not ‘milking twice a day’ dedicated. Milk is $3 a gallon in Kentucky, so it really wouldn’t work out to be a very lucrative endeavor unless I find a really attractive chick that knows how to make cheese.
Ain’t nobody got time for dairy
Seriously, I’m dedicated to my mini farm, but not ‘milking twice a day’ dedicated. Milk is $3 a gallon in Kentucky, so it really wouldn’t work out to be a very lucrative endeavor unless I find a really attractive chick that knows how to make cheese.
Or butter….
I wish you luck with the calf!
Yes and no. Obviously a calf is better off being able to nurse…but my plan is to have a ‘perpetual harvest’ of beef. Every 18 months a steer will get sent in to slaughter. This requires me acquiring a bottle calf every 6 months.
Not sure if you’ve tried to buy a beef cow lately, but my 5 month old cost almost a grand, and my 10 month old about $1300. The bottle calf was $250, the milk replacer was $100, the bottle was $10 and the scours ReSorb was $40…so ‘all in’ at less than $400 so far.
These cows will never really reach ‘maturity.’ The whole reason I’m doing this is because I want to know what my meat was fed and also that it was treated humanely as possible. I’m basically ‘saving’ this baby cow from an untimely death…because if he was still where I picked him up from, he’d probably already be dead.
These ‘calf-brokers’ aught to be taken out back and shot like a sick horse for how they treat these animals. I understand it’s a business, but these are living creatures. I’ve only known this calf for 3 days and I can tell he has feelings, feels fear and understands that I’m responsible for his survival for the time being.
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I took this to mean you wanted pets. A Brown Swiss isn't the ideal cow for milking or for a beefer but it is gentle and people friendly.
Get a pair and eat their children. It's the best route to a perpetual harvest.
You sick f***!
Obviously kidding.
My ‘future goal’ is a VERY SMALL Highland or Longhorn Cow/calf operation, but that will take me clearing/creating another pasture for the bull and making enough money on the current herd to fun the purchase of bouji cows. Could always do AI as well though.
xtry51
NES Member
Just an update on egg storage. I can't believe I never knew about this before. We savesd roughly 500eggs over the summer. Again zero refrigeration. Basically zero prep time. Currently using eggs from June 28th.
Thanks for posting this. Definitely going to try it next year. We are giving away eggs all summer and even end up feeding some to the dogs. But around this time of year we are barely getting enough to keep up with our normal consumption - nevermind all we need for Christmas cookies.
No weird taste from the pickling lime? Do you wash the eggs first?
Are you providing your chickens supplemental light during the winter?
Chickens need 14 hours of daylight to keep their reproductive system active.
I have a light on a timer in my coop during the winter.
xtry51
NES Member
Do NOT wash the eggs first. I stored the cleanest eggs, wiped gently with a dry cloth.
You can add them in layers and just keep raising the water level as you go. So don't leave them out in the air until you fill a jar. I did that the first time and the quality degraded faster.
There is a slight smell/taste from the lime the longer you go, but not overwhelming. My wife and two teenage boys have had zero issues blitzing through these eggs for breakfast.
The eggs do get less "gooey" the older they get. Not great for over easy as the yolk breaks more easily. Fine for pouching. If you want to bake fluffy cake or brownies, use the few fresh eggs you get for that. They do fluff fine for omlettes/scrambled. The taste difference is not substantial when used in other foods like making quiches.
How do they do for hard boiling, say for use in making Deviled eggs?
xtry51
NES Member
I have a light with a timer too. It helps, but they still slow down to a trickle for me.
xtry51
NES Member
Not sure. I will try some this weekend and report.
I am not. I’m generally ok with the decline in production as I’m a firm believer of working with nature. I assume the decline in production is a benefit to the chicken during these months. That’s why I really like the idea of this storage method to smooth out my supply without intervening.
I just calculated that I’m going to spend over 600 on store bought eggs next year if the prices keep up in the Midwest.
Building a coop can’t be THAT expensive. I know lumber is coming down a bit too. Anyone have any good plans available?
I’m a decent crate builder/carpenter, so I think I can find my way through it…but I know it will take me months if I try and design something myself (I like to stand and stare at my project that I don’t know where I’m going with and it kills a lot of time).
Building a coop can’t be THAT expensive. I know lumber is coming down a bit too. Anyone have any good plans available?
I’m a decent crate builder/carpenter, so I think I can find my way through it…but I know it will take me months if I try and design something myself (I like to stand and stare at my project that I don’t know where I’m going with and it kills a lot of time).
I'll take a pic of mine in the morning.
A buddy of mine did an Aframe with the run underneath. it worked great for him.
I’m thinking about not having a ‘run’ but just plopping the coop over in my side yard where my garden is going. Let them scrape at the cow shit compost and pick bugs off the plants.
My street is a dead end into the holler and I wouldn’t say it’s heavy traffic. If a bird gets hit here and there it won’t be the end of the world, but I doubt it would happen very often. I don’t really ever see anything that resembles daytime ground predators here aside from cats, and they’re not big enough to mess with grown chickens. The only real concern is hawks, I guess…and they’re probably a genuine threat to any flock.
I’m positive there are plenty of predators out on my hills, but I figure if I get a good dawn to dusk door timer, I’ll probably be all set maybe?
Just order a few extra chickens to account for potential loss?
xtry51
NES Member
Here are se pics of mine. The little extention coup and run we added recently. The rest I built at same time. The pen is very simple construction. I can take pics inside tomorrow morn and post them.
If you get chickens, the predators will find you.
I had a lynx and a grey for both snatch chickens during the day while i was outside. Both times i was on the opposite side of the house and when i heard the ruckus i ran around to see a bird being carried off.
This spring i am doing an electro net fence. They are easy to move around and offer good protection from ground predators.
I figured that about predators as well. There are a f*** ton of people with chickens, geese, ducks and rabbits in my area…stepping outside in the morning sounds like a rooster/goose screaming match from every direction. I am the house closest to my section of woods on this side of the river though, so I’m sure I’ll have run ins at some point.
The nice part about putting them in my pasture is I might have a pretty good view of any predators coming in to try and snag them…my home office is in my living room right next to my front door so I can look out and see my cows and bird feeders. Eventually I’ll get a 22 suppressor and something with a threaded barrel. It’s easy enough to take out any potential predators right from my front porch if I don’t mind shooting across my road on rare occasions as needed.
I’ve seen that electric netting and it’s REALLY slick! Will you be getting the solar powered version?
I have a feeling I’m going to end up needing a hot wire around my pasture eventually because I’m going to start keeping bees as well and there’s no doubt in my mind there are bears around here. I wonder if I could tie the two systems together somehow?
xtry51
NES Member
We keep 30-50 chickens at any time. I lose 8-12 to predators every year. I kill probably 20-25 predators a year. You're going to lose some and you're going to need to kill predators or they will keep coming back every 1-2 days and taking another once they get the first one
