Calf feeding

[Tom19]

Does anyone know if feeding calves once a day can cause pot belly. And do you limit young calves to water I learned once that you should never give a young calf ad lib water as they don’t know when to stop is this true

 

[Princess Pooper]

Does anyone know if feeding calves once a day can cause pot belly. And do you limit young calves to water I learned once that you should never give a young calf ad lib water as they don’t know when to stop is this true

You haven't actually said how young your 'young calves' are and if weaned or not.

You should always let young calves have water, they need it for rumen development and they will restrict solid intake if they don't have it (its also a breach of welfare codes). However, some unweaned calves will gorge on water when they are excited (especially just after feeding as they have the taste of milk in their mouths), so some producers remove water just before milk feeding and give it back an hour or so later. If they are suckling a cow ad lib, gorging on water is not an issue but they still need water at calf level.

If you mean a once a day top up of an ad lib milk system, that's fine, but other than that, no calves below about 6 weeks old should be fed once a day. Regs state that calves younger than this should be fed at least twice a day and below this their rumens are insufficiently developed, so even access to ad lib solid food and a once a day milk feed does not meet the regs.

Pot belly is usually caused by taking in too much forage of low nutritional value either in preference to or because they don't have access to enough hard food of better protein and energy content. So a once a day concentrate feed for, say 8 week old housed calves (which would be limited to prevent acidosis) would likely leave them hungry so they stuff their guts with hay or straw and end up with a stunty frame and a pot belly. Feeding twice a day you can give them more concentrate so they will not eat as much forage. If they are on better quality silage or out grazing it is not an issue feeding once a day, although most would not recommend going onto silage until at least 12 weeks.

 

[Tom19]

No,I know calves need water but the rule I was always told was give them a bucket so they can’t over gorge from a mains supply, as for the once a day I mean feeding the calf 3L once a day after 6 weeks I was told by a lad the other day that even after 6 weeks I will make them potbellied I never believed that so I thought I’d check it out
Thanks for the answer

 

[HarryB97]

Access to Ad-lib water will not cause them any issues at all and once a day feeding past 6 weeks is fine. We have never lost a calf due to pot belly but we have lost pet lambs until we got them on ad lib milk like the calves

 

[Sheeps]

You haven't actually said how young your 'young calves' are and if weaned or not.

You should always let young calves have water, they need it for rumen development and they will restrict solid intake if they don't have it (its also a breach of welfare codes). However, some unweaned calves will gorge on water when they are excited (especially just after feeding as they have the taste of milk in their mouths), so some producers remove water just before milk feeding and give it back an hour or so later. If they are suckling a cow ad lib, gorging on water is not an issue but they still need water at calf level.

If you mean a once a day top up of an ad lib milk system, that's fine, but other than that, no calves below about 6 weeks old should be fed once a day. Regs state that calves younger than this should be fed at least twice a day and below this their rumens are insufficiently developed, so even access to ad lib solid food and a once a day milk feed does not meet the regs.

Pot belly is usually caused by taking in too much forage of low nutritional value either in preference to or because they don't have access to enough hard food of better protein and energy content. So a once a day concentrate feed for, say 8 week old housed calves (which would be limited to prevent acidosis) would likely leave them hungry so they stuff their guts with hay or straw and end up with a stunty frame and a pot belly. Feeding twice a day you can give them more concentrate so they will not eat as much forage. If they are on better quality silage or out grazing it is not an issue feeding once a day, although most would not recommend going onto silage until at least 12 weeks.

I have bought a few calves to rear this year for the first time. They are on milk twice a day and I have starter nuts with them all the time. They are between 6 and 8 weeks old but eating very little nuts. I have hay with them all the time would this be why they are eating little nuts? Should I restrict the hay?

 

[HarryB97]

I have bought a few calves to rear this year for the first time. They are on milk twice a day and I have starter nuts with them all the time. They are between 6 and 8 weeks old but eating very little nuts. I have hay with them all the time would this be why they are eating little nuts? Should I restrict the hay?

Change the hay for straw, and just put a handful or two of nuts down to start with to keep it fresh and so you can monitor intakes and increase as they clear them up. As you get nearer weaning decrease the amount of milk you feed and the temperature.

 

[Sheeps]

I'll try that in the morning with the straw.
I am keeping the meal fresh but now I'm starting to reduce the milk to them so hopefully the meal intake will increase.
Thanks for that ?

 

[An Gof]

Does anyone know if feeding calves once a day can cause pot belly. And do you limit young calves to water I learned once that you should never give a young calf ad lib water as they don’t know when to stop is this true

If you want to know about calf rearing follow this link and download the booklet. It’s a great reference document on the basics of calf rearing

Calf Rearing Essentials

The Agri-food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Hillsborough have a dedicated team of heifer rearing specialists who are committed to delivering

www.afbini.gov.uk

.

 

[haybob]

Make sure you have your calves sucking milk from a teat feeder and not drinking it straight out of a bucket top. The milk will go to the right place in the body when it sucks .

 

[haybob]

I have bought a few calves to rear this year for the first time. They are on milk twice a day and I have starter nuts with them all the time. They are between 6 and 8 weeks old but eating very little nuts. I have hay with them all the time would this be why they are eating little nuts? Should I restrict the hay?

buy a 5 litre bottle of molasses and mix it in your pellets. I use whole oats a lot mixed with molasses then start mixing in pellets nearer weaning time

 

[Werzle]

I wouldnt let calves have access to water until they have settled down for an hour after feeding for the first week or so otherwise they are likely to gorge on it and then not want there evening feed, after a week or so they can have access to water 24/7. Teach them to eat pellets out of habit after having there milk by rattling some in there trough, keeping it fresh is key as said above . They will eat more pellets with weaker mixed milk and less if the milk is strong, it usually states on the bag how to alter strength at different ages/temps and to suit twice or once a day feeding if you are using powder

 

[Princess Pooper]

I have bought a few calves to rear this year for the first time. They are on milk twice a day and I have starter nuts with them all the time. They are between 6 and 8 weeks old but eating very little nuts. I have hay with them all the time would this be why they are eating little nuts? Should I restrict the hay?

As well as good advice given below, I physically put some nuts into their mouths straight after their milk feed, just a handful at first and then increasing it all the time, some are more keen than others. Easy enough to do with a small number. It makes sure they are all getting the taste for the pellets and can also reduce the incidence of navel sucking if they are in a shared pen, as it helps 'switch off' the suck reflex after they have had their milk (topping up their straw to eat will also help as they love something fresh to explore).Cross sucking can sometimes become more of an issue as they are weaned. As you cut the milk down, make sure they have access to plenty of water, but as stated before, just check they do not gorge on water straight after milk feeding.