Heifer wont eat dairy nuts?!

Bodacious

I had a suckler heifer calve there yesterday and hadnt a great springing made so i put her on grass and gave her dairy nuts and she turned her nose up at them?! Went back and mixed beef ration 50/50 and she ate them but only just!

I threw bucket of dairy nuts to weanlings in next field and they wouldnt touch them either! Do ye find all cattle prefer the old cheap beef ration to nuts?!

jeff greene

Bodacious wrote: »

I had a suckler heifer calve there yesterday and hadnt a great springing made so i put her on grass and gave her dairy nuts and she turned her nose up at them?! Went back and mixed beef ration 50/50 and she ate them but only just!

I threw bucket of dairy nuts to weanlings in next field and they wouldnt touch them either! Do ye find all cattle prefer the old cheap beef ration to nuts?!

Some dairy nuts have the daily requirement of cal mag in a kg or so, which makes them unpalatable in my experience.

haybob

Bodacious wrote: »

I had a suckler heifer calve there yesterday and hadnt a great springing made so i put her on grass and gave her dairy nuts and she turned her nose up at them?! Went back and mixed beef ration 50/50 and she ate them but only just!

I threw bucket of dairy nuts to weanlings in next field and they wouldnt touch them either! Do ye find all cattle prefer the old cheap beef ration to nuts?!

Had a similar issue and mixed a bit weanling crunch in with the nuts and she was mad for it. I was blaming the nuts too but other cows were mad for em

whelan1

haybob wrote: »

Had a similar issue and mixed a bit weanling crunch in with the nuts and she was mad for it. I was blaming the nuts too but other cows were mad for em

thats what we do too

what happen

Bodacious wrote: »

I had a suckler heifer calve there yesterday and hadnt a great springing made so i put her on grass and gave her dairy nuts and she turned her nose up at them?! Went back and mixed beef ration 50/50 and she ate them but only just!

I threw bucket of dairy nuts to weanlings in next field and they wouldnt touch them either! Do ye find all cattle prefer the old cheap beef ration to nuts?!

give her maize meal or beet pulp or sugar beet and that will put the milk to her..

Bodacious

what happen wrote: »

give her maize meal or beet pulp or sugar beet and that will put the milk to her..

Thanks Lads/Ladies,

Mixed the ration 50/50 with the nuts and she ate them, got a bag of pulp there today and put it soaking for her but she on good grass and milk is coming to her every day now. The calf is under her every 15 mins so she should keep her under pressure.

Nothing wrong with heifer calved herself, cleaned etc they all only get silage pre calving and away to grass so dairy nuts were new to her:D but i remember last september i fed her beef nuts to settle weanlings off the cows as she quiet she was with them and she wouldnt eat them either.

Out of pedigree AA cow so expected more milk her only fault is i may have pushed her a little hard she calved down at 25months but it was that or hold her for another year, she was a monster weanling when i bought her 380kgs

Supermad4tar

Mix a bit of maize meal in with the nuts and she should eat them then.
Put in a half jug full to a 1/4 bucket of nuts!!:)

Bodacious

Thanks everyone for all the replies. She a week calved yesterday and milk is flowing to her.Mixed dairy nuts with ration and sugar beet pulp now too (as advised on here):) and she does a bit of picking but eventually clears the lot:D