Jersey calve?

Myself and a friend have ended up possibly going to pick up a jersey bull calf tomorrow. It's a week old and has had it's shots and colostrum, currently bottle feed. We know nothing about raising calves other then what we found online this evening.

Us and our folks have both tossed around the idea of a cow for beef for a few years now. Have some sheds and fields it should be okay in.

That said, any of the dairy guys here have any words of advice to 2 fools trying to raise a calf? Lol!

If it dies, we'll only be out a few bucks. I know a jersey bull isn't the best idea for a beef cow, Seems like we can make it work for our first try though? Or talk me out of it...

If you can raise a Jersey calf, you can raise most anything.

Have eaten a lot of Jersey meat.
Not bad at all.
My Mother-In-Law just bought half of one for the freezer.
The farmer kept the other half.

Farmer next to me where I grew up could raise them.
Had over 400 head.

We bought and raised about 100 dairy bull calves one summer, a few years back. Kids loved bottle feeding them. Lost a few,but for the most part it was fairly easy. We we're lucky and the local feed store owner was happy to help with all our crazy questions. Have fun with it.

Some people say jersey beef is sweeter and tender,never tried it myself but that's what I heard. Find out how much milk he should be getting and which brand of replacer they recommend.

What kind of temps are normal were you are this time of year ? What kind of housing are you going to provide this calf ? These things need to be looked at before much advice can be given. Jersey calves don't have much body mass, and if the weather is sever , like below 0 F , you will have trouble getting enough calories into it to keep it alive. A week old baby will not be able to get much of anything out of calf starter, and if you give them too much milk, the calf will scour . Your baby calf will need a draft free environment, with good ventilation.
Much easier to raise a baby calf in the warm weather , than in the dead of winter, no question, but we raise Jersey babes all year round here in Ontario . We do adjust our methods as seasons change. Make your milk replacer nice and warm , that is a good place to start. We generally don't give newborns much over 2 liters a day the first week or so and gradually increase to 4 liters . Try to start your calves eating calf starter right away. Do this by giving them a mouth full of starter right after they have their milk. takes several days for their stomach to be able to digest solid food. By 2-3 weeks keeping water available to the calves is a good idea. The quicker the calf takes to the starter, the better the odds are that your calf will grow and be healthy. Seems like it should be easy , and it can be, but it can be heart breaking too when things go wrong.
Jersey bull calves are worth next to nothing right now, and I have 4 of the little guys that I can't find a home for , 2 are big enough to wean, near 200 lb . I have just been feeding them along with the rest of the heifers , as I have had some extra milk. Working for nothing perhaps , but I just am not going to clunk a nice new born calf on the head , just because he has no value. I mostly use sexed seaman now , and breed other cows Angus.

If it dies, we'll only be out a few bucks.[/quote]

Depends when it dies. You'll be out quite a few bucks if you add up purchase price, milk replacer, starter feed, scour meds, etc.... I'm not trying to sound negative to discourage you, but it's a real possibility. I've heard Jersey meat is some of the best if you can look past the yellow colored fat. Something to do with why they have a high butter fat content. Keep us updated

The colour of the fat is really only due to the higher amount of Beta-carotene . The Guernsey breed has
the same characteristic. In my opinion this does not change the flavour any. Just the colour of the fat.

If you can wait you can probably buy one a year old for a couple hundred and skip trying to keep a baby alive. I guess I'm trying to say is you can get one started cheaper and easier than you can start one with less risk.

Raised many dairy calves. Do as Bruce says and should be no problem. We probably had at least 150 at any given time. Pay attention to what comes out the back end as well as what you are feeding. Don't cheap out on the milk replacer. We always gave ours a small container of plain yogurt once a month. Keeps the stomach alive with good bacteria. Good luck.

You want to keep it in a decent well ventilated but not drafty area. Band it as soon as possible, and dehorn as soon as you feel the buds on its skull.
Feed it a quality milk based replacer not the cheap soy based crap.
Keep clean fresh water and a good calf starter grain in front of it all the time, don't worry about hay for a while.
Feed the thing at least 2 qts 2x a day and after feeding put a little starter grain in its mouth to help it get the taste. Perhaps even put a little dry replacer powder on the grain as well so it will noodle around in there after feedings.
At around 8 weeks you can work on weaning it. Cut back to once a day feeding, don't dilute the replacer to wean.
Hopefully it will be eating at least 3 pounds of grain a day by then.
Keep it on the starter grain and you can add in some good hay, not grassy stuff. But the emphasis should be on the grain, this is a dairy breed not a beef breed.
You can shift to a lower protein grower ration at around 400 pounds or so. Then later on you can shift to a finisher ration or perhaps go all shell corn and a pellet.

Mid Michigan, 40 tomorrow, usually in the mid 20's. We're thinking keep it in a approx. 5x8 foot shed with a little heater? Now I'm thinking maybe a bigger heated area would be better. Have a 12x12 shed that can be made to work. I read try to keep the temp above 50 for them.

Worst comes to worst we'll try again in the warmer weather.

Thanks for all the tips/info!!

Sounds like good advice! That probably would be significantly cheaper in the long run... Been talking to a few local guys, they seem to say the same thing. Have another day to decide if we actually get it, we'll see what happens

Thank you very much for all the info! It's
a big help! I'll let y'all know how it
turns out.

you don't need a heater and you don't need 50 degrees.
A nice draft free place and lots of dry bedding is all they need.
They survive in hutches in below 0 weather around here, should be no different there.

#1 piece of advice.Do Not over feed it.My wife raises calves when some of the farms these rich folks own not too far from us call her and give her calves when something happens to their mothers.Right now
she is raising a real nice Purebred Angus heifer she gives it a bottle twice a day and its starting to eat some Calf Manna.

I always keep at least one jersey steer on pasture and one on feed for our personal beef, jersey beef consistently rates with Angus beef in quality and taste. Jerseys don't dress as high percentage wise but if your raising your own it don't make a whole lot of difference. Don't overfeed your calf on milk and offer him some high quality hay from day one, alfalfa and orchard grass is perfect if you can get it.

A few other words of advice on top of what is already here... if you are new to raising calves, consider holding off til spring. We market a lot of bull calves direct to buyers, and we have some experienced buyers who won't buy from Dec til March or April. It is just easier for them to work with- less poor weather, weather extremes, etc. You can raise calves in the winter, but if you've never done it before, January or Feb isn't the best time to start.

I think the best advice below is to find a healthy feeder steer, and skip the early part this time. The early time is the hardest, and is a pricey time per lb of gain when you have to buy milk replacer, etc.

It will be a nosey curious inquisitive critter that checks out everything.

I've found with a Jersey steer calf that the best time to butcher is around 650 to 700 pounds. They almost stop growing at the weight and and trying to pack another 150-200 pounds on that small of animal takes lots of time and feed. At that size their steaks are very good (but small).

Rookie mistake. Stay home and find something to watch on TV instead.

My nephew bought 9 of them two years ago despite my warnings not to. A week later he was down to 3. After two years he took them to the sale barn and gave them away.

I just sold a PB Jersey bull last week. He weighed 985. I guessed him to be 750-800 max. Fooled me. He was a year and 3 months old. He tore up everything he could get his horns on. When he tore down part of my interior barn wall, I loaded him up and put him on the auction block.

I just sold a PB Jersey bull last week. He weighed 985. I guessed him to be 750-800 max. Fooled me. He was a year and 3 months old. He tore up everything he could get his horns on. When he tore down part of my interior barn wall, I loaded him up and put him on the auction block. If your calf is a steer he will likely be much more gentle.

(quoted from post at 19:53:14 01/30/18) If you can raise a Jersey calf, you can raise most anything.

Click to expand...

TOO FUNNY!