Bloat in a 7 mth old calf?

[FLHobbyFarmer]

Hi, I am new to raising cattle and I have a concern. I had been experiencing a mild drought in my area so in order to make up for the lack of graze I began to bag the grass that I mowed around my house and feed it to my calf. I have done this several times in the last couple of months. The last time I did this was on sunday. Well on monday he didnt have an apetite and started having diarreah. His diet has been very regimented. He receives the same amount of feed and the same time every day, I also keep hay available to him all time. I am affraid I have made a grave mistake by feeding him this grass. I am not sure what is wrong with him or how to deal with the problem. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[TexasBred]

If he was fine before you started feeding the grass clipping just quit feeding them to him. He should be ok pretty quickly.

 

[FLHobbyFarmer]

Thanks for your comment. I hope he rebounds quickly.

 

[msscamp]

Hi, I am new to raising cattle and I have a concern. I had been experiencing a mild drought in my area so in order to make up for the lack of graze I began to bag the grass that I mowed around my house and feed it to my calf. I have done this several times in the last couple of months. The last time I did this was on sunday. Well on monday he didnt have an apetite and started having diarreah. His diet has been very regimented. He receives the same amount of feed and the same time every day, I also keep hay available to him all time. I am affraid I have made a grave mistake by feeding him this grass. I am not sure what is wrong with him or how to deal with the problem. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I'm not sure I would call it a grave mistake but grass clippings are very different from hay and, depending on how much you feed at one time, can definitely cause stomach upset and diarrhea because the calf isn't used to them. You don't mention what type of hay this calf has access to, but I would cut out the grass clippings for a while (as well as any grain you might be feeding. If you're feeding more than 1-2% of his body weight in grain, the grain needs to be phased out over a period of days.), and give this calf straight grass hay for a week or so - or until the diarrhea stops, then re-introduce the grass clippings in a controlled manner. The grass hay will go a long ways towards helping to get his rumen back in order.