Calf feeding questions

[kycklingmamma]

Good Evening guys.

Viggo, our short leg bull calf is now 5 weeks old and thriving..
He is taking 3 bottles a day, 2qts at each feeding..he also nibbles on hay and when I walk him on his lead he nibbles on grasses and leaves of all sorts of things...thoroughly enjoying his "free"time. His pen is full of hay and such but the grass is gone since it was a goat pen before him moving in.

Now to my question...should I start him on any calf starter? or should I compliment his bottles in any way? I was told to feed him three bottles a day since he is little, and he seems to love his momma (me ) feedings...we have become real buddies!

Thanks for your time.

Petra and Viggo!

[dexterfarm]

what are your plans for this bull calf? Are you raising him as a breeder if so are you aware of the temperament issues that can happen with a bottle raised bull?
You dont need to feed calf starter but if you dont you will need to be prepared to continue to bottle feed for quite some time. For that reason you may want to get him going on the calf starter.

[kycklingmamma]

Mike,

Thank you for your response

Well Viggo serves a dual purpose ...hubby would like to freezer camp him, I of course would like to keep him, time will tell....although I do know that bottle raised bulls have a tendency to get rough and gripey, in lack of other words (how do you prevent that from happening if at all possible?)...so if we do keep him, he should be bottle fed longer, yes? For how long?
But if we are sending him to freezer camp, he could start calf starter, am I understanding you right?
Should I up his amount of MR, or compliment it in any way at all...or ?

More than likely hubby will win, as I really would like a heifer eventually, and since he is short leg, would he be a good a candidate as a "keeper"?

Thank you..
Petra

[dexterfarm]

you can feed him calf starter whether you are keeping him or not. If your plan is to keep him just make sure you dont over feed him. You dont need to increase the milk replacer as he grows he will start eating grass and or calf starter to supplement his needs.
As far as the bottle fed temperament issues. Limit your contact with him. Dont play with him just feed him and thats it. I would use a bucket feeder that attaches to a gate. that way he his not getting the milk directly from you.
As far as him being a short leg that is up to your personal preference. Many people prefer them.