Feeding questions?

I don't know what to do my calves are not eating during the day what should I do? Should I just feed at night or feed morning and night? 

Just another question what do people mean by full feed?

feed is their main source of food, usually with supplemental hay or pasture.  Most of the time full feed is about 3% give or take of the calf's body weight.

Ok thanks

full feed is putting a bunch in front of them and they will eat all they can.

Like was said "full feed" is left to interpretation.  Some view it as always leaving feed in front of them and letting them eat whenever they want.  I only like this practice for creep feeding calves that are still on cow as a supplement.  I think it is imperative to feed twice daily at least. Morning and night are what works best for most. Other thing is dont just put the feed pan in front of them and walk away until its next time to feed.  Put the feed pan down and give them 20-30 minutes to eat and then pull the pan. Do that at every feeding.  They will learn to eat when its in front of them.  Also if you are feeding a complete feed, like a mixed show ration you buy, then your calves should be getting all the nutritional value from the feed.  They dont really need the nutrients in their hay at that point as much as they just need the hay for roughage.  For that reason I dont hay in the morning when I feed, I only hay at night when I turn calves out, and they dont need a lot just enough roughage to keep their guts working.  With a lot of calves, if you leave them on grass 24/7 or leave hay in front of them 24/7 then they will stay full on hay and not eat the amount of feed that we want them to for the show ring, while this is nutritionally ok for them, they hay and grass wont give them the rate of gain we want for the show ring, or the appearance we want for the show ring. So its important to limit the hay enough that they will eat the feed needed, but not take the hay away completely.  Also, in my opinion, its ok if one gets a little hungry between feedings.  Think about yourself, when your hungry you tend to eat faster than if your just eating because its meal time.  When you eat faster you tend to eat more before you feel full than you would if you were eating slower. It works the same for your cattle, if they are hungry they will eat faster, thus eating more most likely, thats another reason I dont like to let them fill up on hay, hay and grass also take a lot longer to diget so they keep them full longer, thus reducing the amount of room they have in their stomach for intake of feed.

OK thanks it I will try that thanks.  <beer>

thanks

probias or other things like that that help speeding up digestion

ok what is that

It's a probiotic that a good feed store should be able to get for you if they don't have it, I believe Sullivan's sells it as well.  It helps keep their guts working through stress or imperfect nutrient balances

Ok thanks