Young bull calf eating hay

[RD-Sam]

I have a 2 1/2 month old angus bull calf that is eating a good bit of hay, how normal is this? He started picking at it when he was about two weeks old and really has an appetite for it now. His momma has milk and he nurses frequently. Just seemed strange seeing one start that young. :???:

 

[Isomade]

Mine eat hay at that age, some more than others.

 

[dun]

Completely normal. They will start picking at it at a week to 10 days and be really getting into it by the time they;re a month. They'll be chewing they're ccud like the cows even though in theory they can't really digest the stuff yet.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Completely normal. They will start picking at it at a week to 10 days and be really getting into it by the time they;re a month. They'll be chewing they're ccud like the cows even though in theory they can't really digest the stuff yet.

agree!

 

[RD-Sam]

Completely normal. They will start picking at it at a week to 10 days and be really getting into it by the time they;re a month. They'll be chewing they're ccud like the cows even though in theory they can't really digest the stuff yet.

Yep, he chews his cud. He stands at the hay ring and gets a big mouth full of hay now, it just struck me as odd, because I didn't figure his rumen was developed enough at this point for all that hay eating.

 

[dun]

Completely normal. They will start picking at it at a week to 10 days and be really getting into it by the time they;re a month. They'll be chewing they're ccud like the cows even though in theory they can't really digest the stuff yet.

Yep, he chews his cud. He stands at the hay ring and gets a big mouth full of hay now, it just struck me as odd, because I didn't figure his rumen was developed enough at this point for all that hay eating.

I think more then the rumen it's the rest of the digerstive tract that isn;t developed enough to extract the nutrients like an oldeer aniaml. But they obvisouly can ruminate or they owuld crap globs of grass/hay

 

[msscamp]

I have a 2 1/2 month old angus bull calf that is eating a good bit of hay, how normal is this? He started picking at it when he was about two weeks old and really has an appetite for it now. His momma has milk and he nurses frequently. Just seemed strange seeing one start that young. :???:

Perfectly normal. Lord, our calves were bellying up to the feed bunks at 2 weeks old! It didn't take them long to figure out how to get in them to eat, either.