Feed

[WIshowgirl]

What is the best feed mixture to feed? We don't want to go with bag feed (because of the expense)
What exactly does cotten seed hulls and soybean meal do for you? What percentage of corn/oats/barley do you use?
What adds muscle? I read some about Opti-Flex, does it work or is there something better?

Any advice or tips is appreciated.

 

[fordkindagirl]

We found that a great mix is 1/4 barley, 1/4 soybean meal, 1/4 cracked corn, and 1//4 sweet feed (as a filler). We have a local place that mixes it to your specifications and they mix it for us. With the feed mix you only have to feed 1.5%-2% of body weight. As far as muscle development Showbloom! and lots and lots and lots and lots of walking/exercise. Nothing works better than hard work. And no supplement will replace hard work.

 

[ploughshare]

Cottonseed hulls would be considered a roughage component of a diet.  They make great feed, are palatable and result in
good intake.  They are hard to come by up nort' and can be more expensive than other local roughage sources, but work great in a TMR.

The bean meal is a protein source high in lysine and is perfect for a swine diet, but be careful with mixing loose bean meal into a bovine TMR as I have had palatability and intake problems when fed loose.  I would suggest using a pelleted supplement that contains bean meal such as the 32% Baby Beef from Kent as a protein source or adding liquid molasses to improve intake.

AAOK has posted his show calf mix on here before and it is a good one, but does include cottonseed hulls and loose bean meal.  I have changed it to use ground ear corn in place of the shell corn and cottonseed hulls.  Calves eat it well and look good.

 

[AAOK]

Here it is again.

I have had so many requests for my Feed Program, that the ration is attached to the whole process.  We feed this ration to baby calves as early as two months, show heifers, show steers, breeding bulls, and as our winter protein supplement for the cows.  Our biggest success is being able to wean and fit show heifers for sale or show at four months of age.
Here it is:

ASKLUND ACRES program for feeding show calves.
www.clubcalves.com/asklundhome.htm

1.  Calves should be fed twice a day, the same time each day. Optimum is 6:00am & 6:00pm.

2.  Calves should be haltered and tied next to each other.... close enough to see each other eat, but far enough apart to not be able to reach one another's feed.

3.  After 15 minutes, they should be pulled from their feed, and the feed cleaned up.
(this teaches them to eat all their food quickly. Sure comes in handy at shows)

4.  Measure feed by pounds, not scoops.  They should eat 10 - 15 pounds of feed, twice daily, depending on the size of the calf.

5.  Make hay or pasture available year round.  I recommend small area containment from morning feeding to evening feeding, rinsing, brushing and showmanship work.

6.  Turn into larger area pasture with hay or grass for the night.  Make sure there is plenty of room to exercise.

Now here is our ration, per ton

1200 lbs. cracked corn
400 lbs. cotton seed hulls
200 lbs. steam rolled oats
100 lbs. soy bean meal
100 lbs. molasses

I top dress each calf 1 oz. per feeding Moorman's #168AU medicated mineral(the #s have changed, but this is the Standard Range mineral + Aureomycin).  A quality mineral is essential.  On the occasional need for a fat additive, I use ADM's Healthy Glo.  This is a 100% extruded rice bran developed for Race Horses.  1 pound per head per day.  It will increase muscle, hair & quality of hair coat.

That's our feed program. It has remained unchanged since 1996, and we have never had any breeding problems.
Dan Asklund
Ada, OK