Tryin to fatten, went off feed

massey265

Lookin for some advise, I have a 18month old bullock which I am tryin to fatten up to sell on in a few months, I was feeding him nuts every day when he was out and put him in four weeks ago and was feeding him nuts, barley and some maize meal with hay but if has gone off eating this last week and only nibbling on it. Any suggestions on what else I could feed him on would be great!

caseman

massey265 wrote: »

Lookin for some advise, I have a 18month old bullock which I am tryin to fatten up to sell on in a few months, I was feeding him nuts every day when he was out and put him in four weeks ago and was feeding him nuts, barley and some maize meal with hay but if has gone off eating this last week and only nibbling on it. Any suggestions on what else I could feed him on would be great!

how much were you giving him

massey265

He was getting 5kgs twice a day.

caseman

massey265 wrote: »

He was getting 5kgs twice a day.

In what order.
nut's
barley
maize meal

massey265

Nuts 2.5kg
Barley 2.5kg
Maize 1kg
Was goin to work him up to as much as he would eat....

Kovu

May be a silly question but does he have free access to water or is he getting a few buckets a day?

massey265

Yeah a water trough in pen ok..

severeoversteer

is his dung normal? firm , runny, odd colour?

could be, acidosis

hay is poor substitute for fibre, your diet lacks fibre and this can be provided by soya hulls or beet pulp nuts and /or straw

is he lame or breathing quickly or flared nostrils?, reluctant to walk?
if so laminitis is the culprit


if he is fed that diet for more than say 3 months he could be just feedsick, if he deteriorates in next few hours or day he needs the vet

massey265

Dung seems to be normal but will check it in morn, he is breathing fine, he was just getting nuts up to if went in, as for the hay maybe that is the problem but I have no access to soya or beet pulp and the straw I only have for bedding and they don't eat it, silage be any better?

caseman

Did you build up to that level slowely ,i'd just feed nut's for a few days and build up slowely over two weeks
And feed some silage.

massey265

Yeah feed him up to that over the weeks.

Farmer Pudsey

What weight is he if he is eating 12kgs of ration a day he is on 10.4kgs of DM. As well is there much maize in the nuts. Maize is cheap at present and a fair bit may be going in to hi-energy nuts. You are giving 2/day on top of that. maize while a super product slows down the stomach should never exceed 40% of a ration. Even then you need a bit of wheat to push it through the system.

I think you are saying he is only nibbling the hay have you increased the ration lately. What breed of animal is he, 18 months is very early to be finishing a bullock

triggerharvey

put another bullock in with him

massey265

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

What weight is he if he is eating 12kgs of ration a day he is on 10.4kgs of DM. As well is there much maize in the nuts. Maize is cheap at present and a fair bit may be going in to hi-energy nuts. You are giving 2/day on top of that. maize while a super product slows down the stomach should never exceed 40% of a ration. Even then you need a bit of wheat to push it through the system.

I think you are saying he is only nibbling the hay have you increased the ration lately. What breed of animal is he, 18 months is very early to be finishing a bullock

He is a charly, am trying to fatten him now at 18 months cause he has a slight limp in his rear end and want to sell him with a bit off weight, am not running him with the rest as fear off hurting him more, I know a pen mate would maybe push him to eat more but he is in a pen next to weanlings,

Farmer Pudsey

massey265 wrote: »

He is a charly, am trying to fatten him now at 18 months cause he has a slight limp in his rear end and want to sell him with a bit off weight, am not running him with the rest as fear off hurting him more, I know a pen mate would maybe push him to eat more but he is in a pen next to weanlings,

He is eating 10.4kgs of DM. Continental bullocks normally eat 2% of body weight. I think he is virtually on ad lib. If he was 550 kgs LW he eat 11kgs DM the hay could be making up a kg of DM. Cattle when they first go on ad-lib eat a bit more than they can for 3-10 day then settle back on a bit less than this.

I think be just has enough. Mind you I think animals in a pin by themselves eat a bit less than they would with company but not a whole lot.

the al kid

Think thats a lot of readily digestible starch hes eating esp to include the maize.As others have suggested ease off on meal,get some rumen stimulating pdrs ,and then when he gets back to normal gradually build him up again but maybe dont feed as much and possibly add a bit of bread soda to the diet.

Al

massey265

the al kid wrote: »

Think thats a lot of readily digestible starch hes eating esp to include the maize.As others have suggested ease off on meal,get some rumen stimulating pdrs ,and then when he gets back to normal gradually build him up again but maybe dont feed as much and possibly add a bit of bread soda to the diet.

Forgive my ignorance but what would rumen stimulating pdrs be?

jt65

http://www.animalfarmacy.ie/products/detail/livestock/cattle/scour/2122/stimulex-metabolic-stabiliser-sachet-100g


also sold under different names ... rumen booster , etc

most co op or animal supply outlets would have them

the al kid

Prorumen or rudigest are names that come to mind-you should be able to get from your vet-help get flora and bacteria working in an overloaded rumen.

Al

Farmer Pudsey

What weight do you think he is and how much ration and hay is he eating at present. Is the mix the same 2.5kgs nuts& 2.5kgs barley &1Kg maize.

massey265

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

What weight do you think he is and how much ration and hay is he eating at present. Is the mix the same 2.5kgs nuts& 2.5kgs barley &1Kg maize.

He by my guessing if is 450-480kg yeah that be what he was getting with about a quarter bale off hay but now he just eating a few kgs off ration but its just mainly nuts and a little hay.

Farmer Pudsey

massey265 wrote: »

He by my guessing if is 450-480kg yeah that be what he was getting with about a quarter bale off hay but now he just eating a few kgs off ration but its just mainly nuts and a little hay.

This is the big problem with ad-lib feeding unless diet is balanced for protein and energy you have issues. at most he should have been on 8-9kgs ration. The barley and maize in all likely hood droped the Protein in the diet too low. When feeding that much you need a buffer especially if high cereals. I find a 50-100 grams of cubicle lime great. Maize also slows the rumen alot but i would have taught the barley would have kept it going.

Not into rumen boosters but I suppose they would be worth a try tbh I think it a lot of effort for a few euro. Not sure but I think I leave him alone and let him back out to grass in april/may