Hi, I am new here and fairly new to raising cattle as well. We have had 3 steers in the past that we raised for our own consumption and had no problems finishing them up for slaughter. They always ate the corn/sweet feed mixture great and loved it. However, I have a holstein X steer that we have had since he was a weanling(not sure of proper term for cattle) and he is roughly about 800-1,000 lbs, we have taken him off pasture and started feeding cracked corn and grass hay. We added a sweet feed mixture to the corn and he has not eaten it for 5 days.. he looks a little sucked up now. He has been eating the hay and drinking plenty of water, but not sure why he has stopped eating the corn sweet feed mixture. When we first introduced it to him, he loved it and the feed trough would be empty each feeding. What can cause a steer to stop eating the corn sweet feed mixture? Thanks in advance for any help/ideas.
Trying to finish a steer for butcher, stopped eating corn
- Thread starter jnscarr
- Start date
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Anonymous
First thing I'm thinking is that the protein level is too high too quick. It burns their bellies and there has to be an adjustment period. Start at 1% of his weight per day and scale up to 2% per day. How's his poop...running out his azz or piling up?
SRBeef
Well-known member
Is there some mold or aflatoxin in the corn?
TexasBred
Well-known member
A good chance he has acidosis. Try him on a pelleted feed for a while..12-14% protein, 10-12% fiber. If he begins to eat that slowly add some cracked corn after a few days.
