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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 7:31 pm
by strawberriesclint
Hi everyone
I just bought three 14month old heifers, nice but not very quiet. So to get near them I started feeding them just basic cow cake, now I see it seems to be upsetting their stomachs and making them have loose dung. My enquirey is anyone got any ideas on another sort of cake I could feed them to help them get into better condition and not to upset their stomachs?
cyndy
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 8:46 am
by Martin
Hi Cindy,
have you ruled out any other condition that may be causing the loose dung? Have they been wormed as wormy animals tend to be loose as well as in poor condition. If you rule out any reason other than the feed, then I would suggest that they have too much protein in their total diet, either change to a lower protein feed or cut them back to a minimal amount and increase very slowly,'cow cake' comes in a number of formats ranging from 14% to 18% protien. Changes in diet can cause these problems, and any change should be done gradually, I have found that a little hay can be very usefull in firming up loose animals.
If you house your animals through winter I find this the ideal time to 'make friends' as you can get closer for reasons other than vet procedures etc.
Martin
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 10:00 am
by Issy
Hi Cindy,
Our heifers and steer arived extremely nervous of humans. I fed them a couple of handfuls of rolled barley in buckets and very shortly was able to stroke and more importantly pour wormer on them. 4 months down the line they are all halter trained (makes life for you and the vet a lot easier) and will take sugar beet from your hand. I only use feed as a bribe and treat not a regular suplement to their diet. If any of ours appears to be loose I put out barley straw which seems to do the trick. good luck. Issy
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 2:55 pm
by oliver1921
We are currently having the same problem with 'loose'cows and heifers. we are not suplementing them atall as we have plenty of grass but i think that it may be due to the change in the grass as autumn comes on. i will probably try them with some barley straw - i cannot believe it is a worming problem as ours were wormed a couple of months ago