Grass Belly?

[JulieLou42]

I have a neighbor whose 1/2 Jersey steer born almost 20 months ago ...one of my cow's ... that measures only 60"/647 and has what looks like 'grass belly' to me. I'm raising his brother [same sire] that was taped at 64"/770# three weeks ago, and he doesn't have that large belly his older brother does. But his older brother has horns twice as long as his! They have exactly the same face, but OB looks more dairy in the hindquarters.


What might I tell them to help him get rid of it. Is there any need to? Family says he gets pasture and three flakes of hay a day [looks like orchard grass to me] or is there nothing to be done.

I went over today to help them measure him because they're thinking it's time to make meat of him.

[agmantoo]

Heavy infestation of parasites will contribute to the look you described. Get some ivermectin for your animal and "share" with you neighbor. Whether you give any to your animal is up to you.

[francismilker]

In my experience with grass belly or "pot-bellied" animals, these are too far along to do anything about unless it is parasites in their system causing it. I've seen these conditions happen on a lot of bottle babies in the past. A pretty decent argument can be made for bucket feeding the babies and making them "drink"the milk instead of "sucking"it to prevent this. I've tried it and believe there's merit to the argument. Good Luck.

A grass/pot belly is an indication of either worms of lack of nutrition, specifically protien. Or, both. If he were wormed, and supplemented with some grain, or some other kind of protien supplement, the grass belly would likely be reduced, or go away completely.

[Ronney]

Another very important reason for potty calves is mineral deficiency and I know this to my cost - or very nearly to my cost. If this calf has been drenched and is being fed well, mineral deficiency is the next thing to be looking at. And because all other animals are looking good, it doesn't mean to say that there isn't a deficiency.

When living further south I reared 9 calves. They all did well bar one. He was rough coated, skinny and potty. He finally went down and I got the vet out. He took blood samples from that calf, two others that looked good and three cows that also were good. Every sample came back as being deficient in cobalt and selenium.

After moving north I was having big problems with cows not holding condition and unthriftiness in weaned calves. Cobalt and selenium are not an issue here so once again I had the vet out to take bloods over a range of cow and weaned calves. Every last one of them came back as having nil worms but hugely deficient in copper even although none of them were showing the classic symptoms of copper deficiency.

Soil varies from one part of the country to another and even from farm to farm and paddock to paddock so it can be good farm mangagement to have soil tests done annually and the occasional blood test to ensure that you are keeping on top of your stocks mineral requirements.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[agmantoo]

As usual, Ronnie and I are reciting from the same page. Ronnie is just more thorough than I. I, too often, conclude that everyone is already applying good management practices. For an animal to remain healthy it is essential to never stress the animal. Proper feed and clean water are essential along with an adequate access to trace minerals. Our animals represent a substantial investment and such an investment needs to be cared for. Often these animals are going to be consumed by our families, therefore the meat should not be anything less than excellent. JulieLou42, may I suggest that you look around the neigbor's pasture area and determine if these needs are consistently being met. If you will observe the eyes and the haircoat and comment, that would also help.

[JulieLou42]

Thank you for all your good input, gang!

I'll go take a look at his pasture, as I didn't notice a mineral block near his manger or water tank, which to me is the logical place to keep it. He pretty well keeps his pasture/orchard grass of about one acre clipped short, at this time of year, as do his mother and brother. But I supplement with a lot more hay than they do...and they let me know when they want that hay!!!

One thing I did notice about him is how docile he is compared to his younger brother...perhaps because he was raised by young children, not his mother. His younger brother is a veritable LIVEWIRE!

My calf/steer's still nursing at near nine months, and has no pot belly, but I'm planning to put an end to that pretty soon by separating them with a hotwire...I want what milk she has left, now that it's warm enough for my knees to handle milking job, and I have a lot more energy.