Thin cow /calf pair

[Central Fl Cracker]

As some of you know some of Forida is still in a drought. I was at an auction the other day and bought a cow calf pair which the cow is real thin. I bought the pair real cheap(out of pity) and would like to get some weight back on the cow. We dewormed the cow and the the calf is about 4 weeks old. The cow appears to be around 3 to 4 years old and I would like to no what feed to supplement her with in addition to good grass which I do have. I do think she needs some kind of commercial feed to get her jump started and then let her out to our pasture. Any suggestions on a commercial feed and how much per day to feed her?

 

[novatech]

I cannot tell you what kind of feed to use but I can tell you that with a calf nurseing you are going to have a tough time.
If you can see no improvement in the cow or it gets worse you may have to pull the calf.
What bothers me most is that you may have bought a cow that is in this condition because of some medical reason not just lack of food. I would at least isolate her from the rest of the cattle as to not spread anything she may be carrying.

 

[ArrowHBrand]

I agree with Nova she may be sick. I don't know what the CoOps around your area carry for feed, but we feed a corn, oat, protein mix. Out of a ton it's 1600 lbs. corn, 200 lbs. oats, and 200 lbs. Steakmaker. We have replacement heifers on this right now and when the cows are lotted all winter we feed them this. They love it and it does put on the weight.

 

[mnmtranching]

I agree, there's likely something wrong that caused her to be so thin. But hopefully with some good feed she'll snap out out it. I would give her some grain to. Start out with a couple pounds and work up to 8-10. I think a blend of corn and 15% protien with vitamin and mineral would work, or a complete creep feed type mix, whatever is cheapest. And the calf may need it to.

 

[Bez>]

As some of you know some of Forida is still in a drought. I was at an auction the other day and bought a cow calf pair which the cow is real thin. I bought the pair real cheap(out of pity) and would like to get some weight back on the cow. We dewormed the cow and the the calf is about 4 weeks old. The cow appears to be around 3 to 4 years old and I would like to no what feed to supplement her with in addition to good grass which I do have. I do think she needs some kind of commercial feed to get her jump started and then let her out to our pasture. Any suggestions on a commercial feed and how much per day to feed her?

If she is sick - then you will likely have to doctor a bit. That may be a veterinarian call.

If she is starved you will have to feed.

Throw the rich stuff at her and she may drop - so just pile up some decent hay and mineral in front of her - plus a light feeding of grain - plain old corn probably best for energy. Remember - a light feed of grain. No more than a couple of pounds at the start.

Could not disagree more with the above folks about complete feeds and rich stuff. Do not over do the fancy feed. You could make her worse over the short term.

Let her keep the calf - as long as she has free choice she will gain weight.

Ivomec or something similar will not hurt her.

Give her a vitamin shot - cheap and often effective.

You might throw a magnet down her throat while you are at it.

Good luck,

Bez>

 

[Central Fl Cracker]

I am going to isolate her Monday in a 1 ac. pen with grass and water. I thought about giving a grain which the main ingredients are crude protein 12%, crude fat 2%, crude fiber 28 % plus it also has numerous vitamins and cottonseed meal etc.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I am going to isolate her Monday in a 1 ac. pen with grass and water. I thought about giving a grain which the main ingredients are crude protein 12%, crude fat 2%, crude fiber 28 % plus it also has numerous vitamins and cottonseed meal etc.

Watch getting the protien high as Bez said it also causes other problems in the heat. She will actualy loose weight on to high of protien ration as it will generate heat causing her to eat less.
I wouldn't go with more than a 8% and no more than 3 pounds a day with hay at first.

 

[KNERSIE]

As some of you know some of Forida is still in a drought. I was at an auction the other day and bought a cow calf pair which the cow is real thin. I bought the pair real cheap(out of pity) and would like to get some weight back on the cow. We dewormed the cow and the the calf is about 4 weeks old. The cow appears to be around 3 to 4 years old and I would like to no what feed to supplement her with in addition to good grass which I do have. I do think she needs some kind of commercial feed to get her jump started and then let her out to our pasture. Any suggestions on a commercial feed and how much per day to feed her?

If she is sick - then you will likely have to doctor a bit. That may be a veterinarian call.

If she is starved you will have to feed.

Throw the rich stuff at her and she may drop - so just pile up some decent hay and mineral in front of her - plus a light feeding of grain - plain old corn probably best for energy. Remember - a light feed of grain. No more than a couple of pounds at the start.

Could not disagree more with the above folks about complete feeds and rich stuff. Do not over do the fancy feed. You could make her worse over the short term.

Let her keep the calf - as long as she has free choice she will gain weight.

Ivomec or something similar will not hurt her.

Give her a vitamin shot - cheap and often effective.

You might throw a magnet down her throat while you are at it.

Good luck,

Bez>

I could not agree more with Bez>

Cows usually gain well in the first three months after calving, after that its more difficult to put weight on them.

I would feed just a few pounds coarsely ground or rolled corn every evening. But before doing that, make sure she is healthy, has no parasites to share the nutrients with and I'm sure she'll gain.

 

[Victoria]

I'm with Bez. We had drought a few years back followed by the market drop due to BSE and made the mistake of going to the auction market on the wrong day. Came home with a couple of pity cases. Good hay (winter so there was no grass here), mineral and the proper vaccinations and they did gain weight. It amazed me actually how fast they gained weight with just regular feeding.

 

[dun]

The only thing I wuld do different is stay away from corn as much as possible. Too much heat in the digestion