Calf feed question

[TSYORK]

I have been feeding a higher protein feed for my weanling calves. I got to thinking: I can buy soybean meal at my local mill which is 43 percent protein. i can buy dairy chop which is 16 percent. Why don't i buy a bag of each and have a higher protein feed than what i am buying, and it will be cheaper. Your thoughts?

[myersfarm]

there is a thing as too much protien.. and 16 % is close to to much protien...... and calfs only will eat about 3% of body weight and be able to use all of the feed .....but I have a program will see if I can get it to work on how much to feed...I assume they are on free choice HAY...what kind

[TSYORK]

the hay is very good quality fescue/clover mix. i have been feeding a 26 percent bagged feed by southern states.

[myersfarm]

. i have been feeding a 26 percent bagged feed by southern states....do you have a link to that I just never seen protien that high in a bag

[TSYORK]

For the life of me I cannot think of the name on it. Soon as I think of it I will post.

[TSYORK]

Don't quote me on this, but I think the name of it is High Intensity

A friend of mine, who runs a dairy farm, recommended it to me. he said that is what they feed their steer calves.

[myersfarm]

just can not get it to work right because of the unknow HAY

HOW MUCH THEY ARE EATING and how much protien it is...

not knowing the mix in the 16 % mix...


it worked then it did not work if that makes sence like eating a candy bar after eating a salad

[myersfarm]

OK forget the Hay




if you take SBM 28 LBS AND 16 % MIX 72 lbs that mix will give you 27 % protien


check out the SBM it looked high priced on my old chart


hope the calfs do not go though and dig out one or the other but all should be cleaned before feeding more......now I did not say the



MIX WOULD BE BALANCE FOR YOUR COWS.....DO NOT HOLD ME IN ANY WAY WHAT I AM SUGGESTING

YOU ASKED COULD YOU AND I FIGURED THE BEST I COULD......like kids eat twinkies then want to lose weight....you can not balance the diet that way same as this way

[oregon woodsmok]

I think there is a limit to how much protien the calves can utilized. After that point, the protien is simply used as energy. Since protien costs more, it makes the most sense to discover the optimum percentage for protien utilization and not feed more than that.

Soybean meal is often mixed with cheaper grains to bring the protien % of the mix up, so yes, you can mix it.

I don't know if it is true for cattle or not, but in some species trying to cope with excessive protien can "burn" the kidneys. That would have a negative effect on your calf's rate of gain.

For my carnivore dogs, I like to feed about 21% protien.

For horses and cattle, which are NOT carnivores, I like protien to be about 14-16%. I feed alfalfa, which as a generalization runs about 16%, with a bit of grain, which would bring the total % down just slightly, plus pasture.

In my opinion, you get better gain if the calves get gentle excercise. It stimulates the appetite and puts on muscle weight instead of fat.

[myersfarm]

with the protien that high

you might grow some SHORT FAT CALFS WITH WEAK BONES



JMHO




And you realize I grow bottle DAIRY heifer calfs.....so what every protien would work best would be what I use...BUT I LEARN EVERYDAY...I have heard of people feeding protien as high as 18 % straight in a bucket...but the SCRATCH IS WHAT YOU WANT

[bruce2288]

I do not know what this dairy chop you speak of is but it is possible to buy individual ingredients and mix your own feed cheaper and of higher quality than premixed or pelleted feeds. You arre paying for the convenience.

[randiliana]

Protein is what grows muscle and bones, energy is what puts on fat. If you have too much protein most of it will be eliminated from the body. If you have too much energy most of that will become fat. Usually if you have enough protein, you will have enough energy in the ration, unless you are trying to fatten an animal anyway.

Protein is the most expensive part of the ration, so as said before, it would be smart to figure out the requirements for what you want the cattle to do (grow) and work your ration around that.

How much protein you need will depend on the calves too...

If you have bottle calves that were weaned around 8 weeks, they are going to require more protein and a better quality feed. I believe that these calves need around 20% protein, similar to what was in the milk replacer. Plus, because they are so young, their rumen is still developing and they can't get much of their needs through grass and hay. They need a higher concentrated and easier digested feed. They also need grass or hay, to help their rumen to develop, but they won't get a lot from it at first.

If you have calves weaned off the cow at 5+ months, they will need higher protein than a cow would, but not so much as baby calves do. PLUS, their rumens are pretty well developed at this stage, so they will get more of their needs through the grass and hay that they eat. How much grain you feed them will depend on the quality of the hay/grass they are eating and how much growth they need or you want them to do.

[myersfarm]

randiliana


ok refigured the mix and it only has 4.86 % fat that seems low to me 6% would be normal to me.


Does that make sense....learning every day

[randiliana]

You got me with that question. I'll have to search around a bit to find out the answer....

[rancher1913]

if your feeding good feed just give em a free choice protein tub if you want them to have more protein.

[randiliana]

http://www.thebeefsite.com/articles/...cattle-rations

[myersfarm]

randiliana thanks that looks like a very good site for info .....thanks again

[randiliana]

No problem, glad it helped.