How to Raise Holstein

Contrary to what non-dairy farmers think, there's a great deal more to raising Holstein cows than letting them graze. Within the first few months of their lives, Holstein calves spend a lot of time being treated by a veterinarian to ensure that they're healthy and free from disease. While there is a lot of care involved in raising Holstein, it's not truly difficult. The 4-H has a longstanding bucket calf program that involves 8th grade students raising Holstein bull calves from birth until about 8 months of age.

Things You'll Need

  • Barn or shelter
  • Hay bedding
  • Nursing bottle
  • Milk bucket
  • Replacement milk
  • Vaccines
  • Debudding equipment
  • Castrating equipment
  • Pasture
  • Feed hay
  • Water supply
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Instructions

  1. Instructions

    • 1

      Purchase a Holstein calf that's less than a week old. During the first month of their lives, Holstein calves have non-functioning adrenal glands and can't deal with the stress involved in transportation. Examine the calf before purchase to ensure that it's sound. Arrange transportation to your location.

    • 2

      Feed the calf electrolytes for the first two to four feedings before transitioning to milk replacers. The calves should be fed every 12 hours, using either a milk bucket or nursing bottle. While it's more difficult to sanitize the bottle's nipple (leading to a higher mortality rate), calves tend to prefer the bottle to a bucket.

    • 3

      Begin a strict health program for the calf. Calves have poor disease resistance and should be kept in an individual stall that's clean, draft-free and comfortable. Until the calf is 10 weeks old it will receive a variety of vaccinations to improve its health and prevent serious infections.

    • 4

      Introduce starter feed into the calf's diet after five days. Once the calf begins consuming 1½ to 2 pounds of feed a day, start weaning it off the replacement milk. As it's being weaned, ensure that there's a ready supply of clean water available for the calf.

    • 5

      Dehorn and castrate the calf between 2 and 10 weeks of age. The horn buds are small at this point and can be removed much more easily than if they're allowed to grow. Castration improves the quality of the meat stock.

    • 6

      Transfer the calf to the pasture when it's approximately 7 weeks old. Ensure that there are mature cows present in the pasture so the calf can learn to eat grass by example. It will likely be a slow process adapting the calf to eating grass, so continue with the starter feed until it's consuming enough food while in the pasture. The calf should reach 350 pounds by the time it's 16 to 18 weeks old.

    • 7

      Watch the Holstein for any sign of digestive distress. The most common digestive problem Holstein cows face is acidosis, caused by eating too much grain in a short period of time. Since this problem can lead to death, consult a veterinarian if you notice that your cow has developed irregular feeding habits.