Perhaps you have decided to raise a bottle calf, but you don’t know where to buy one. In my last article, I discussed the reasons for raising a bottle calf.
Four reasons to raise a bottle calf:
- Raising a bottle calf is a great way to expand your farm.
- Raise a steer to eat and know exactly where your meat comes from and what it has eaten.
- Earn a little extra money on your farm by selling the calf when it is grown.
- Finally, if you have a pasture that is overgrown, a calf will soon be eating grass, keeping your pasture looking neat.
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In my last article, 5 Steps to Raising a Bottle Calf, I gave you the five steps for raising a bottle calf. This article will give more details about where to find bottle calves. There are approximately six main resources for buying bottle calves, depending on where you live. I have purchased calves from five of these places. In addition, I worked briefly for the other place. I will describe them in order of my preference, beginning with my LEAST favorite.
Six Places to Buy a Bottle Calf
1. Calf Jockeys.
With the decline of family farms and the rise of corporate farms, there is a business practice of calves being hauled to a central location and then auctioned off in large quantities to several buyers. I will call them calf jockeys. I don’t know if they have an official name, but that is how I refer to them.
Perhaps there are folks who have had good experiences with these people, but I have not. I worked for a calf jockey for less than a month. I will not go into detail in this article, but the main reason you will not want to use one of these sellers is that there is a ten-calf minimum purchase.
My recommendation when you are starting out is to purchase one or two, but no more than three calves. There is a learning curve to raising calves, and my advice is to start small to see if it is a commitment you want to make.
2. Big Dairies.
This is the next least likely place (not least favorite) that I would buy a bottle calf. In my experience, most big dairies already have buyers who will buy all their calves on a regular basis and then resell them at the sale barn or to a big calf-raising facility. It is similar to a corporation, and big dairies just don’t have time to sell one or two calves to small buyers.
I can’t say this too many times —when you first start out, only raise one or two calves to prevent getting overwhelmed.
My experience buying from a big dairy was a great one. It just so happened that this farmer had four odd-aged calves that his buyer didn’t want. The farmer delivered them to me for a small fee. They were healthy and strong. He gave me many tips for raising calves since I was just starting out, and he had raised hundreds of calves. It was a win-win, but I have never had the opportunity to buy from him since because he has a regular buyer who can buy many calves per season.
Pro Tip
If you can purchase one or two calves from a big dairy, it is a great option. Usually, there are strict biohazard measures, and the calves have been started on colostrum. I would just ask questions like: Was the calf born on this farm? When was it born? Was it given colostrum after birth? Has the calf had any vaccinations?
3. Large calf-raising facilities.
I am fortunate enough to live fairly close to a large calf-raising facility. These calves are usually purchased at the sale barn or from a large dairy and brought to the facility. The calf facility near me does a really good job of starting out the calves. For this reason, I find their calves to be quite expensive. Again, the customers of these facilities tend to be buyers who purchase large quantities of calves and receive a quantity discount. One advantage of buying from this kind of facility is that there is a large selection of calves to choose from.
4. Sale Barn.
I have purchased several calves from sale barns and, overall, had good success with the calves I have purchased. One advantage is that it is an auction and if there are few buyers, you can buy calves at a bargain. A couple of disadvantages are: you have no information about the calf, where it came from, how old it is exactly, if it is sick, if they were started on colostrum, etc. These calves are usually stressed. They have traveled at a young age. They will need extra attention when you arrive home. Buying from the sale barn isn’t the best option for a first-calf purchase, but an option.
Pro Tip
If you are considering buying from the sale barn, attend a sale without the intent to purchase a calf to see how the process works and then return the following week to make a purchase. This will build your confidence in purchasing a good calf.
5. Craigslist
You can buy almost anything on Craigslist, including calves. Simply find the city on Craigslist closest to you, and search for “calf” or “calves” in the search box. Another way is to click on “farm and garden” and scroll through the listings to find calf listings.
Here are some questions that I usually ask when I call or email about a calf on Craigslist.
- Was the calf born on your farm?
- Was the calf given colostrum after birth?
- How old is the calf?
- Why are you selling the calf?
- Do you have a closed herd? (This is good to know because an open herd has cattle coming and going, and there is an increased likelihood of sickness.)
Craigslist is a great place to make connections with farmers, both big and small.
6. Family Farms
This is my favorite place to buy bottle calves. Small, family farms know their cows. They will be able to give details about the mother and usually the sire. The farmer will be able to tell you what the calf has had to eat and if any vaccines were administered. Plus, you usually get to visit the farm, see the operation and learn how other people do things on their farms.
Finding a place to buy bottle calves can be challenging at first. With the six options above, persistence and determination, you will be well on your way to finding your first bottle calf.
How about you? Where have you purchased a bottle calf? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you
My husband and I found an ad in the paper for Jersey bottle calves. We went out to their dairy farm and fell in love with the newborn Jersey steers and their mommas and all the other ladies on the farm. They look like deer. They just melt your heart. We bought 3 calves after talking extensively with the dairy farmer. They had received mother’s colostrum, but no vaccines. Had diarrhea, so they were being given Pepto Bismol. So, we took those 3 home, got them settled in barn, bottle fed, And Pepto Bismol. Oh, my gosh. Preparing the milk was so pleasant because we used warm water and we mixed the powder in, and the candy sweet aroma was so pleasant, and of course they loved drinking it. When we left the dairy farm with our 3 brand new calves, there were 2 other new calves tied up on the lawn by the house. We talked and talked that first day about whether we should take 3, or 5. We thought 5 was just too much, as this was our first time of doing this. Well, after the first night, and the next morning with the 3 calves, we discovered that we both wanted to go back and get the other 2. We hoped and prayed the 2 would still be there. We went back, and there they were. So, we bought them and added them to our “herd.” The calves were $50 each, back in the early 1990’s. When the vet came out to castrate them, he kept telling me that I would never let them be butchered, and I kept telling him they would be because my husband always said that we couldn’t have any animals on our farmette unless they served a purpose, or earned their keep. So, the calves were there for both reasons, and I didn’t have a choice. As it turns out, we both fell in love with these steers. They were SO curious. When I worked in the pasture, or with the barn, they would drag my tools around. That was hilarious. Each had his own personality, and they were all so sweet, and cooperative. One day they went over the fence and to the neighbors’ place. The woman didn’t know they were there and walked toward her picture window and there was a “ brown and white cow standing there, looking in the window at me!” She tried to shoo him away from her side of the window, but it didn’t work. Anyway, we had a great time with these calves. When they were ready to go to the butcher, they were all different sizes, they weren’t fat, by any means, even tho we free-fed them after they went over the fence. We knew what we were getting into when we bought them; that we would have a poor return on beef for the amount of feed they ate. We were just excited to be getting their type of meat which was supposed to be rich and sweet. Well, after we had them delivered to the butcher, the owner called us and said we needed to come look at them while hanging, so we could see their actual small size, and understand we weren’t going to get anywhere near the amount of meat we would get for an angus, or a Holstein. We knew this, but felt we should go look because he was so concerned about it. We went, and they looked like we expected, so all was well. The meat was AWESOME!
I could never see what people saw in the taste of angus. That’s why I wanted this breed so badly. It was all worth it. We wouldn’t have changed anything, except when we tried to buy this breed again we couldn’t find any sellers. We already knew that the farmer we had gotten the original 5 from was losing his farm soon after we went there. He was losing it by eminent domain so McMansions could be built there. He showed us where one of the female weather announcers and her husband were going to build theirs. This farm had been in the farmer’s family, raising Jerseys for generations. It was sad. So, the next 5 steers we bought included a black angus, a red angus, a white angus, a Holstein, and a Hereford. Completely different personalities, and none sweet like the Jerseys. They all did love a good campfire. Some of them would walk thru the fire after the flames had gone down. They just loved those fires. Now in comparison of the Jerseys to the others, the Jerseys were the size of the John Deere lawnmower, but the angus were the size of the barn. The Holstein was as tall. The red angus was next in height, but grew from side to side, as wide as the barn (we have a small barn). We could not believe how big he was. The white angus was next in size, and then the black angus. Then the Hereford. The white angus was very ornery. My husband broke the flashlight on his head when he charged him. None of the others did anything like that. One time some fighting pit bulls were loose and came in a pasture where the angus, etc. were, and the white angus charged and kicked until the pit bulls were cowering in a corner, and that’s where they stayed until animal control got there to save them from the white angus, and to save animals and children from these dogs. So, in FINALLY ending, I apologize for being so verbose. It was fun to think about them again and tell someone about our experiences. I wanted to you, it was quite funny, to me anyway – the first night we were bottle feeding the calves, my husband was in a slightly crouched position because he’s tall. He decided it would be a could idea to lay the bottle on his legs because that made it the right height for calf to eat. Well, almost as soon as he did that, the little guy decided he needed more milk to come out of nipple, so he butted the bottle a couple times, and sent that square-bottomed, hard plastic bottle right into my husband’s groin with a few more quick butts once it got there. It was cute, and funny, I thought! Well, goodbye! I hope our experiences were interesting to you. They surely were to us.