How to make them gain weight when dry???

[allenslabs]

I have dried Evie Lee up because she is due Sept 7 and now have her on just grass pasture with a grass round bale and minerals out there with water of course. But it looks like she's losing weight to me and I want to avoid that happening. I thought when they were dry you weren't to grain them or feed them alf mix hay. I wormed her Saturday and we have had some extreme heat so know that probably didn't help. Any ideas?

[gone-a-milkin]

Having read your posts about Evie Lee in the past, I am just going to guess that she is still in decent condition.

If she is growing a big bull calf (or twins) in there, you do not want to overfeed her right now.
Unless she is bone thin and starving, I think you are better off just leaving her to her pasture and grass hay.
Once she has her calf, then you can feed her up again if she needs it.
Try not to worry.

You could post a pic and get opinions on her condition.

[springvalley]

^^^^^DITTO^^^^^ What Wendy said. > Thanks Marc

[ozark_jewels]

I agree with the above. A pic would be great. When we dry off our dairy cows, they seem to stall in condition for a couple weeks, then start putting flesh on. This is just on grass/grass hay. You also do not want them *fat* at calving, as this can cause issues. But you do want them to have some reserves as they go into the next lactation.

[allenslabs]

Ok, I will try to get pics of her tomorrow. Just ran out of time today unfortunately. I don't think she's bone thin by any means but still....I don't like to be the only chunky one in the bunch! LOL!

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by allenslabs

Ok, I will try to get pics of her tomorrow. Just ran out of time today unfortunately. I don't think she's bone thin by any means but still....I don't like to be the only chunky one in the bunch! LOL!

LOL well I think the remedy for that problem is not feeding the cow up!