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Keep feeding this meal right up until they reach at least 100kg . Cleanliness and hygiene are critical . Wash the utensils in cold water , then in hot water ( in that order ) and disinfect daily . Have some good shelter in the paddock or free access to a clean shed . As the calves grow , don ' t increase the amount of liquid ( thereby making more work for yourself ), but rather increase the concentration of the powder . Follow the instructions on the bag exactly .
Wean calves off milk at 80kg for Friesians and 70kg for smaller breeds and make sure they have some good clean pasture with grass and not just weeds . A calf must be fed milk until it is eating at least one kilogram of calf meal a day . When weaning off milk first stop the evening feed of milk for a week then stop the morning feed . Do not move or stress the calves in any other way during this time and ensure that they continue to eat the calf meal . A calf can eat up to three kilograms of meal a day after weaning , depending on its size , and it will only really start to digest forage properly at three months of age . It is very important to keep feeding the calf well as it grows or it will be stunted and never grow to full size . Check with your vet as to when they must be castrated and disbudded , as well as what vaccinations they will need . For female calves the most important vaccination is for contagious abortion ( CA ). For all calves a vaccination for botulism and anthrax is very important . Worms can severely affect an animal ' s growth performance and it is necessary to deworm the young animal regularly , especially in the warm months of spring and summer . A young calf on milk may suffer from milk tapeworm and ordinary tapeworm . They should be treated for this from one month to six weeks of age , especially if they develop diarrhoea . Diarrhoea containing fresh or digested blood is caused by coccidiosis . This is very dangerous to the animal and it must be treated immediately with a sulphur based drug available at your co-op .
LIVESTOCK Before you can sell the animals , you will need to have some form of identification , so you ' ll need an ear tag applicator and ear tags . By law cattle must be marked by the age of six months . Growing animals need better nutrition than fully grown animals that are not productive . Make sure you have the capacity to feed and medicate your animals before purchasing them . Your animals will cost you money to grow out . Be sure that you are prepared to spend that money before you become an owner .
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