Our calves love milk. No, really they loooove milk. Yes, they drink it raw just like we do. Never, do they walk away from a half empty bucket and say "Thanks, but that is enough for me right now." We start the babies on bottles. First we hold the bottle for them a couple days. This gets them used to us, the Human and gives us an excuse to stay in one spot for afew moments. Then we move them to the calf hutches where they continue to drink milk from a bottle placed in a bottle holder on the side of their hutch.When they are about three months old they graduate to a bucket.
They like the bucket. They like to put their whole head in the bucket. Sometimes they will even blow bubbles with their nose in the bucket.
They have been known to go to extremes in order to get ALL the milk they possibly can. Such as prayer.
Even when the bucket is as empty as my brain on any given Sunday morning, they will not give up. I understand. I am the same way about Dawn Smiths Angel Food cake.
When the last drop is all gone and The Human removes the milk bucket and the calf is waiting out the 20 minutes before its brain tells its stomach it is full, the calf will console itself by sucking on most anything close by. Sad but true.
Usually it's me they are sucking on or the fence when the bottle is done. I miss my bum calves this year but alas, it just wasn't to be. How long do you bottle feed? For a beef calf I bottle for three months and then taper them off weaning at 3 1/2 or 4 depending on the calf and how well they are consuming solids. If I had dairy and not a calf destined for the freezer in two years, I'd probably go longer.
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