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How To Get Rid Of Pot Belly On Heifer?

R

Ranchy

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Apr 14, 2006
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scenic mountains of western New Mexico
Al is definately taking Tillie to the county fair the end of next month. We need to know how to get the pot belly off her between now and then........any ideas?

He's feeding her a gallon can of range cubes twice a day, and hay right now. She's also getting all the water she can drink, with a lemon-lime soda added (1 2-ltr bottle per half 55-gallon barrel). Which she doesn't seem to care for...... :roll: She'll wait all night, until he turns her out, and then drink out of the other trough........ :?

Or, is this how she should look? I'm lost............lol (Please forgive the sad shape of the corral fence, it's just falling apart, and we can't get any more poles to fix it with, so have cattle panels tied to the posts..... :? )



Image-33-1.jpg
 
Are you adding the soda to cover a taste in the water-she doesn't lkook all that bad-maybe increase her grain part of the ration and cut back on her hay a bit.
 
Yep, I agree with NR. She's a pretty decent heifer and I don't see a problem with a pot belly from the pic. She'll do well to have a little more condition on her for the fair, even if you think she's just right for the real world and how you want your cattle to be managed. I'd crank her up just a little on the ration and let her drink what she wants. A little more rib shape (even if it's in the form of belly) never hurt a heifer of her apparent genetic makeup. Good luck.
 
We used to pony our heifers and steers. It got them halter broke and helped work off the belly and add muscle. We also used to put a little milk replacer on their feed that helped with the belly.
 
Be sure to worm her. She does need to carry some more flesh for the fair.

What does that gallon of range cubes weigh? Can you get her some soybean meal? That will really give her a nice shine. I highly recommend soybean meal. It won't take too much each day, either. Just add it to what she is getting now. But gallons doesn't mean much, you need to know how many pounds of cake she is getting.

The others are right about cutting down on the hay. Speaking of which, is it good quality hay? If not, she is having to eat too much of it to get the nutrition she needs and that could be conductive to a pot belly. The photo doesn't look like she is 'potty' really. The soybean meal will help her digest the hay better too.

Good luck!
 
I don't think her belly looks bad. I'd try to get a little more finish and bloom on her. Cut the cubes in half and get her a hotter ration. More energy and fat. Soybean meal, cracked or rolled corn. Gradually work her up on quanity. You've got 5 weeks. Try to get her up to 10 -12 lbs of grain over the next couple of weeks. Also work on her hair. There is some spray on stuff you can use and brush it in. That and a little more condition ( fat ) will show her off. Good luck.

P.S. as soon as you are through showing her take the grain away from her if you are going to keep her.
 
efb, how much soybean meal do you think she should have? I agree
that she needs more groceries.

Also, if they get her up to that much grain, shouldn't they take it away
gradually and not all at once?

I thought the soybean meal would do it without having to mess with grain, but I'm not positive and I wasn't sure how much. I think soybean is safer than grain, because if they increase the grain too fast and she gets a belly ache, they will have to start all over again. And there isn't much time left. Soybean meal is almost 100% digestible and the best source for
protein. I'm not sure if it is hot out, if she will eat the corn very readily.

But then again, what do I know? :???:
 
Aside from the soybean meal being expensive, it would be too much protien if she gets more than a 1/2 to a pound a day.

45% protien compared to corn at 9%

The grain, corn barley or oats will bring her on. 5 week will help some, but she should have had a bit more time.

Charlais are noted for gaining well if the grain is fed.
 
Ok, so what if she fed less than 1/2 lb. a day? What is the price of 1/2
lb. of it compared to several pounds of grain? Plus, if you don't have the grain you will have to get some bags of it. We have never had, in our limited way of feeding, good luck getting cattle on corn. We have to feed it in by hand, in bunks and they just don't eat it. Soybean meal on the other hand, cattle go right to it. By the time they get her on corn, I was afraid too much time would have passed.

We use Soybean meal here in the fall in very dry years. It doesn't take much and it doesn't take long for their hair to have a real nice sheen.
I'd say in 10 days to 2 weeks you can visably see the difference.

I suggested soybean as the least problem, fastest result kind of deal.
But I don't know the cost of it either.
 
Feeding the small amount of soybean meal is a good thing. I agree it is easy to get them on to it. But the heifer needs the energy more than the protien boost.

Corn can be tough to get them started, my cows thought corn was rocks and spit it out the first time they tried it.

Ground corn , or even cracked will help.

Barley is softer and oats can be fed whole. Just different options.

All should be available in bags, for 1 heifer the actual cost isn't the big deal, but in 5 weeks she needs a pretty good push.
 
Ok, agreed.

However, when it is hot, it is hard to get a lot of energy into cattle.
Isn't it? I mean cattle don't do as well in feedlots during the summer
because it is hard to keep them eating enough.

I was thinking of something full of nutrition...that you wouldn't have to
feed much of...

Ok, I'm done now. :wink:
 
We always have a tough time with some home grown steers and there consumption of grain during July and August. They just seem to back off. WE don't ever have a trouble getting ours started on corn however but we generally have one animal around that we can use as a trainer animal.. N

Still prefer oats however, seem to be able to ramp them up faster, probably because of the increasesd amout of fiber or something.
 
Just bring her along slow-you might not win the show but you'll have a more productive cow in the long run. My kids have been buried in the yearling class a few times because their heifers aren't fat enough-then they've come back and won the whole deal next year with their pairs. Amazing how many of those overfed show heifers don't come back with a calf the next year.
 
We feed soybean flakes to our calves and they do great.. Sorry Jason. Gives them a great coat of hair and really puts a glow to them.. And if you feed corn it has to be cracked or rolled. IMHO.. She looks great but needs just a little hotter feed to flesh her up a little... Don't lard her up, but just a nice roll..........
 
Don't appologize to me for feeding soybean flakes Katrina.

I think soy is an excellent feed for cattle. I just didn't want to see someone take 5-10 pounds of meal at 45% protien for a heifer and burn her kidneys out.

All oilseed products like flax, canola, soy etc will put a shine on a hair coat. Feeding the oil is higher in energy than feeding the meal which has the high protien, however the oil is more expensive, and can have a harsh taste, as it will spoil.

Feeds chage as they are processed. Gluten, or middlings, or shorts (different names depending where you are) are the left over dry matter from grain processing. The energy has been taken and the protien is higher in what is left. Salesmen will say it is better than the original grain, but think about it. How can you remove something from a product and have more left?

Feeding a show animal by hand is great experience for people. They really get to see how animals respond to what they are fed. If they are competative, they don't like to get beat in the show, so they learn what others do. If they channel that learning into better feeding methods for all their animals, it is worthwhile. If they just buy the same prepackaged feed as the next guy, they learn very little.
 
YOu are so right Jason on the hand feeding.... What works one year or on some calves isn't the best the next year.... I don't know what the differance is in the soy meal verses the flakes..... I'm sure you do.... We quit the meal and do the whole flake... What is it?? Burn the hull off and then dry the soybean??? Is that right??? We have a farmer do ours.... Anyway.. Most times winning a show doesn't always mean they will so well in everyday conditions... Again this is my humble opionion and doesn't mean spit........ She is a very nice calf and will do well.......
 
I have never fed soybean flakes, but from what I have read, the protien is lower than the meal, and of course the oil is still in the bean. Feeding the flakes would be more like feeding a grain than a gluten or a meal, thus your success with it.

The economics of feeding it likely change from year to year, but beans aren't making that great of return for the last while from what I understand. At some point it might change.

It's like some people being afraid to feed wheat to fats. Adjust the ration and it works. I let the economics tell me what to feed.

This year with so much hay I am not baling any greenfeed. I checked my dirtiest field and it is clean even with no chemical ( I am amazed, but grateful). It doesn't make a lot of sence to harvest more barley ($2), but compared to harvesting more bales, it does. I will be able to sell some barley if need be, but greenfeed will be almost impossible to move given the hay available.
 


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