Ribs are showing...

[fourstates]

I can not get my bottle calf (Baxter) to eat grain, creep or calf manna. I have put him out in the pasture with the other cattle, and he is starting to socialize some. He eats grass and still gets two gallons of milk a day. He looks thin to me. I tried to put creep (I never used it before) in the dregs of his bucket, because he always knocks it off and licks it clean. Look at my results!

I am thinking about giving him a more condensed milk, but I was hoping to get him weaned soon to creep. Any suggestions would be appreciated. He is almost nine weeks old.

 

[msscamp]

Calves learn to eat by mimicking their mothers. You might consider sticking a small amount of whatever grain you are using in his mouth so he gets the taste for it. Are you using a grain mix that has molasses in it? If not, try that. Another option would be to try a pelleted feed that has licorice flavoring - sounds ridiculous, but it works! I've used it quite a few times with calves that did not want to transition to solid food with great success, and we used it regularly to transition weaning calves to only solid food. Once he is eating the pelleted feed, start incorporating the grain into it.

 

[Mongoose]

Calve looks fine to me, but everyone has there plan as to what weight they want their cattle. Depends on what you plan on doing with it in the future.

 

[cowgirl Ibara]

My calves have had the same problem but a little trick that i use is put about a handful of Bramuda hay on top of the grain. They started eatting it up. good luck

 

[cattleluvr18]

hes lookin pretty well fed to me, but thats JMO. hand feed him some.

 

[Alice]

These are just questions, not comments, ok?

Why are you giving the calf 2 gallons of milk a day?

Do you have another weaned calf/cow/steer that is eating grain that you could put him in a large pen with for awhile?

Alice

 

[Mongoose]

hes lookin pretty well fed to me

I know thats the same thing I was thinking.

Just keep offering him the grain. And I also think that is alil to much milk? Does he have scours? His he losing or gaining any weight?

 

[Bez>]

That calf is not suffering - just leave well enough alone - life will be fine.

Or, you can just keep on worrying - in the end very little will change and the calf will keep growing at its own pace.

Porker calves do not do as well anyways - bone and muscle are the important ingredients - the fat is not.

Find something else to worry about - there is not prob here.

Bez>

 

[fourstates]

I am comparing him to his peer (siblings) group in the pasture. None of my calves have ribs showing. None of my cattle get any feed, except some cubes once a month or so to get them into the corral. The calf manna is the licorice flavored stuff, used sweet feed which is covered in molassas. I stuffed it in his mouth, I left it for him free choice, acts like it's manure...wait, he will at least sample manure. Eats bark off dead trees.

This calf didn't suck until he was two weeks old. If he will not eat grain and he's out in the pasture, my thinking is the calves on their mammas must be getting more calories then what I am giving him in his AM & PM gallon. I wish a cow WOULD let him suck.

I wean directly to pasture at about 6-7 months. I don't move the calves or cows. I just put the weaning ring in the nose, dehorn and vaccinate. They run back to their mommas, but can't nurse. Most go to the sale barn, some are sold as registered stock.

I guess I'm not really cut out to raise bottle calves.

 

[rosebudbeef]

My two cents...... Giving too much milk !!!! Two quarts is enough
have water free choice as well as grain. Keep it clean and he should take off.

 

[FarmGirl10]

When you go to feed him solid food, feed him out of your hand, they'll start eating calf started so much quicker.

 

[msscamp]

My two cents...... Giving too much milk !!!! Two quarts is enough

2 quarts of milk/day is no where near enough!

 

[msscamp]

Why are you giving the calf 2 gallons of milk a day?

Alice

Why not? That is roughly what he would be getting if he was on his mother.

 

[TheBullLady]

Two quarts a day is NOT enough.. they look like crap if that's all you feed them. If you're just looking to keep the calf alive until you can haul him to the auction barn, that would work.

He looks fine to me also. The suggestion of penning him with another calf is probably the best way to get him eating. You can also try stuffing his mouth with sweet feed as soon as he's done with his bottle.. and still looking for more. It takes them some time to figure it out, but he will eventually.

 

[ChrisB]

Before I read the other posts I took the "2 quarts" to mean 2 quarts per feeding. That might have been what RosebudBeef meant.

Without a regular creep feeder I would think it would be hard to get a calf to start eating grain out in a pasture situation with adult cows. But I haven't tried.

If it was my calf; I would keep it penned up seperately, keep fresh feed, hay and water in front of him at all times and start weaning him. I wouldn't put him back out in the pasture with the others unless he still has access to a creep feeder.