Hi all. Ive got a heatwave weighing 1150 he was a great eater and all of the sudden he just quit on me. he picks through his feed eating maybe 5-8 lbs per day and thats all. No temp, manure looks good. doesnt look gant but i really need to get 100 lbs on him in 25 days. any and all suggestions will be appreciated
Steer off feed
- Thread starter Duffer
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red
Well-known member
I'd try a probiotic to stimulate his appetite. Sometimes they get to a certain point & just fall off. The probiotic will help get the rumen bugs back in order.
Red
Red
shortyjock89
Well-known member
Probiotic and maybe put some yeast in his feed. Did you get a new batch of feed? Another thing you could do is break up feedings between three times/day if you can. I've found they stay hungrier if they think they will be getting less feed. Also, maybe don't feed him tonight. Sounds weird, but I bet if you do that and give him a probiotic, he will eat like a fool in the A.M., and it might be the thing to get him back on track. Good Luck, and let us know how he does.
Duffer said:
<cowboy> I know this is going to sound crazy, but when my daughter's steer would go off his feed I would first do the probiotic thing first and then I would try anything and everything just to get him to eat again. I sometimes would go out to my horse barn and bring back some sweet feed and he would eat that for a few feedings and then I would start mixing it with his regular feed and things would be back to normal. I was given some really great advice once by a member who told me to go to HEB and buy the cheap white cake mix and mix it in with his feed. The steer went crazy over the white cake mix, he would get back on his feed really nicely after that. Needless to say we ended up mixing that cake mix in with his feed all the way to show day(he kinda got spoiled), but he was finishing his feed and ended up winning his class at our county fair. The main thing is to just get him eating again, no matter what it takes. Good Luck!
More particulars about the situation. We will be getting a new batch of feed on Monday 6-23 , I buy 1000 lbs a time so i usually lasts me about a 2 weeks or a little longer feeding 2. We have had him on Appetite express granular for a week now with no results. For the last 3 days we have been putting Probias paste down him. For the last 60 days we skip the Sunday evening feeding and I would notice they would clean up there feed faster monday. Yesterday we threw a curve ball at him and gave him some Hackmans complete feed that i bought off the neighbor and he wouldnt touch it. Here at noon today i threw him a scoop of plain cracked corn and he hit that pretty hard.. In a 1000 lbs we put in 35 lbs of liquid molassas is there a possibility that the feed maybe too sweet for him all of the sudden?
red
Well-known member
A lot of time the feed companies are changing formulas to help w/ hot weather concerns. some example are too dry of feed, mold & fines from stored grains. Also you can get off smells from older bagged or bulk feed. Cattle are funny, if they get something that tastes bad or smells off the can become leery & not want it anymore. Also some just get bored w/ what they eat.
I'd just put enough in each time so that he cleans it up. Watch how much hay he's eating too. Some people also pull them off feed once a week.
Hope it corrects for you!
Red
I'd just put enough in each time so that he cleans it up. Watch how much hay he's eating too. Some people also pull them off feed once a week.
Hope it corrects for you!
Red
OH Breeder
Well-known member
Duffer said:
Duffer,
That is not much liquid molasses per 100. You are fine there. We feed both prebagged and mill feed. Do you let him eat free choice hay or any hay at all. Sometimes it helps to get some good hay in front of them with probiotics. The two together tend to stimulate the rumun. If you changed the ration completely recently that may be it. We usually try towards the end and keep them rolling with no changes. Sometimes you can't help. I am assuming also he has free choice water? I know that sounds crzy but some people water differently.
showsteer09
Well-known member
Shoot him up with probios for a week you can get it at TSC there might me something upsetting his Belly This is was I use all the time when going to shows I start the day before we leave so they don't go off feed and I do it when i get home for 3 days hope this helps...
He has free choice water at night. during the day they are tied up in front of the misters and fans. we are feeding 3 calves and i use an old combine tire with the side wall cut out of it for a hay feeder. we fill it up everynight and there is still hay left in the morning so i guess you would say that they are on free choice hay as well. but that is nothing new. for a week now he has been on appetite express 2 times a day. yesterday i gave him b-12 and this morning he did eat a little better so i think that we are starting to come around. our jock was in yesterday as well and looked at him he thinks that he has enough cover to suffice but i havent seen many 1150s win here lately at a county fair. but i appreciate any and all help that you folks have given and will contine to give.
red
Well-known member
I always recommend 5-7% molasses for cattle feed. Much more & they back off.
Smell the feed to make sure no off ordor. I will taste it myself just to see if any changes. :
Red
Smell the feed to make sure no off ordor. I will taste it myself just to see if any changes. :
Red
How many pounds of feed per day does he ususally eat? What is the composition of your feed other than 7% molasses? I assume you are feeding them in pans and not together? Just trying to get more info. Hope to help, would just like to have more knowledge of your situation.
Before all of this started he was eating 26 lbs of feed and 2 lbs of full tank and the recommended dose of show bloom. I dont have the exact ration here at home. but were running corn, barley, oats, 32 % adm supplement, yeast, cottonseed hulls and a vitamin pack, and liquid molassas. they eat in pans, although yesterday i have a poly hiback feeder that Sinnamon show supply sells and they are about a foot deep 2 foot long and about a foot wide and i put the 2 steers in a small pen and let them have at it. fortunatly that helped the steer eat a little better because his buddy was getting to his feed but i had to seperate them cuz i though they were going to hurt them selves in the small pen. you would have thought that i turned 2 bulls together. So that was kinda a positive i my book atleast hes eating.
Sometimes it is advantagous to have cattle compete for feed, this has happened to me in the past when pushing bulls really hard for a show. When we "blow" them over the top on consumption, and they just don't want to start up again, we will turn a cow in to compete for the feed. Most of the time this does the trick. since you put two steers together, it should work pretty well. Good luck.
