Rural Heritage December 2025/January 2026

Feeding I have learned it is important to provide calves with as much consistency as possible in milk, grain, feeding time, housing conditions, open access to water, and both dry and fresh forage. Joe and Mack were put on bottles immediately, and I took them home at a week old. I continued the three bottles a day that the calves were used to and gradually increased their intake by feeding them two quarts of milk three times a day, transitioning them from their mother’s milk to powdered milk replacer over the course of three days. I ended up keeping the steers on milk for a total of three bags of milk replacer, which lasted until they were three and a half months old. I introduced a calf grain medicated for coccidiosis with 22% protein at two weeks old and allowed them to explore dry feed. For the first three months, the calves had access to free choice grain. As the amount of grain and forage the steers ate increased, I decreased the amount of milk they received one quart at a time. The decrease in milk began at one month of age and continued until the steers were

fed one quart of milk twice a day. The first step was reducing the volume of milk and eliminating the mid-day feeding while continuing to feed two quarts morning and evening. The next reduction was transitioning to one quart morning and evening. The steers received two bottles a day with one quart until they were completely weaned at three and a half months old. In addition to milk and grain, the steers had at least four hours of pasture daily to add a forage component to their diet. The medication in the grain was a preventative measure I felt was appropriate to provide against coccidiosis by recommendation of the more experienced teamsters I had consulted. After weaning them from milk completely, I began adding an opti-heifer grain with 18% protein to their calf grain to transition them to a lower protein supplement. After a week of transitioning, they were fully weaned and on heifer grain at four months old. For their first winter, they were fed second cut hay for its higher protein content. Steers grow continually

Joe & Mack on an early training walk with a halter on the neigh steer as a precaution.

December 2025/January 2026

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