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Calf Raising Costs and Summary of Feeding Calves

If you look at what it costs to raise calves and one of the major reasons behind weaning calves as early as possible is we look at the costs. This chart depicts costs, in dollars, per calf per day.

This was a survey done throughout the U.S. In general, it costs about $2.78 per calf per day. The majority of this is labor, about $1.19 in labor per day, about $.99 in feed per day, $.39 in variable costs and $.21 in fixed or overhead.

If we recap the calf section, for success, the first and most important is colostrum management. Even though it is only the first 24 hours of life, it is imperative to these calves to get off to a good start. For the pre-weaned calf, we want to feed a high-quality liquid feed, a high quality starter and no hay until after weaning. In general, we want to wean the calves as early as possible, at a proper body weight, to reduce the costs during this period.

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