feeding pet steers

Help Support CattleToday:

Joined
Oct 9, 2020
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
OK so I rescued a couple of Jersey Bull calves when they were 3 weeks old from a local dairy. They were going to be killed so we brought them home to let them live out their days as happy Cows at our Farm. It all happened in a split second and I had to make a decision fast so I said 'Gimme those babies!" They were emaciated when we got them. They could not stand up and they were covered in poop and flies. I carried them out and put tthem in my minivan and drove home. They were riddled with parasites and they both had pnemonia. I treated them with Nuflor and Limed my pasture. They had coccidiosis (I may have spelled that wrong) so we treated them with Corrid and then again with Albon. We banded them right away. One of them had a massive abcess on his chest. It ruptured and I cleaned it out really good about 4 times a day. It took forever to fully drain and heal. I kept Contran IV on it and Bag Balm and I flushed it with Iodine mixed with warm water at least twice a day until it started to heal. It healed up good. but when he was at around 1 year old it swelled up again and I had to do the cleaning it out thing again. I gave him some antibiotics and it cleared up again. Now he is about 19 months old and I squeezed it again this morning and pus came out again but it was not terrible just a little. I cleaned it. I am just wondering what this is and Why it keeps coming back.

Next Question: Pluto And Neptune are growing great. They are 19 month old Jersey Steers that are our Pets so we are not trying to fatten them up to eat them so I am wondering what the Proper feeding for two Jersey Steers is to make sure we are not over or under feeding them. If I had to guess their weight I would say they are between 1300-1500lbs Currently they go through two 40lb Hay Bales a day and a 20 Quart bucket of All Stock Grain in the evening. We live in Washington State so our pasture is a Muddy Mess right now so nothing to graze on until Spring. I also need to know What is the best type of wormer you all use for your cows? I was told the Ivermectin Paste they give to horses would work but I really want to make sure they are getting the best stuff. I would like them to live a long happy life. They have a nice dry barn and Salt licks and treats and they are really friendly boys. They really are my Giant babies and I know enough to know I don't know enough so I figured this would be a great place to ask questions so I can make sure If I have made stupid mistakes so far I wont continue to make them. Thank you for your time and I look forward to learning from you all.
 
There is probably something in the steers skin under the hide that is causing the abscess. Possibly a thorn but could be anything. Next time you lance it to drain it, stick your finger under the hide and see if you can feel anything sharp or maybe just a hard piece of dead skin like a gristle.

As far as wormer,the simple solution for you would be some wormer pellets that they can eat like Safe-Guard. Make sure you feed the steers seperately so each one gets his full amount.
 
Bird dog pretty much nailed it. Make sure you rotate wormers safeguard now iveomic next time.
As far as feed. If you are accurate in your estimate of their weight, they can eat 40-50lbs of hay a day a piece. Since they are steers, and not really "working" 0.5% - 0.75% of their body weight in feed should be suffice. i.e. If they weigh 2,000lbs, 5-7lbs of feed a head a day.
 
There is probably something in the steers skin under the hide that is causing the abscess. Possibly a thorn but could be anything. Next time you lance it to drain it, stick your finger under the hide and see if you can feel anything sharp or maybe just a hard piece of dead skin like a gristle.

As far as wormer,the simple solution for you would be some wormer pellets that they can eat like Safe-Guard. Make sure you feed the steers seperately so each one gets his full amount.
Thank you. Its possible something got in there. We did flush it out a ton and my friend stuck his finger in there and really felt around when it first ruptured. possibly a piece of hay. I will check it more in the day light. Thank you, I did feed them safe guard the first time and the second time i did The horse paste Ivermectin. They did like the pellets. They Hated the paste lol
 
Bird dog pretty much nailed it. Make sure you rotate wormers safeguard now iveomic next time.
As far as feed. If you are accurate in your estimate of their weight, they can eat 40-50lbs of hay a day a piece. Since they are steers, and not really "working" 0.5% - 0.75% of their body weight in feed should be suffice. i.e. If they weigh 2,000lbs, 5-7lbs of feed a head a day.
Thank you so much. That was helpful. :)
 
Bird dog pretty much nailed it. Make sure you rotate wormers safeguard now iveomic next time.
As far as feed. If you are accurate in your estimate of their weight, they can eat 40-50lbs of hay a day a piece. Since they are steers, and not really "working" 0.5% - 0.75% of their body weight in feed should be suffice. i.e. If they weigh 2,000lbs, 5-7lbs of feed a head a day.
To add to this: I'd slowly switch them over to a feed specifically made for cattle rather than an all-species mix.
 
To add to this: I'd slowly switch them over to a feed specifically made for cattle rather than an all-species mix.
Do you have one you suggest? Also forgive me if this sounds dumb but do they need the feed or can I give them just Hay. I want to be sure they are getting their proper nutrients.
 
Sounds like they are two lucky boys. You are doing a good job with. We would love to see some photos.
If the abscess comes back don't hold back with cutting it open. As it heals it needs to be able to turn itself inside out.

Ken
 
Do you have one you suggest? Also forgive me if this sounds dumb but do they need the feed or can I give them just Hay. I want to be sure they are getting their proper nutrients.
Our local feed mill has a premixed beef ration (meaning they formulated the mix with minerals, nutrients, corn etc., bag it and sell it, rather than us going in and choosing what exactly we want in the mix). Your local Tractor Supply should also have something similar. Purina Stocker Grower is a good name-brand that's easily found at most farm supply stores.

As others have mentioned - no they don't NEED feed to survive. They can live off hay, but I would caution you to make sure you have a good quality hay first. A cow can eat all the hay it wants and still starve to death if they hay is poor quality. Hay quality is whole topic, but for cows you don't need the absolute best, most expensive alfalfa mix, but you also don't want the cheapest few-year old bales that have been left out in the weather. Somewhere in the middle is where you want to be. Personally, I'd get round bales and set them out for the steers to munch on as they please. Two steers shouldn't need more than a round bale every one to two weeks.

We personally still like to feed our cows daily even though they are on grass during the spring-fall and hay during the winter. Just enough to get them in the corral so we can check them and also so we can easily pen them up and run them through the chute if needed. You mentioned that these guys are a malnourished, so I would still try and slowly give them more and more feed while still giving them free choice of hay so they can gain some weight.

One last thing to recommend: I'd highly recommend getting a mineral tub or salt block for them. If they are emaciated, they are most likely lacking minerals. Your local feed supply store should also have these. Look for the reddish-brown mineral salt blocks, or ask for something like the Rangeland Protein Tubs if you are going the hay-only route. The mineral blocks are just salt and mineral, while the protein tubs are protein and mineral. If they are getting feed then they are getting enough protein and you can just use salt blocks. Both of these should last you quite a while with only two steers.

I apologize for the blast of info. It sounds like these steers are in great hands!
 
If one of them has an abscess that hasn't cleared up after 19 months it's long past the time when you should have called a vet to look at it.
 
Our local feed mill has a premixed beef ration (meaning they formulated the mix with minerals, nutrients, corn etc., bag it and sell it, rather than us going in and choosing what exactly we want in the mix). Your local Tractor Supply should also have something similar. Purina Stocker Grower is a good name-brand that's easily found at most farm supply stores.

As others have mentioned - no they don't NEED feed to survive. They can live off hay, but I would caution you to make sure you have a good quality hay first. A cow can eat all the hay it wants and still starve to death if they hay is poor quality. Hay quality is whole topic, but for cows you don't need the absolute best, most expensive alfalfa mix, but you also don't want the cheapest few-year old bales that have been left out in the weather. Somewhere in the middle is where you want to be. Personally, I'd get round bales and set them out for the steers to munch on as they please. Two steers shouldn't need more than a round bale every one to two weeks.

We personally still like to feed our cows daily even though they are on grass during the spring-fall and hay during the winter. Just enough to get them in the corral so we can check them and also so we can easily pen them up and run them through the chute if needed. You mentioned that these guys are a malnourished, so I would still try and slowly give them more and more feed while still giving them free choice of hay so they can gain some weight.

One last thing to recommend: I'd highly recommend getting a mineral tub or salt block for them. If they are emaciated, they are most likely lacking minerals. Your local feed supply store should also have these. Look for the reddish-brown mineral salt blocks, or ask for something like the Rangeland Protein Tubs if you are going the hay-only route. The mineral blocks are just salt and mineral, while the protein tubs are protein and mineral. If they are getting feed then they are getting enough protein and you can just use salt blocks. Both of these should last you quite a while with only two steers.

I apologize for the blast of info. It sounds like these steers are in great hands!
Thank you so much for all of that really helpful info. The boys were emaciated and weak when I got them at 3weeks but they are between 1300-1500lbs now. They got big fast. They are 19 months old now. I do give them a salt block. They like that. Thank you for the info about the food. I will ask them about it Friday.
 
If one of them has an abscess that hasn't cleared up after 19 months it's long past the time when you should have called a vet to look at it.
If your read my post I said it has healed up after I treated it and kept it clean and this is the 3rd time in 19 month that it has come back. I also said it was not as bad as the first time just a little and That is why I came here to ask Cattle people for advice. And I did ask our closest farm vet that is a 3 hour drive and they told me I was doing everything I should be. I came here looking for answers. Doesn't look like you have any though.
 
Sounds like they are two lucky boys. You are doing a good job with. We would love to see some photos.
If the abscess comes back don't hold back with cutting it open. As it heals it needs to be able to turn itself inside out.

Ken
Thank you Ken. I'll get a picture in the morning and send it.
 
I came here looking for answers. Doesn't look like you have any though.
No reason to get snarky with Rafter S about this. He is trying to help.

If you spend any time here at all you will learn that too many people don't want to call in a Vet when it is needed. The people on this Board are gracious and knowledgeable and only want to help.
 
No reason to get snarky with Rafter S about this. He is trying to help.

If you spend any time here at all you will learn that too many people don't want to call in a Vet when it is needed. The people on this Board are gracious and knowledgeable and only want to help.
I was not being Snarky. No need to scold me. As far as not going to the vet let me assure you the amount of money I spend at the multiple different special vets we use for the animals on our rescue would make your head spin. I have met some very nice people on this site that have really great advice and if you care to read my post as well and my response to people that actually have information to give instead of misreading my posts and trying to insult me then you might understand that I am gracious as well.
 
Update. After watching it and cleaning it twice a day again it cleared up and healed itself. Thank you for all of your great input. I am going to set up a zoom call with the Large animal hospital in Eugene to see why it keeps happening. The first time was the worst and we consulted the vet. We consulted the vet the second time as well. I am concerned because although it was just a little bit that came out this time and it healed up pretty fast, I don't think it should keep coming back. I really appreciate your help.
 

Latest posts

Top