AAOK feeding program

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harleyhog

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Mar 17, 2010
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97
I was wondering if the AAOK feeding program works for show heifer's also...or if there is a better feeding program for heifers...

Thanks
 

obie105

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Oct 17, 2011
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Thats what we use for mainly heifers. IMO it would work better for heifers. Everything needs tweaked a little bit per animal tho.
 

Cow Chaser

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Jan 19, 2011
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Location
West Central Illinois
This is our heifer ration we have used for years.  It is designed to be feed at 2% of body weight but it depends on your cattle, you might have to back off a little for easy feeders,  I also add more beet pulp and cotton seed hulls to this for a holding ration.

Amounts are figured per ton
Corn -                  1200 lbs
Oats -                    160 lbs
Cotton Seed Hulls - 160 lbs
Beet Pulp -            160 lbs
Purina Cattle 32 -    200 lbs 
Purina W&R AS 7.5 - 10 lbs  (Purina Wind and Rain mineral)
Liquid Molasses -    100 lbs
AB 20 -                    10 lbs  (Feeding due to high levels of alfatoxin in corn this past year)
 

willow

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Jan 8, 2011
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308
harleyhog said:
I was wondering if the AAOK feeding program works for show heifer's also...or if there is a better feeding program for heifers...

Thanks

Harley, a while back I asked a question on here about feeding heifers and AAOK responded to that post and said yes it does work.  If you do a search for it I bet you can find the thread pretty easy as it was only maybe three weeks ago.  Search for heifer feed or something along those lines.
 

Redfern

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Feb 28, 2011
Messages
62
Cow Chaser said:
This is our heifer ration we have used for years.  It is designed to be feed at 2% of body weight but it depends on your cattle, you might have to back off a little for easy feeders,  I also add more beet pulp and cotton seed hulls to this for a holding ration.

Amounts are figured per ton
Corn -                  1200 lbs
Oats -                    160 lbs
Cotton Seed Hulls - 160 lbs
Beet Pulp -             160 lbs
Purina Cattle 32 -    200 lbs 
Purina W&R AS 7.5 - 10 lbs  (Purina Wind and Rain mineral)
Liquid Molasses -     100 lbs
AB 20 -                    10 lbs  (Feeding due to high levels of alfatoxin in corn this past year)


I like this diet.  I will use it but substitute the Purina products for VF Sure Champ. 
Thanks for posting Cow Chaser.
 

AAOK

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Jan 30, 2007
Messages
5,264
Location
Rogers, Ar


This is copied from a post of mine last December:

First, I am not a Nutritionist. Our younger daughter developed this ration in her Ag class. They had a sorry teacher who only taught the boys to weld. The girls were left to play on the computers during Ag classes. She had tormented Kirk Stierwalt at every show about a better ration for her heifers. He told her to use a Finishing Ration and gave her the basic ingredients, but no amounts. This was about 1996 or 97, and we were all feeding larger framed calves with the goal to get more Fat & Fill.  The World Wide Web was also much younger, but amazingly did have some information about beef cattle feed ration configuration. I was working for Moormans at the time, and had access to some of the finest beef and dairy nutritionists. The formulation our daughter put together from her Internet search tested as balanced as anyone could ask.
(Kirk verified her results)

According to the test, we were at 10.2% Protien, 14% Fiber, 3.7% Fat.

We never had a Cool Room , but also never had a problem with our ration being "too hot" (for hair or gut)  The Summer of 1998 was terrible in Okla and the surrounding states. Our Maine-Anjou Jr National show was is Sioux Falls, SD.  When we left in early June, the Temp was112. Wichita, KS was 108. Our 2 raised  heifers could have used more hair against all those northern calves, but both of ours were good enough to make the Champion Drive. Our big heifer was Res. Grand & Grand Champ Bred & Owned.

In past years onSP, I have visited via PM, Email, and Phone with well over 100 people about tweaking our ration to best meet their needs. Several are successfully  using Cottonseed Hull Pellets, and others Have successfully substituted Beet Pulp. Some are using Barley, and have reported success. My point is, there is no perfect ration to serve the needs of every show calf,  I have shared our ration because it worked for us, and saved a lot of money which could be invested elsewhere.

Loose cottonseed hulls really cause even very young calves to dig into a trough. I've weaned calves through the fence with our ration as early as 2 months.  The only real flaw I find is the person who refuses to add a GOOD mineral. If my year with Moormans taught me only one thing, it is the importance of a Quality Mineral, just ask a Dairy guy.

Remember the KISS theory - Keep It Simple, Stupid!


In His grip,
Dan
 
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