Small Bull Steer wont eat hay

[HBarker]

We have recently become 1st time owners of a bull steer. we are going to raise him for meat. he is "We think" about 4 to 5 months old. and the people we got him from had him vaccinated and castrated when delivered. They say he weighs 300 lbs.... We dont think he weigh that much..
Any way our problem is we have had him for over a month and cant get him to eat ANY hay,. its perfectly good hay the horse eats it all day long .. we tried some old hay some new hay.. he just wont eat it thinks its to ---- and poop on ??
he has some green grasses to eat,although they are short and the horse already ate most of it. We have seen him with a few pieces of hay in his mouth, but was only because we cover his feed with hay in hopes he may eat some.
some one suggested we give him some vitamin B .. made him hungry but not for hay.
He does not hang his head.. he acts fine.. coat looks a little skragley .
How old before they eat hay???
any help would be great
Thanks

[copperhead46]

They will start eating hay at just a few weeks old. I can't believe that he's not eating any hay........either he has enough grass to satisfy him or you're feeding him way too much grain, and even then, he'd need the roughage of the hay. Maybe you just haven't seen him eat.
P.J.

[HBarker]

well, if hes eatin it ,, i dont know whos give it to him
we add a hand full to top off grain each day .. and if i dont scoop it up in a week er so it accumulates... they told us to feed him 3% per 100 lbs of weigh every day .. he gettin about 9 - 10 lbs a day is that to much??

[copperhead46]

Oh, I thought he was where the hay was offered free choice..............hmmmmm, I'm stumped. I've just never heard of one not eating hay. I would put out hay for him to eat, but if it's over his grain, he will just push it out of the way and go for the grain. Try giving him about one big scoop of grain, about 3 pounds, and giving him free choice on some good hay in a seperate feeder. Nine pounds of grain does seem like a lot of grain for a 4 or 5 month old calf. What kind of grain are you feeding and what kind of calf is he ?
P.J.

[HBarker]

found some feed at Atwoods called calf grower.. its full a goodies i guess, and also give him a little corn each day.
hay in separate feeder. hmmmm.... maybe he wont eat it off the ground and we need a hay feeder/ring??

[ksfarmer]

Cut back on the grain and give him free choice hay. Unless he is getting plenty of grass, he will eat hay. 9 lbs of grain is about double what you should be feeding at this age.
And , by the way, whats a bull steer? LOL

[HBarker]

ok thanks.. well hes a steer.. and he was a he till he was castrated .. and i rekon a hes a bull? hes got horns.. hehehhe

[topside1]

KSfarmer said it all....Here's an off subject tip. Don't get to lovey with your steer, horns, steer pets can really get you hurt....Be careful....topside

[copperhead46]

Nope, you've got it backward...he was born a bull, after he was castrated, he bacame a steer. Cows have horns too.
Now, back on subject, I just came in from feeding and my 3 weeks old holstien calves are both trying to eat some hay, so, like KSfarmer said, unless he's getting all the grass he needs, he'll eat hay.
P.J.

[HBarker]

what would you guys sugest for feeding? what kind of feed ,.mix ??

[copperhead46]

I feed mine calf creep, it's a pelletized feed, pretty inexpensive, and good all around feed. I don't have anyplace handy to get mine mixed, so I buy this at the local feed store. I like to feed the little ones really good hay and about a pound of creep feed a day.
P.J.

[topside1]

Any feed 13% or higher. Maybe a 1.5 pounds in the morning and another 1.5 pounds in the evening. He will grow out well and belive me he will be eating hay in no time..Topside

[ksfarmer]

Your calf grower is probably just fine. I just think you are feeding too much of it. Hay is cheaper, so , cut back on the grain and see what happens.

[HBarker]

Thanks for all the information folks, will keep you posted