Calves Refuse Creep

[ga. prime]

One of my cows had twins back in October. I can't overstate how poorly they have grown. A few weeks ago I got a creep feeder specifically for these twins. The problem is I can't get them or any other of my calves to eat anything out of it. They taste it , but that's all. I get the feed from the Nutrena place. Tried calf starter. Tried sweetstuff. Tried finnisher(meal,not pellets). Tried(at the suggestion of the Nutrena man) sprinkling distillers grain(ground) on it. I have calves that range from 0 to 4 months with access to the feeder. Are they too young for it? The twins are 4 months. Any suggestions?

 

[frenchie]

One of my cows had twins back in October. I can't overstate how poorly they have grown. A few weeks ago I got a creep feeder specifically for these twins. The problem is I can't get them or any other of my calves to eat anything out of it. They taste it , but that's all. I get the feed from the Nutrena place. Tried calf starter. Tried sweetstuff. Tried finnisher(meal,not pellets). Tried(at the suggestion of the Nutrena man) sprinkling distillers grain(ground) on it. I have calves that range from 0 to 4 months with access to the feeder. Are they too young for it? The twins are 4 months. Any suggestions?

Try a little salt, are they still on the cow?

 

[Dee]

can you get ahold of the calves? If so, I usually throw a handful of feed in their mouth a couple times. Seems once they get a taste they start in on it alright.

 

[TheBullLady]

If you see them in the feeder "tasting", be patient! They're curious, but it's going to take them a little while to figure it out. Our couple month old calves go in, but don't eat more than a mouthful or two. As they get older they'll eat more.

Ideally you would have a larger calf that routinely goes into the feeder to eat. The smaller ones will figure it out faster that way.

 

[ga. prime]

Thanks for the replies. I will take them all into consideration.