Steer Not wanting to eat 😢

[steer_1989]

Hey so my 900lbs steer has recently not been eating. I feed him 14lbs twice a day at typically 12-hour intervals. For example this morning he only ate around 4lbs, and yesterday afternoon he only ate 5lbs. He also has fresh water daily and oat hay which he does eat.

Is there any supplements I could add to his feed to increase his appetite or gain????

 

[looking4champions]

What has the temperature been like where you are?

What are you feeding other than the oat hay?

How much oat hay are you giving the calf?

What are the numbers on your ration (fat, fiber, and protein %). Is it a commercial feed or custom mix?

How often do you wash/rinse blow your calf.

What is his stall/bedding/pen like?

There are a lot of questions to be asked and answered. A supplement or throwing $$ at the issue may not be the right answer. You my need to make a minor adjustment.

 

[steer_1989]

The temperature is around 70-80 degrees. Other than the oat hay he has grain and sometimes grass hay. He’s fed 1-2 flakes of hay per day. The numbers on the rations are 4.18% fat, 12.28% protein and 9.31% fiber. I wash/rinse him 3-4 times a week. His stall is clean and he has straw as bedding.

 

[vc]

If he was eating well and then suddenly slowed down, did you recently change his feed, pick up feed (different lot on his same feed)?
Sometimes you get a bad batch of feed, if you recently purchased feed you may want to try a different Lot#, we ran in to some feed that was bad, calf would pick at it. We changed lot#s and he ate it just fine. If the feed is the same, smells and looks fine, try pulling the feed for a day, treat steer with a good paste probiotic, and then start him back on feed at about a half ration and see if he will start eating again, if he does work him up to full feed over a couple of days.