I'm going to be getting a few calves in a couple of weeks and the reason I'm asking is I have an almost full bag of lamb milk replacer that I ended up not needing. I want to use it up and then (gradually) switch the calves over to calf milk replacer or cow's milk from the neighbor who dairy farms. Is this OK or should I just stick with calf milk replacer from the start?

Thanks in advance!

-- malinda (teneniel_80@yahoo.com), March 25, 2002

Answers

They are hard enough to raise without fooling around with there milk .There is a reason that there is calf,and lamb milk replacer seperate.Each milk has different fat and protein levels.I think you will just be asking for trouble if you try .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.

I have raised calves on lamb replacer. And they did just fine. There is more fat in lamb replacer than in calf replacer so I cut the amount used in half. If the directions say 1 cup of replacer to 1 quart of water use .5 cup of replacer to 1 quart of water. You should get along fine especially if you plan on switching them over later.

-- Joni (jjdenton@st-tel.net), March 25, 2002.

Malinda: I used calf milk replacer on a Jersey heifer from the time I brought her home (3 wks old) and noticed after a couple of weeks that she was looking poorly. So after consulting with a friend who owns a dairy, switched her over to goat/lamb milk replacer (had a little of both on hand). She perked up and started gaining weight, and looking much better. Apparently some calf milk replacer has a lot of soy in it, and calves just don't do very well on that as their only source of milk. I think switching to lamb replacer for this calf probably helped prevent worse problems, and she is quite healthy today (ready to be bred this spring). Hope this helps. Good luck with your calves.

-- Taylor (bptaylor@ccrtc.com), March 26, 2002.

You milk replacer should be all milk no soy especially the first bag , after they are on gain and hay you can switch to the cheaper stuff.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), March 26, 2002.