bottle fed calf won't eat hay, need suggestions!

[lilfarmgirl]

Our bottle fed calf will not eat hay, he will eat grass but where he is at the grass is eaten down. I have tried putting some of his food under the hay, he just tips the bowl over to get to the food. I have cut back on grain, he has hay all the time in the rack (at his level). Any suggestions on how to get him to eat it? I do not want him to get bloated, and he is starting to look a little bit round on his side.

 

[larryshoat]

I would not worry too much about hay consumption.He is probably picking more out of that brown grass than what you think.I would just keep some soft grass hay free choice.If he is over 6 weeks old and eating more than 3 lbs feed per day I would start to wean him.As far as looking full it sounds like he is just a good doer. Make sure he has been wormed and vaccinated.

Larry

 

[bigbull338]

if he is eating feed good i wouldnt worry bout his eating hay.just keep the hay out.an he will eat it when he is ready.i had a calf like that.an would not touch the hay.so i just keep feed out for him.

 

[Alice]

Yup, what larryshoat and bigbull said.

Alice

 

[3rdgeneration farmer]

I agree

 

[novatech]

Most people have the problem of getting them on feed.
I agree with the others, its not a problem.
You may try grinding up a little hay and mixing it into the feed.
You can put another cow or calf in with it to train it, Kind of like learning from its moma.

 

[msscamp]

Our bottle fed calf will not eat hay, he will eat grass but where he is at the grass is eaten down.

Most calves will eat grass, if it is available, before they will eat hay.

I have cut back on grain,...

I would not cut back on grain in order to try to get him to eat hay. The grain will deliver higher protein than most types of hay will.

I do not want him to get bloated, and he is starting to look a little bit round on his side.

Be careful with the grain, let him eat the grass, and keep a small amount of hay in front of him - when the grass runs out, he will probably start eating the hay. Just out of curiosity, what kind of hay, how old is this calf, what does he weigh, and how much grain are you feeding him?

 

[HEREFORD ROADHOG]

HE WILL EAT IT WHEN HE GETS HUNGRY

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

I agree with the others if he wants it he'll take it. A couple of my friends have just tryed laying some hay on the top of the grain. Some calves eat the hay to get to the grain some just toss it aside. Good luck.

 

[lilfarmgirl]

he is eating the hay, but now he looks bloated, very round on both sides, more on the left. He gets about a pound and a half twice a day of grain, and free choice on hay. I think he is gorging himself on hay, if that is possible. The hay is a second cutting, relatively green still. I wormed him and gave him probiotics (not the same day). Will it hurt to pull both the hay, and take the grain away too, until he starts looking better? I have pulled the hay, there is grass he can eat, not much but its there. He acts fine, but will just sit and eat all day long if the hay and grain are in front of him. he was born in july, and its just field grass. he weighs over 100 pounds, not sure of the exact weight.

 

[milkmaid]

he is eating the hay, but now he looks bloated, very round on both sides, more on the left.

That's fine. A full rumen shows on the left side... if he gets bloated the right side will be distended.

Will it hurt to pull both the hay, and take the grain away too, until he starts looking better? I have pulled the hay, there is grass he can eat, not much but its there.

YES. Don't do it.

BTW, what is your definition of "looking better"? the more good quality, high protein feed he gets the better he will look -- if you take it away from him and force him to eat dead grass you're going to have a crummy looking pot bellied calf.

He acts fine, but will just sit and eat all day long if the hay and grain are in front of him.

What else do you want him to do??? He's a growing calf and he needs to eat.

he was born in july, and its just field grass. he weighs over 100 pounds, not sure of the exact weight.

He's only 2, maybe 2 1/2 months old... he needs his grain. Quit fretting.

 

[lilfarmgirl]

sorry, as I have stated, we are new to this and this is our second set of calves. The other calves didn't look like this and the one that is a couple of weeks older does not look like that. I guess I am a bit paranoid, the show steer we had ended up with problems, and was bloated all the time. I just do not want that to happen again. Granted our other calf has been nursing and eating hay, we just started him on a little grain. I was concerned we were feeding our bottle fed calf too much, too fast.

 

[milkmaid]

No problem.

Calf at that age needs at least 2% of his body weight in grain. At 100lbs that's at least 2lbs/day. The goal is to get them to gain 2lbs per day... with an 80lb BW, a calf should be around 200lbs at 2 months of age (60 days x 2lb ADG).

 

[larryshoat]

I hope at 10 weeks this calf is not still on milk.If he is, wean him.He needs grain.If you are limiting grain he will try to make that up in hay.In your original post you said he would not eat hay ,now he is eating too much.Slowly increase his grain until he just cleans it up about an hour before feeding time.Learning to feed cattle properly is a skill.

Larry

 

[lilfarmgirl]

he has been weaned from milk. I will give him his grain and hay, he just looks so much bigger then the calf that is a couple of weeks older (more round around his sides). maybe I am doing something right, and I am just paranoid.

 

[GMN]

he has been weaned from milk. I will give him his grain and hay, he just looks so much bigger then the calf that is a couple of weeks older (more round around his sides). maybe I am doing something right, and I am just paranoid.

I'dput him in a pen where he can run around and get some exercise, with free choice water, and feed him grain twice a day, with free choice good quality hay, maybe alfalfa, and you shouldn't have any problems. Is this a beef calf? I'd say a almost 3 month old dairy calf should weigh more than 100 lbs by now.

GMN

 

[samm]

we had a few bottle babies, that didnt want hay or feed, but they did finally got to where they would eat hay and feed just fine, on the next few bottle babies we bought in, we left one of the calves from the group before in with them, they learned from the older calf, they went to hay and feed much easier with somewone to show them the way...kinda like monkey see monley do....it might sound crazy, but it worked

 

[dun]

we had a few bottle babies, that didnt want hay or feed, but they did finally got to where they would eat hay and feed just fine, on the next few bottle babies we bought in, we left one of the calves from the group before in with them, they learned from the older calf, they went to hay and feed much easier with somewone to show them the way...kinda like monkey see monley do....it might sound crazy, but it worked

Doesn;t sound crazy at all. That's how calves learn what to eat in the pasture, they mimick their mother and other calves.

 

[msscamp]

...on the next few bottle babies we bought in, we left one of the calves from the group before in with them, they learned from the older calf, they went to hay and feed much easier with somewone to show them the way...kinda like monkey see monley do....it might sound crazy, but it worked

It doesn't sound a bit crazy and, short of their mother teaching them, it is the best way to teach new bottle babies how to eat solid food. Good job!