6 month old angus bull calf

[angus214]

My son has a 6 month old angus bull calf out of Brilliance. He had been on creep feeder for for 4 months we weened him 3 wks ago. He is just not looking very good. We have wormed him and he is eating about 6lbs calf feed and a scoop of cottonseed hulls twice a day and is on sure champ! Is there anything else we can do. I know he is out of a heifer and he may not be the best but we would like to make him as good as he can be. Thanks

 

[jbzdad]

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[jbzdad]

Pam .. didn't mean to douible up on you  pics and current weight would really help

 

[GoWyo]

If he never was real great, the best he can be is a steer headed for freezer.  Breeding stock should consist only of outstanding animals.

 

[obie105]

My guess would be more feed. When weaning they should eat 1-1.5% of their body weight working up to 2%. I havent seen pics so otherwise its hard to say.,

 

[CAB]

My guess would be more feed. When weaning they should eat 1-1.5% of their body weight working up to 2%. I havent seen pics so otherwise its hard to say.,

My thought was that the calf was maybe on too much feed. 12 lbs of feed and Sure champ plus 2 scoopfuls of cottonseed hulls is a pretty big load for post 3 weeks weaning. That's pushing pretty hard, but I'm not there watching the calf come up to eat and seeing how long it's taking him to clean up. I know that I would be cutting back and feeding some long stemmed grass hay if I had some. JMO.

 

[RyanChandler]

That ration might not even be 2% of his body weight.

 

[CAB]

That ration might not even be 2% of his body weight.

It may not be but to have a calf on 2% of their body wt. 3 weeks after weaning is IMO pushing hard. If the calf is 6 months old and not doing well, he probably doesn't weigh 600 lbs.

 

[obie105]

I guess we need a pic and what he weighs. I was told to not feed my bulls high amounts of cottonseed hulls that it could hurt fertility. Another idea that I was told was feed more ration to young calves and less fill. We just weaned some babies that were born in January 3 weeks ago and they are eating 1.5% of their body weight in grain and have free choice grass hay. They have it gone within 20 min at the bunk so I guess thats why I said more feed. I guess we need to know the calfs weight and also why they think they arent doing well. Is it sick? Some calves grow at different rates also.

 

[RyanChandler]

That ration might not even be 2% of his body weight.

It may not be but to have a calf on 2% of their body wt. 3 weeks after weaning is IMO pushing hard. If the calf is 6 months old and not doing well, he probably doesn't weigh 600 lbs.

I'd agree with that in general but this calf has been on full feed for months.  (Which could likely be the problem)  I don't creep feed but in years past, I've had calves eat 2%+ out of a feeder while nursing and grazing.