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Faunsdale, AL | I know folks do this differently for a lot of reasons (freezing weather etc), but unless you can not do it any other way, do not dilute the milk replacer with water. The diluted stuff may not digest properly in the stomach. Instead provide water separately, free choice. Especially in hot weather. If you don't have water, dry feed consumption will most likely suffer.
Sometimes calves will finish bottle of milk and dive right in and drink all the water available to them, so we usually only put in fresh water after the frantic search for additional milk has calmed down. If you have at least a small amount of fresh feed in the bucket when they get through with the milk, you can usually get them to try it when they're looking for more milk.
Except for veal calves, getting a calf on grain as fast as possible is the best way to avoid scours and expense. You cannot do it by restricting milk and still come out good though. | |
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Dairy Calves
