What's the best way to get calves to drink at shows?

[TDSCcdeck]

Just wondering what to do to get calves to drink at the shows? Does anybody have any secrets they would like to share?

 

[Carter]

Get a filter from sullivans helps aton. Koolaid also helps

 

[shortyjock89]

Refresh is your best friend. We water them with that, and they usually drink the first time and almost every time they have a chance to after.

 

[savaged]

Refresh is your best friend. We water them with that, and they usually drink the first time and almost every time they have a chance to after.

What is it and where do you get it?

 

[shortyjock89]

It's like supercharged gatorade for livestock.  We get it from Sullivan's.  It's not cheap, but it does a better job of getting the animals rehydrated and back on schedule than anything I've ever used.

 

[livestockshowgirl]

Purina just came out with a product called Hydration Hay. It's a 4"x6" block of dehydrated hay that you drop into a gallon of water and it swells back up and expands to about a flake of hay. It's made to keep animals hydrated in high stress situations and they are even marketing it towards show animals. I've already been giving it to our calves as a treat to get them used to eating it, so come show day it might help pump them up with a little bit of extra roughage AND water. Might be worth keeping that idea in the back of your mind

 

[BTDT]

I always water them in the same bucket or tub at home and at shows.  As mentioned, flavoring also helps as long as you also use it at home.

 

[furinsilex]

Along with some things mentioned earlier, we treat our water at home with a small bit of bleach prior to shows so that calves get used to the smell.  Remeber its not the water tasting different its simply the smell.

 

[Carlson Cattle]

How much breech?

 

[Carlson Cattle]

Bleech I mean

 

[irh]

It's a pain but watewe take our own water.

 

[CANsteer]

Refresh is your best friend. We water them with that, and they usually drink the first time and almost every time they have a chance to after.

What is it and where do you get it?

https://www.sullivansupply.com/cart/ia/p-470-refresh-5-lb-bucket.aspx

 

[aj]

How about little salt blocks. My wife tried them at Denver?

 

[Carlson Cattle]

we tried cloriteen tablets is that good?

 

[Carlson Cattle]

also will one 5 bucket of refresh do it for 2 weeks? Or do you need 2 5 gallon buckets?

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

The best thing I've found is to simply fill the buckets up before hand and let them set out in the sun and get warm. I guess the heat bakes the chlorine smell out of the water. They drink it just like the water at home! I only show in the fall though so it might be harder to make it work this time of year.

I've tried Kool-Aide too. It seems like they like the orange flavored really well. The only reason I stopped giving them Kool-Aide because it dyes white hair if they have white around their nose.
I also tried the Sullivan's water purifier. Some calves will drink it but others still want the warm water that sat out in the sun for a few hours even when I use the purifier.
My boyfriend said he used to fill a big water tank in town before our district fair and drive it home every evening and water his market steers back when he was showing them. Sounds like a lot of work to me but it made the steers used it  (lol)

 

[paj315]

we used a box of jello mix in our calves water last year and they really seemed to like it

 

[coachmac]

We have tried various things.  For us the koolaid seemed to throw them off more at a show than the chlorine.  We have floated a chlorine tab holder (for the pool) in the show cattle tank with just one tablet in it.  Water wasnt overwhelming in smell but just enough.  Seemed to help when we were on the road.  Bucket color seemed to influence as well.  We water on show day out of various colors of buckets and have had animals that will only drink out of a blue bucket.  Another likes the red.  A little block of salt, mentioned before,  in front of them all night at tie outs seems to increase the desire to drink show day morning as well.  Each day can be an adventure for some calves.

 

[J2F]

Seems like Ive heard of using baking soda? Anyone every heard of that? Mix baking soda in with the water at home and shows?

 

[vc]

I think getting them use to drinking from the bucket at home helps (we take the same bucket to the show), the other thing is letting the bucket set, the chlorine will go away, we fill buckets for the morning the night before, fill the buckets for later in the day in the morning. If you have several calves, the tubs The red round tubs with rope handles) that hold about 20 gallons are good to have and keep filled, some calves will drink better with a larger tub then they will out of a bucket. Again we would dump and refill in the late evening and use them to water in the morning. Refresh is always a good product to add.