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Sydney2015
1156 Posts
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 Posted - Apr 17 2015 : 6:56:15 PM
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| Lately, AppleButter has been eating EVERYTHING! She tries to eat boards, shoelaces, my shirt, duct tape(she did eat a little bit of non-sticky stuff[it was old]), metal, ANYTHING, you name it. Is this normal and will she outgrow it? |
A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing - Laura Ingalls Wilder
I live on a small farm of seventy acres called Green Forest Farm, with 10 horses, a donkey, 5 beef cows, 2 beef heifers, 3 Hereford heifers, around 60 chickens, 8 dogs, my amazing cow, AppleButter, and her little Jersey calf HoneyButter! |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Apr 18 2015 : 04:46:30 AM
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Sydney, if you wanted to give me some details, I could try to take a stab at it. It seems like maybe she's trying to supplement her diet. It takes a bit of trial and error to get their supplements and protein, etc. right. I've resorted to annual blood tests to help me get their diets in a good place.
Give me her age again, and details about her supplements and hay and even the kind of milk replacer you used.
They'll lick on things out of boredom and when they're eating they'll get weird things in their mouth and end up swallowing it because their tongues are such work horses, but if she's seriously eating all manner of things, she may be trying to tell you her diet is lacking. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Apr 18 2015 : 06:13:52 AM
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| It was interesting reading your post Sydney. We had Pumpkin in the barn stall for two days while they worked on the drainage tile. When we got his pen set back up and put him back outside, the first thing he did was start eating dirt. I couldn't believe my eyes. So, of course they buried his other Redmond rock when working, so Joe went up to the house and got another Redmond rock and we put it in his pen. No more eating dirt. Seriously, I think he was missing it,(minerals,salt) and it had only been two days. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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Sydney2015
1156 Posts
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Posted - Apr 18 2015 : 9:26:34 PM
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| She has a salt block, had high protein medicated milk replacer, she eats medicated calf starter. She has alfalfa hay. If we walk by the lawnmower, she will try to lick it, then eventually trying to eat it. I have never seen her eat dirt. She doesn't get any supplements yet, and is definately well fed, she is a little fat, so I cut her feed back slightly, she gets all the alfalfa she can eat. She gets all the water she can drink. Is she just extremely curious? If there is a board sticking out, she will start chewing on it. The vet just gave her an overeating shot. |
A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing - Laura Ingalls Wilder
I live on a small farm of seventy acres called Green Forest Farm, with 10 horses, a donkey, 5 beef cows, 2 beef heifers, 3 Hereford heifers, around 60 chickens, 8 dogs, my amazing cow, AppleButter, and her little Jersey calf HoneyButter! |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Apr 19 2015 : 8:44:23 PM
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Hi Sydney,
I tried looking online to get up to speed on the medicated food you're giving AppleButter. I don't think I can be of much help since I've never used it. Did she get sick at some point and that's the reason for the daily meds?
As far as salt licks go, I know the pure white salt licks found in feed stores were a total no-go for my crew. Even my bulls wouldn't touch them. I still have six of them sitting in my barn. I'm not sure what to do with them! They do devour the Redmond Rocks however. Even my little Ester is licking on hers. And whenever I make her up a bottle of milk replacer (I use the Ultra 24 which is milk and not soy), she follows me into the milking parlor where I have a bucket of minerals that I give to my milkers every day in their pellets and today she started licking it so I let her. From here on out, I'll make sure she has some free-choice. I talk about where you can get those minerals in my book.
I'd love to know more about the "overeating shot." I've never heard of a shot like that for calves. Maybe I could use one in the evenings when I'm thinking about a big bowl of popcorn:)
It does seem like she has more of an oral habit than I've seen. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Apr 19 2015 : 11:19:27 PM
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Sydney,
Here's a calf starter that isn't medicated you might want to try and is probably available in your local feed store:
http://www.amazon.com/Manna-Pro-0093982232-Multi-Species-Performance/dp/B0009YFPSO/ref=sr_1_1?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1429509947&sr=8-1&keywords=calf+manna+prime
I also read that you can sprinkle some of the Ultra 24 milk replacer on it when you first start feeding it.
It's always risky to change an animal's diet abruptly but it seems like you might want to try changing her diet a tad. You've heard of how women who are pregnant start craving things, well, one theory is that she's needing a vitamin or mineral she's lacking in. When I was pregnant with my first child, I would have committed a crime (or chewed on lawnmowers) to get fresh lemons. I cut them and ate several/day for a couple of weeks. Low in Vitamin C? Might want to think about that kind of thing with AppleButter. Is she on pasture at all or able to run around outside? She might be a little young yet for "all the alfalfa she can eat." |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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farmlife
1413 Posts
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Posted - Apr 20 2015 : 12:07:10 PM
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| Sometimes it's hard to get non-medicated feed, Sydney, but I think animals in a small scale herd or flock do better without it. Medicated feed is generally for very large operations with animals in close quarters that do not want to risk disease running through all their animals and ruining their income. It was hard for me to get non-medicated chick starter for our chicks and non-medicated milk replacer for the calves last spring, but it was worth it to me to search it out. Check all your different feed stores. Now we have figured out not just non-medicated feed, but organic as well. Ask around. Someone can help you find a good source of feed in your area. |
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Ron
4666 Posts
Ronnie
Peever
SD
USA
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Posted - Apr 20 2015 : 12:24:45 PM
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Local source for non medicated feeds and it's all organic.
http://www.buckwheatgrowers.com |
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo. |
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Ron
4666 Posts
Ronnie
Peever
SD
USA
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Sydney2015
1156 Posts
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Posted - Apr 23 2015 : 08:04:46 AM
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| She is about three and a half months. She does have a little brown salt block, we never use white, our other cows have brown and they lick it all the time. She has never been sick, I think she might just be a very curious cow. She is now getting half grass half alfalfa. She is not on pasture but when it is nice out she goes for a walk so she gets to eat a little grass and run around. When it is nice, she has a little pen outside. She can't run around in it, not enough spare fence panels around here. I would love to put her in our round pen every day so she could run around, but we have a horse with rain rot in there now. |
A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing - Laura Ingalls Wilder
I live on a small farm of seventy acres called Green Forest Farm, with 10 horses, a donkey, 5 beef cows, 2 beef heifers, 3 Hereford heifers, around 60 chickens, 8 dogs, my amazing cow, AppleButter, and her little Jersey calf HoneyButter! |
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Sydney2015
1156 Posts
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Posted - May 09 2015 : 07:23:36 AM
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| She hasn't been trying to eat things so much now, I'm thinking it's just curiosity. |
A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing - Laura Ingalls Wilder
I live on a small farm of seventy acres called Green Forest Farm, with 10 horses, a donkey, 5 beef cows, 2 beef heifers, 3 Hereford heifers, around 60 chickens, 8 dogs, my amazing cow, AppleButter, and her little Jersey calf HoneyButter! |
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Do cows eat EVERYTHING!?!
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