Stopped eating feed

[Down in Dixie]

I'm feeding out two steers and they started to not eat as much feed and now neither are hardly eating the feed. They are about 1000 and 1100 lbs and worked them up to 25 lbs a day of feed a piece that was about half corn and the other half was a 10% protein sweet feed with a lot of grain in it. Barely touched it yesterday and only gave them the 10% feed today and they haven't even sniffed it. They have a little bit of grass to eat on and plenty of good hay. Not sure what to do to get them to get back to eating again. Only have about 50 days left to feed. They get fed in the morning then again in the afternoon. Any ideas?

 

[SBMF 2015]

Temp change? Heavy cattle don't like to eat when it gets hotter than they are used to.

New batch of feed? Is your sweet feed a different consistency than the last that you bought?

Has their poop changed? Shouldn't be acidosis, but could be.

 

[TCRanch]

I agree with @SBMF 2015 on the temp change. It's getting hot - and rotten humid in 'Bama now. I don't even like to eat when it's hot. Do they have adequate shade from the heat? And LOTS of water?

 

[TexasBred]

Pull the feed and give them hay only for a few days. Definitely could be acidosis

 

[Travlr]

I'm feeding out two steers and they started to not eat as much feed and now neither are hardly eating the feed. They are about 1000 and 1100 lbs and worked them up to 25 lbs a day of feed a piece that was about half corn and the other half was a 10% protein sweet feed with a lot of grain in it. Barely touched it yesterday and only gave them the 10% feed today and they haven't even sniffed it. They have a little bit of grass to eat on and plenty of good hay. Not sure what to do to get them to get back to eating again. Only have about 50 days left to feed. They get fed in the morning then again in the afternoon. Any ideas?

How long did it take to get to 25# a day? How long have they been eating 25# each? Are they eating any roughage?

 

[Down in Dixie]

It has turned from hot dry to hot and humid. Ok may give them a little bit of some other feed to see if it's the feed. They have plenty of hay, shade, and fresh water. I did take some of their feed and gave it to two mama cows that I have been supplementing some and they eat it right up.

 

[Down in Dixie]

How long did it take to get to 25# a day? How long have they been eating 25# each? Are they eating any roughage?

Took 4 months to get to 25 lbs a day and been feeding it for 3 weeks now. They are eating hay.

 

[Down in Dixie]

Fed some 16% all stock feed and some corn tonight. They were eating it when I left. The mama cows finished up the other feed the steers wouldn't eat. Guess as long as I can get a good bit of corn in them hopefully they will still finish good. Wish I could move the kill date another two months to get them a little bigger.

 

[kenny thomas]

Add a little baking soda each day to help settle the stomach.

 

[Stickney94]

Cattle going off feed in hot weather is not uncommon. I'm sure large feedlots have lots of additives/meds to help mitigate that issue so you may want to do some research on that or perhaps someone will chime in with that knowledge.

I've had luck finishing on a lower grain ration with high quality hay/baleage. But I don't see great gains/growth in July/August.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I don't see great gains/growth in July/August

Nobody does compared to the rest of the year. I see the best gains went the daily highs run 30°- 40° and low humidity.

 

[Bob-s]

Add a little baking soda each day to help settle the stomach.

Kenny; with 25lbs being fed, how much baking soda would you recommend?

I have a similar problem and am feeding 75% corn and 25% of a 12% protein feed. It has been over 100 degrees just about every day for the last two weeks.

 

[Down in Dixie]

They won't eat till the sun does down but they are back to cleaning the 25 lbs up. That or the raccoons are getting really fat.

 

[kenny thomas]

Add a little baking soda each day to help settle the stomach.

Kenny; with 25lbs being fed, how much baking soda would you recommend?

I have a similar problem and am feeding 75% corn and 25% of a 12% protein feed. It has been over 100 degrees just about every day for the last two weeks.

I only use a few table spoons to 5 gallon bucket. It doesn't take much if it's an upset stomach. And much easier to keep it from happening than to treat it after it gets started.

 

[Bob-s]

Thank you. I will start adding some to my buckets of feed. I agree prevention is better. It should stick to the molasses in the feed mix.

 

[Bob-s]

Been adding 2-3 tablespoons to each 5gal bucket (30ish lbs) and they seems to be eating better. Not sure that was the cause but it won't hurt. They will eat in the morning pretty well but the evening feeding they don't touch until dark/overnight.

Flies were a problem, on them as well as in the corral/feeding areas. Permethrin helped a lot.

 

[greybeard]

I don't even like to eat when it's hot.

Yeah, I notice I always eat more/better starting around 3rd week of Thanksgiving thru week after New Years Day too.