Need opinions on Zebu feeding

[Mahvet]

So my partner and I got a zebu cow (#1) who was already pregnant. Not long after, she gave birth to a heifer calf (#2). While #1 was nursing #2, she started wasting away badly and she became really emaciated. We eventually started supplementing her diet with syringe-administered minerals and nutrients, and she made a complete turnaround, going from skin and bones back to thriving.

Several months later we brought in a bull calf (#3) with the idea that he would eventually breed with #2. That worked out, but unfortunately #3 ended up dying and that’s really what I wanted to discuss here.

At first #3 was eating fine, but #1 started bullying him off feed and taking it for herself. That left him weak, so we separated him from #1 and #2 to make sure he could get enough food. Even with that, his condition never improved. He’d gotten too weak by then, and we didn’t give him the same supplements we had given #1 earlier.

My question is: is it common to have to separate young bulls from recently nursing cows and calves at feeding time to make sure they’re all getting what they need nutritionally, especially when the young ones are still developing? Did we fail to take precautions to prevent the loss of #2 is what I'm wondering.

 

[Puzzled]

:unsure: Is this a logic problem ? I thought #3 died ?

 

[Faster horses]

:unsure: Is this a logic problem ? I thought #3 died ?

That's what I thought too.
Sounds like Zebu are high maintenance. I would say to check the nutrients in the hay and do some research to find the nutrition requirements of the Zebu.
I'd for sure separate them.
Of course they should be feeding a loose-mineral year round, not depend on getting mineral in them with a syringe. Cattle need to be on a year-round mineral program.
Good luck!