off feed?

[Moocow11]

i have 4 heifers that are in a pen together they are a pen of commmercail heifers that will be show at the fair and its not they they dont eat all the feed. its that they take all day to eat it. i was wondering what else i could give them to make them it it faster

 

[r and s peckman]

There is alot of different ideas of this. What kind of feed and is it gone stale. Give them some prairie hay, will help the stomach. Give some probitics. Take them off feed for a feeding, then start them back slow. Another is what they have not cleaned up in five minutes should be taken away. Turn them out into a bigger pen. Give them some room to move about. Maybe the feed is to hot for them. Just different thoughts. Ours went off for a couple of days and I started them over again.

 

[milkmaid]

How much are you feeding them? it's not a bad thing if they take all day to eat 3% of their body weight, as opposed to gorging themselves...

 

[Moocow11]

it is a hot feed 60% feed ration to get some fat on them for the jackpots. they get parie hay they get about 45 lbs a day and weigh about 1000lbs. i feed them in the morning and then got to feed the other 8000 animals

 

[milkmaid]

How much grain?

45lbs per day for 4 head, or is that just how much hay they get?

 

[Maineshowgirl]

I have find out if you wan't them to eat faster is give them feed and if they don't clean it up in about an hour take it a away. They will learn that if they don't eat fast it gets taken away an they have to go all day til they get fed again. GOOD LUCK

 

[Moocow11]

they get 45 lbs of the ration each. well they are complettley off feed so now they get 5lbs of the ration each feeding and see if i can get them back on

 

[milkmaid]

What does the "ration" consist of?

 

[Moocow11]

rolled corn, molasses, cottenseed hulls, oats, soybean meal,

 

[milkmaid]

45lbs of grain per head per day? Do I have that right?

So you're giving each calf 4.5% of their body weight per day... no wonder they went off feed. The maximum amount of grain one should feed is 3%.

 

[TheBullLady]

That's a lot of feed!

General rule of thumb is to put as much feed in front of them that they'll clean up in 15-20 minutes. Then you can regulate it easier. With that much feed they're wasting a lot of it.

 

[*Cowgirl*]

I'd cut them back to about 25

 

[Moocow11]

on 25lbs they only gain 2lbs aday on 45lbs they gain 5

 

[rk]

on 25lbs they only gain 2lbs aday on 45lbs they gain 5

12.5:1 feed conversion??? Doesn't sound right at all. Are they really eating 45 lbs. each of the ration? 25 - 30 would sound more logical and would be a feeding rate they'd more likely consume consistently.