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Cattle Boards
Health & Nutrition
How old does a calf have to be before it eats hay?
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<blockquote data-quote="msscamp" data-source="post: 422453" data-attributes="member: 539"><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="msscamp, post: 422453, member: 539"] 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. [/QUOTE]
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How old does a calf have to be before it eats hay?
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