feed whole corn?

[huvalfarm]

My father in law, who has raised cattle for over 50 years, told me to feed my 3 weaned bottle calves (3 months old) whole corn- not cracked corn- it has to be whole corn. He says that it will make them grow fast.
Prices are up, and still going up on cattle here in Louisiana and he wants me to get these guys ready to sell as quick as I can. I'm wondering if feeding whole corn is a good idea, and will it really make a difference?

[springvalley]

I have no idea where he ever got the idea that it would make calves grow faster. Whole corn is not digested completley in the gut of cattle, it`s better if cracked or rolled. And you can only grow a calf so fast, it will take you at least a year and a half to feed a calf out, depending on how big you want them. Unless you only plan on selling feeder calves, but I strongly advice that you take it easy and feed them out slowly. > Thanks Marc

[sammyd]

the difference in use of the corn by the cow is minimal. Studies have shown that most of it is used when fed whole. You have to weigh the cost of cracking vs whole then figure if it's worth it to waste a small %.
However if you want to run pigs after the cows whole corn is the feed of choice.

I have never heard of whole corn making them grow faster unless you run them on something like Tend-R-Leen and nothing but whole shell corn.

[Allen W]

If they have already been on ground or cracked grain no. If started on whole corn and not had ground or cracked grain yes you can feed whole corn, they will chew it instead of hogging it down. Straight corn isn't adequate feed for most classes of animals they still need additional protein and mineral supplement and some roughage.

[oregon woodsmok]

I'd say that if you want fast growth, you increase the protein, not the fat. So feed them good alfalfa instead of corn to get them to grow.

[huvalfarm]

Thanks for confirming what I thought. I couldn't figure how whole corn would make a difference. I have them on calf starter (16%) and they are turned out in a nice green pasture. I think I'll just plan on them taking their own sweet time and filling out nice and slow. I'm not in a hurry.

[tinknal]

Thye doboy tender-lean plan uses almost strictly whole corn. It can be done, but you need to be on the program.

[wwubben]

What is time to a calf?Feed them to get the cheapest rate of gain,not the fastest rate of gain.Keep them growing though.Enjoy your cattle.

[springvalley]

I also had neighbors that fed cattle out on whole corn, that was years ago and things have sure changed. He fed very little roughage when he fed straight corn, I think mostly straw. It can be done I just wouldn`t do it myself. > Thanks Marc

[francismilker]

There's a product on the market called ten-der-leen that is sold to feed alongside whole corn as the sole source of feed for a steer that is said to be awesome. In my neck of the woods, corn of any kind is so expensive I'm just not buying much of it.