A full-fledged nutrition for a newborn calf is able to provide only mom’s milk, at first this is enough. However, as a newly-born pet grows up, it has to be transferred to another feed, then the owner has an involuntary question: how to enrich the diet?Now a lot of various complexes have been developed, the main task of which is to provide the animal with all the necessary vitamins, micro and macro elements. Let’s try to figure out which vitamins are needed most for calves and how much they need for the animal depending on its age.
- What is useful for a growing body
- Important aspects of nutrition
- What else is needed for good growth of the animal
- How to understand what is missing
- Alternatives
Vitamins for calves for fast growth
What beneficial to the growing body
It is interesting that the proper storage of hay allows you to get vitamins A and D from calves, which are also essential for calves. In addition, these additives are of natural origin. A balanced diet of young animals can not do without these 2 vitamins, they provide small calves with the conditions for rapid development. Why is that? Vitamin A not only accelerates the growth of animals, but also strengthens the immune system, which means that it protects calves from disease.
The amount of vitamin D in clover and alfalfa is sufficient to help combat rickets.Only high-quality feed should be used. This can be achieved by drying the hay and under a canopy, and in the sun. So they will retain various beneficial substances. Then, before giving, two types of hay are mixed. In addition, the calf is recommended to add infusion of cones to the food. This method will also replenish the growing body with important growth vitamins.
Important aspects of nutrition
Vitamin deficiency arises precisely from the lack of necessary vitamins for calves. First of all, it is required to change the nutrition of the livestock to a more balanced one. Alternating hay, silage, vegetables and concentrates may be used. You need to start doing this as soon as possible. So the body will receive natural vitamins that help rapid growth, then calves will not be afraid of any vitamin deficiency.
A three-month-old animal’s feed should consist of 3 kg of hay, 2 kg of root crops and 1 kg of concentrates. Vitamins for the growth of calves are in fresh grass, so whenever possible it is necessary to introduce greens and carrots into the diet. Little beets are found in fodder beets, so it is recommended to give them with carrots.
Animal feed immediately after stopping milk is often replaced with a mixture of roughage and green fodder. This gives good results in rapid weight gain in young individuals. The average increase in body weight per day ranges from 650-850 g. This is important to remember in order to navigate.
What else is needed for good animal growth
Not only vitamins, but also minerals are important for a fast-growing organism of calves. First of all, phosphorus and potassium, therefore, in addition to milk, on the fifth day of life, hay is added to the diet. This helps prevent vitamin deficiency. Sometimes you need an additional type of nutrition that can give the necessary vitamins for calves for growth. The necessary group of substances is contained in bone meal. In second place is chalk, due to the lack of phosphorus in its composition. But the mixture of chalk, bone meal and salt will perfectly complement the diet. You can use this top dressing on the fifth day of calf life.
How to understand what is missing
It is advisable to prevent a shortage of vitamins for growth in young animals, otherwise it can lead to inflammation of the internal organs and subsequently go into a chronic form. All this will subsequently have a negative impact on the growth of young livestock. The most obvious symptoms of vitamin A deficiency are:
- secretion of mucus and pus from the eyes and nose;
- decreased visual acuity;
- malfunctioning of the intestines.
Not enough vitamin D? Then soon there will be:
- weakness and lethargy;
- deformation of the limbs;
- risk of fractures;
- metabolic disorder;
- possible cramps;
- foam from the mouth.
Alternatives
What else can I use? Only vitamins for calves are few.To accelerate growth, various additives have been developed. In addition to them, antibiotics are used today. Yes, they, like vitamins for calf growth, accelerate weight gain, but also can protect babies from pneumonia, and it often appears after weaning from the mother. However, only a veterinarian can select a dose, it is the doctor who will explain how to inject antibiotics.
What vitamins are needed for a calf? In addition to natural foods, special additives will be needed. They are used no earlier than three weeks of age. The most popular of them are Trivit and Tetravit. It is not worth neglecting such an addition to the diet, drugs help to resist diseases. There is also a calf supplement like Eleovit. This is a perfectly selected complex in injections. Such calf vitamins are put intramuscularly for rapid growth, not only for treatment, but also for prevention. To get the desired result, you will have to pierce a whole course, but only under the supervision of a specialist. At the same time, it is extremely important to adhere to deadlines and not to miss a day.
Vitamin supplements for young calves, as well as other stimulants for rapid growth, are striking in their diversity, so it is easy to choose the appropriate option for what to give in a particular case.
