deerhunter
Active member
i am just wonder how old a calf has to be before it can eat hay and grain and drink from a stock tank.
How old does a calf have to be before it eats hay?
- Thread starter deerhunter
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deerhunter
Active member
i am jsut wondering cause i have a 1 month old calf and the moter hardly ahs any milk to give him so i might take him out and feed him hary and grain.
When they have access to it, you will notice the calves nibbling along side their mothers at a week or 10 days old. At that time however he is too young to get anything out of it nutritionally. If you are concerned about your calf, set up a creep feeder with some quality calf starter and some grass type hay. He is plenty old enough to be starting to eat the starter & that will do him the most good. Good luck to you.
deerhunter":2pisz5m0 said:
I have seen calves nibbling at hay at 2 days old, they will generally drink from a stock tank as soon as they are tall enough to reach it - if they are bottle calves and you provide a low tub-type water tank, they are usually drinking from it at a few days to a week of age. They are usually nibbling at grain as soon as they can reach into the bunk/feeder - even if that means standing on one foot and stretching. As previously mentioned, they cannot utilize the grain/hay until their rumen is developed, but the nibbling helps develop their rumen. I would also suggest you consider some type of creep feed arrangement - I've used a simple iron 'gate', with roughly 1" iron rods/strips welded at various intervals to accomodate growth - wired across a gap/gate in the fence with a very high degree of success. That way your calf can take advantage of the grain/calf starter, but still have the benefit of the milk his mother does provide.
