Switching calves to milk powder

stagg88 · 31-01-2012 10:48AM #1

Thinking of switching the calves over to milk powder have 4 batches of 8. Getting hays small bit of silage and fresh meal and and about 4-5 litres of milk twice a day.

1 How many litres of powdered milk can i get from a bag?

2 How long should I keep them on the powdered milk?

3 How much should each be getting (litres)

4 Is the water from my plate cooler warm enough for mixing the milk

5 How much can I save from switching them to powdered milk (im under quota)

6 can I switch them over to once a day feeding without any major loss in gains?

bbam · 31-01-2012 11:18AM

What age are they and how much meal are they eating.
We would feed milk to about 10-12 weeks, but they need to be eating a kg of meal and hay/straw and freely drinking water.
Also easier to wean if weaned calves and calves still getting milk are housed well apart. Weaned calves do get stressed if they smell freshly mixed milk.
I don't think milk from plate cooler is hot enough to get a good mix and if it's not well mixed you'll risk starting scour.
By 12 weeks we'd have them on a 50/50 beef and calf nut mix moving to full beef as soon as possible.

Switching calves to milk powder

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