calf not eating

[Anonymous]

I have a 4 week old angus bull that the mother would not nurse...he is being bottle fed and doing ok but we can get him to eat the starter grain..we give him plenty of fresh water and starter grain but nothing seems to help..he is growing but i understand he needs to eat about 2 lbs of starter grain before we turn him out to pasture.....any good suggestions

 

[Christina]

This may be a silly question, but are you feeding him the grain dry? When I started my gal on starter grain, I added warm water to it to make a mash. I've also read on this board to add the milk replacer to it. Hope you have some success. (P.S. My gal was about 7 weeks old when we started her on grain)

 

[Kelly]

Some calves no matter what you do just don't want to have anything to do with grain. I have put a handful of grain in the bottom of the bucket of milk when it is almost gone and they will usually try it. Also I hand feed a couple times after they are done with their milk when they are still looking for more milk to drink ( stick a hand full in their mouth if they don't take it from you) It seems no matter what - they really don't start eating much grain until about 7 weeks or so. At least that is what I have noticed with the ones I have raised. Just keep offering it and make sure it is fresh!

 

[ollie]

don't give him the bottle till he eats the grain.

 

[Anonymous]

Tindles used to make a calf starter called "calf treat" it was so moist you could pack it into a ball. Most products that say calf starter on them are for
500# + weaned calves. Babies want soft [rolled] sweet smelling stuff.