Stubborn Calf

[syork]

Hi,

I dont know if this is the right place or not. I have a 4 week old bull calf on the bottle. I am having a heck of a time getting him to actually eat grain. I have took the bottle from him and got one of those feeders u put on the fence and pour his milk in there along with his grain so he will eat it better that way I have tried that for almost 2 weeks and he still wont eat his grain. I have tried using the bottle before and put the grain in his mouth still nothing. I have to put it in his mouth and stand there for 30 mins to make sure he eats it all so he can put on some weight and not scour. Any one have any bright ideas how i can git this bullheaded calf to eat his grain?

 

[onecowfarms1]

are you useing sweet flakes or have you tryed pouring molasses on the grain make it sweet and he will eat

 

[milkmaid]

How much milk are you feeding him?

 

[dun]

Does he have access to hay and fresh water?

 

[syork]

I am feeding calf starter 21 percent barlett feed. I am giving him 6 pints in the morning 6 pints in the evening. I was wondering about the molasses but i dont want to over do it and cause him to scour. I pour his milk in over top of the grain he drinks his milk that way. I was wondering with the milk soakin into the grain as he eats it is he getting his nutrients from the grain this way to?

 

[syork]

oops forgot to answer dun's question. He is in a paddock with clover up to his eyeballs wont even sniff it. He has fresh water at all times since its scorching hot on this end. Also I use the purina milk replacer.

 

[milkmaid]

Calves, unlike people, do NOT like "cereal" -- 99.9% of the time anyways. Put the grain in the bucket after he finishes drinking his milk so he has DRY grain.

Molasses will not cause him to scour. Scours are caused by either too much MILK, or some bacterial or viral "bug" that is attacking the intestinal tract.

 

[syork]

I was trying to come up with an idea to git this calf to eat his grain. He wont even touch it if i just put it in the bucket by itself. I know how important it is for calves from the sale barn to git their grain ASAP. Anthor thing I was looking thru the forum and found Paulines post on the antibotics for newbies and she was concerned about the level of medicine in the milk replacer. I to have this same problem one day t heir stools is fine the next its not so on. I was wondering if I could try to find the milk replacer with no added medince in it since when u feed them the calf starter its already got that in it.

 

[dun]

Which Purina milk replacer? They make several types. How big is the calf? The milk replacer specs are usually predicated on a 90-100 lb calf if I recall correctly.

 

[syork]

its nurse chow 300 and the calf weighs about 75 pounds mabye 95.

 

[dun]

Eonomy milk replacers with soy have a place, but it isn;t feeding calves. Go to an all milk product, may not do anything for the grain consumption but the calf will do a whole lot better.

 

[syork]

Give me an idea what brands you are talking about. The milk replacer i mean. What about the grain? How can I git him to eat it better than he is now? He gits 20 ozs of grain a day ten ozs in the morning and 10 ozs at nite of the bartlett calf starter.

 

[dun]

Any milk replacer that is milk and milk byproducts is what to use. Brand name doesn;t matter particvularly. I prefer medicated, but that's just a preference. Any good calf starter grain would be the right one. There are so many brands and many that are a regional availability what I would use may not be iun your area. Purina makes good milk replacers, just steer clear of the economy types.

 

[msscamp]

Hi,

I dont know if this is the right place or not. I have a 4 week old bull calf on the bottle. I am having a heck of a time getting him to actually eat grain. I have took the bottle from him and got one of those feeders u put on the fence and pour his milk in there along with his grain so he will eat it better that way I have tried that for almost 2 weeks and he still wont eat his grain. I have tried using the bottle before and put the grain in his mouth still nothing. I have to put it in his mouth and stand there for 30 mins to make sure he eats it all so he can put on some weight and not scour. Any one have any bright ideas how i can git this bullheaded calf to eat his grain?

Is this your only animal, or do you have an older calf or a cow that you can put this bottle calf in with? Are you in a position to borrow an older calf for a week of so? If so, the older animal will have this calf eating his grain within a week or two.

 

[syork]

I have three other cows and calves in the field but they dont want no part of this calf and the calves on the cows are to rough with him so hes in the pen by himself. I am going to the sale barn this week and pick up anthor calf I am gonna try to git an older calf that will be easy to start on grain and hopefully that will work. I was reading an articule that a calf by 6 weeks old should be on two pounds of grain a day and fed at least 1 pound of milk replacer twice a day till about 2 weeks before weaning. I have had this calf for almost 3 weeks and I want to git him off of milk and onto grain in two weeks im hoping. I am wanting to git 15 to 20 more calves for personal reasons but I got to git this crazy calf going on grain first.

 

[bigbull338]

change the calfs milk to whole milk replacer.soy milk is no good for nothing when it comes to raising calves.as for as the calf not eating feed.put a coffee can or 2 in his feed trough an leave him alone.he will start eating feed when he is good an ready.

 

[TexasBred]

Feed the calf milk til sale day then take him back to the sale when you go to buy the "new calves". Won't recoup your labor but will free you up to work with the new babies.

 

[larryshoat]

You're just going to have to be patient . 6 pints of milk 2x is plenty, but thats ok if he is taking it . As the others have said use a good all mlik replacer .He will come to the grain in a week or so . You have to wean on his schedule not your's . I wean calves early by most standards, but to wean a calf before it's ready is a death sentence .As milkmaid said, stop mixing milk and grain . When the calf is eating 2 lbs a day in grain start to wean, slowly decrease milk over the course of about 2 weeks .

Larry

 

[msscamp]

Any one have any bright ideas how i can git this bullheaded calf to eat his grain?

Another option would be to check with your local feedstores to see if they carry the Hubbard brand of feed - if so, ask for AS70. It is a medicated receiver ration that smells and tastes like licorice. For whatever reason, most calves love licorice! I've used it to get my bottle calves started on grain, and it worked like a charm. Good luck with your calf.

 

[syork]

Thanks everyone he seems like hes finally starting to nibble on it a bit. I never had one this stubborn before usually the other calves i had took right to it. I was wondering what his problem was. I have anthor question what does anyone know about that durmoc brand from tractor supply? They have three different types of milk replacer the on that is all milk but it isnt medicated. One is medicated but its got both soy and milk proteins in it and the other one just soy. Do I git the all milk replacer that isnt medicated? We do not carry hubbard around here. I was thinking of mixing calf manna in with this calf starter is that a good idea or bad?