How Do I Entice My Cows to Eat Something?

[redgate]

We have grass-fed beef cows that are semi-wild (I can get right up to them, but can't touch them), and one Jersey heifer that is as tame as they come. The cows are strictly grass-fed, while the Jersey is currently supplemented with grain (which she mostly eats when in the mood, otherwise she leaves it for the chickens). I recently had fecals done on them, all of which were positive. It isn't a horrible infestation, so it isn't critical, thus, I would prefer to avoid the chemical dewormers. I have heard of using herbs, garlic, cayenne, DE, etc, and in fact, have successfully used some of those items with other animals like pigs, chickens, and goats--all critters which love hand-fed treats. I cannot seem to convince the grass-fed cattle to eat anything but grass, though. I have tried covering in molasses, mixing with grain, and a few other ideas, but they won't really touch it. The best we've done so far is a bit of additional copper added to their kelp ration, which they will lick as needed. That isn't really accurate, though, in ensuring each cow gets the amount of deworming agent they need. Any ideas on what might entice them to eat a treat of sorts?

[Miss Kay]

The things you mentioned work better at prevention than a cure. I would use a pour on wormer this time to clean them out and then start mixing DE etc. in their minerals.

[sammyd]

Why would a cow want to eat all that foul smelling harsh stuff? Their sniffers are pretty good, a little molasses isn't going to fool them. I've had cows turn up their noses at grain with a very small amount of a certain mineral mixed in it, sure smelled sweet to me though.
I'm with Miss Kay on this, if you have the worms treat with a proper de-wormer then use your magic potions to hopefully keep the worms gone.

[redgate]

Great, but if I want to feed something, my question is, HOW? What WILL a cow eat. Regardless of whether I treat with chemicals now or not, there have been times when I needed to administer something orally. Is there anything that cows in general seem to like eating?

[kycrawler]

Pen them up and starve them till they decide the stuff your trying to get them to eat that may or may not do anything with the worms they have isn't as bad as it smells . Or buy some pour on or injectable wormer treat them and get on with it .

[opportunity]

They might eat it if you don't want them to but other then that I have not had much luck with my grass feed cows eating anything but grass and had when the grass is gone. Mine do eat their minerals but they get mad if I change them

[G. Seddon]

If you deworm and provide a quality loose mineral, free choice, you may notice an increase in appetite. Cows that have never had any grain take a bit longer to decide they like it.

Dectomax pour-on is a good one to use. To my knowledge there have never been any studies supporting the use of DE as a dewormer, at least for cattle.

[redgate]

Their appetites seem to be fine. There was a point, though, a couple of months ago when I was concerned their weight was dropping and considered supplementing them with grain. They were not interested in the stuff. That's what really got me to wondering. Then, later, I wanted to start them on some preventative herbs that I use for my goats, and learned they liked to eat grass, and that was pretty much it. I haven't had cattle long enough to know if there is an irresistible treat for them, so I was curious. Now, it would be handy to feed them certain things for worms, but I also enjoy giving random treats to my critters, for whatever reason. Is it necessary? Certainly not. It's just something I've always enjoyed doing. My jersey will sometimes consider a treat, but the semi-wild cows just aren't interested. It would be nice to get them a little more interested in seeing me so I can doctor them when necessary as well. At this point, I will be selling them off next year and replacing them with friendlier cows. I am too small to justify heavy equipment to handle wild cows. I need to to be able to walk out and through on a halter.

[G. Seddon]

This is what I use as a "treat." Our cows would be happy to have a whole bag, but they are the perfect treat size -- small, cylindrical, about an inch long. If you have a feed trough, you could put some in it and let them try it.

Purina Breeder Supreme 20N, 50# bag is about $13. Here's a link to the product:

http://cattle.purinamills.com/LifeSt...s/default.aspx

[agmantoo]

Cows have parasites. If you have an animal that has a bad hair coat, that is losing weight, that is just generally unhealthy then you need to use a pour on such as dectomax. Otherwise just forget a small load of parasites and let the animals system hold it in check. Do you think anyone worms the wild animals or all those cattle in India?

[ksfarmer]

Get a bag or two of range cubes. Dump a few out of the bag on the grass. They will learn quickly that those are a treat. Won't be long till they will follow you with the bag. Then you can dump some in a feed bunk with the dry wormer.

[Annoth]

Sometimes it cant be helped. I dont know if this could work on your infestation but safeguard is a good wormer. It can be fed as pellets but since your cattle only eat grass, this isnt going to work as well. You may as well catch and restrain them and drench them with the wormer. (safeguard has a paste you cna inject into their mouths but one adult needs one full tube)

[redgate]

I may well go for the drench. I am psyching myself up to try to corral them into a stall and wrestle a halter on them anyway so I can draw blood for a preg test. No sense in feeding open cows all winter if I plan to sell them anyway. While I have them haltered, I'll probably just drench them to get it over with. We'll see how that goes.

[G. Seddon]

Do you have any type of alley/chute with a headgate? This would make EVERYTHING a whole lot easier.

Drenching (putting something into their mouths) is not nearly as easy as a simple pour-on down their backs.

If your cows have not been handled and your are planning to "wrestle a halter on them," please be careful. This sounds like a recipe for getting hurt.

[redgate]

No, that's why we have decided we need friendlier cows. I have gotten one of the cows confined into a stall previously, at which time she mellows out and lets me pet her. The other I haven't tried. The advantages in my favor are that they are Lowlines, so smaller than the average cow, and I can get very close before they get uncomfortable. Neither has shown any signs of aggression, though one is a little kickier than the other. Even with the kicky one, though, I was able to get close enough to pull a stick that was caught in the hair around her udder. I think there is potential. It may not work, and we won't do anything dangerous. I'll know more once I get them back into a stall and see how far I can get before they get nervous.

[FarmerDavid]

I'd rather mine not be quite as friendly. Don't get me wrong I don't want wild cows but it seems that the friendly ones can get excited and get to friendly. The ones that are more oblivious to me seem safer to be around. Don't mind me getting close but I don't have to worry about gettin ran over because they want petted.

[redgate]

LOL! Good point. My jersey heifer is so friendly, I always watch my back around her! It doesn't help that she is blind in one eye, and will accidentally run right into a person standing on her blind side, in her quest to find some lovin'. I guess she's a good teacher for me, though. I'd rather learn from an extreme case to always keep me on my toes.