Bottle Calves For Sale Ky (2024)

FAQs

Are bottle calves a good investment? ›

Bottle feeding is a great way to start your own herd. It is an excellent way to obtain your own non-GMO, organic, pastured beef (on the cheap) Bottle calves will not only become future milk and beef cows, they will also be your companions and friends. Bottle babies will give you joy and love every day.

Calves usually cost between $600 and $1,200. The cost can fluctuate depending on the breed and the calf's health. Although calves come with lower upfront costs, they require significant care and time before they reach a productive age, which can add to their overall cost.

Most calves need only need 2–3 bottles a day. You won't have to worry about middle-of-the-night feedings or early-morning waking; bottle calves eat during the day and sleep at night. They will need only two bottles a day if they are healthy, and the weather is nice.

Raising a beef animal for slaughter will take 26–28 months if it is raised on grass alone and around 14–18 months if it is raised on grain, like in a feedlot. This is for a calf being raised specifically for meat, not potential breeding stock.

ASK A CATTLE BUYER…

Stocker steers tend to bring more at the market. They go through less stress than bull calves because they have already gone through the stressful process of castration. Less stress means they will adapt quickly and begin to eat and graze for a better weight gain.

“Also, groups containing a hodge-podge of colors are less likely to bring a premium versus a uniform color group. It's best to sell a group of all straight black or black baldies or reds/red baldies. If possible, I would avoid putting off-colored calves with blacks or black-white-faced calves.”

A calf that weighs 500 pounds costs around $700. As compared to a heifer, bred heifer costs more. A bred heifer can cost around $1,300. Whereas matured cows can cost around $4,000 to $5,000 each.

In general, the value of gain on 300-400 pound calves tends to be higher than for 500-600 pound calves. Use the light-weight feeder steers as a base to view the price differences as you add weight to various endpoints. This measurement is commonly used by stocker operators.

Weaning rate was estimated at 85%, meaning that it is expected that a calf will be weaned and sold from 85% of the cows that were exposed to the bull. Based on these assumptions and adjusted for the weaning rate, average calf revenue is $725 per cow.

How Long Does the Calf Need a Bottle? A beef calf is usually eating 1-1.5% of its body weight on a dry matter basis by the time it is 10-12 weeks old. A calf eating this much solid feed is likely ready to be weaned off the bottle.

At what age do calves start eating grass? ›

When Do Calves Start Eating Grass? Calves normally start to nibble on grass or hay within 1 or 2 days of being born. Calves start ruminating to some degree when they're about 2 weeks old, with their rumen fully developed by 90 days of age.

Milk Replacer

Gradually decrease the amount offered after the 5th week to avoid weaning stress. At 7 weeks of age, calves should be fed only 0.5 lbs of milk solids (½ gallon of milk). Calves should be weaned when grain intake is approximately 3 lbs/day, which typically occurs at 7–8 weeks of age in the Step method.

The highest quality beef comes from animals that are under 36 months of age. Old cows produce highly acceptable beef if properly fattened and processed. Depending on the calf and the feeding regime, calves are best slaughtered between three and 16 weeks of age.

Target starter intakes of calves from 0-8 weeks of age. KEY POINT: Calves can be weaned once they are consistently consuming 1kg of concentrates per day. This level of intake can potentially be reached at an age of six weeks if access to palatable starter and water is available ad lib.

But let's say the bull calf only weighs 500 pounds rather Page 2 than 525 pounds (Table 2). With the same $15/cwt price slide, the calf would sell for $1,120.60. This bull calf sells for $38 more than the 475-pound bull calf but is still short $26 to make up for the $64 discount compared to the 475-pound steer.

Across several studies, calves raised in pairs showed a higher daily gain by 0.1 to 0.4 lbs./day with majority of 0.3 lbs./day regardless of the amount of milk offered. At weaning, calves raised in pairs also reached higher body weight (BW) (198 lbs.) as opposed to calves raised individually (180 lbs.).

Based on these assumptions and adjusted for the weaning rate, average calf revenue is $725 per cow. Cost-wise, the major changes for 2022 were significant increases in fertilizer and fuel prices.