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Pot Bellied Bottle Calves
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<blockquote data-quote="farmerjan" data-source="post: 1761725" data-attributes="member: 25884"><p>It might help if you would post how old the calves are for starters... just because they are weaned 4 days doesn't tell anything about them. 4 weeks , 2 months, 4 months???? They did not get a pot belly over 4 days of no milk regardless of what you are or are not feeding them. </p><p></p><p>Most dairy calves are fed for 6-12 weeks on bottles. Different policies for different dairies. 8 weeks (2 months) is a good average... IF the calf is eating grain good. All the good hay or good grass will not do them alot of good at that age as they need the more concentrated nutrition and it needs to be well balanced ... that is provided in the milk replacer or by their momma's milk. Hay and grass helps to get the rumen to working and so they can better utilize the roughage. </p><p></p><p>Although not a real concern in most cases, in very young calves, a severe pot belly can be a sign of worms... but most often it is a sign of too much roughage and not enough concentrated (grain) feed, and they are trying to eat more and more, because their system is needing more and better nutrition. They could be bloating a bit on the green grass because they are eating too much of it trying to feed the "need " for more solid feed. I would definitely be feeding some hay and maybe limiting their grass for a bit. </p><p></p><p>What does their manure look like?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="farmerjan, post: 1761725, member: 25884"] It might help if you would post how old the calves are for starters... just because they are weaned 4 days doesn't tell anything about them. 4 weeks , 2 months, 4 months???? They did not get a pot belly over 4 days of no milk regardless of what you are or are not feeding them. Most dairy calves are fed for 6-12 weeks on bottles. Different policies for different dairies. 8 weeks (2 months) is a good average... IF the calf is eating grain good. All the good hay or good grass will not do them alot of good at that age as they need the more concentrated nutrition and it needs to be well balanced ... that is provided in the milk replacer or by their momma's milk. Hay and grass helps to get the rumen to working and so they can better utilize the roughage. Although not a real concern in most cases, in very young calves, a severe pot belly can be a sign of worms... but most often it is a sign of too much roughage and not enough concentrated (grain) feed, and they are trying to eat more and more, because their system is needing more and better nutrition. They could be bloating a bit on the green grass because they are eating too much of it trying to feed the "need " for more solid feed. I would definitely be feeding some hay and maybe limiting their grass for a bit. What does their manure look like? [/QUOTE]
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