Feeding Weaned Calves

[CowboyRam]

This year is my first year weaning my calves before I sell them. What is everyone feeding their weaned calves.

I started out feeding some third cutting alfalfa; it was washed out some due to getting rained and snowed on before I was able to get into the bale. I have also been giving them the Sweet-pro cattle Kandy. Some of my calves have shitty back ends. I read somewhere on here not to feed third cutting to calves; I think it was because it has to much protein. Dad thinks it is due to them eating to much mineral. I just switched them over to 2nd cutting hay today. The calves are eating about a pound per day of the mineral. I could sure use some advisement on this situation.

Jay

 

[MurraysMutts]

I'm not familiar with cattle candy

But alfalfa free choice can be very rich and cause messy poop. I liken it to running calves on wheat. Them suckers will squirt a mile when they poop!! Liquid green. Need to slow em down. I've seen folks running calves on wheat and keeping big round bales of straw out!!
They eat it. It slows em down a bit. And they grow!
Good/medium quality hay and creep feed is what I've used. Using now actually on some bought calves. They are doing well.

 

[sstterry]

The calves are eating about a pound per day of the mineral. I could sure use some advisement on this situation.

Jay

I am not going to say yes or no to this because there are those on here more knowledgeable than me. But 1lb of mineral per calf per day seems pretty high.

 

[bird dog]

One lb a day is about right according to this. I would imagine the high protein from the hay and this products giving them the messy rear ends.

Some cheap low protein grass hay would do just as well if you have anything like that.

Cattle Kandi™ - SweetPro

Cattle Kandi™ is the SweetPro® Stage of Growth cattle product typically used for stock calves (600-700 lbs) when they go out to pasture in the spring or fall. Cattle Kandi can also be used on backgrounding calves in a dry lot situation where they are being fed a high roughage ration. Cattle...

www.sweetpro.com

 

[sstterry]

One lb a day is about right according to this. I would imagine the high protein from the hay and this products giving them the messy rear ends.

Some cheap low protein grass hay would do just as well if you have anything like that.

Cattle Kandi™ - SweetPro

Cattle Kandi™ is the SweetPro® Stage of Growth cattle product typically used for stock calves (600-700 lbs) when they go out to pasture in the spring or fall. Cattle Kandi can also be used on backgrounding calves in a dry lot situation where they are being fed a high roughage ration. Cattle...

www.sweetpro.com

My mistake, I assumed he means loose mineral in addition to the "cattle kandy."

 

[TCRanch]

The weaners I just sold were on brome bales, appx. 1.6 lbs. of 20% cubes/range nuggets a day (cow candy or cow crack, @MurraysMutts), loose mineral with CTC, a 30% protein tub available and whatever native prairie they wanted to graze. But they've been munching on cubes since they were a few months old, so not a huge transition and no messy behinds. Weaned at 6 - 7.5 months old for 60 days. Avg. weight of the majority of the steers was 754 lbs., 3 small steers 660 lbs., large heifers 734 lbs., small heifers 634 lbs.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Old timey pre TMR ration was usually alfalfa grass mix hay (mostly for protein and fiber) and ground corn supplement (mostly for energy and ionophore).

 

[CowboyRam]

My mistake, I assumed he means loose mineral in addition to the "cattle kandy."

No, the calves are not getting any loose mineral; I am just feeding the Cattle Kandy and alfalfa hay. I just started feed some second cutting today, I could feed them some first cutting, but it is a little more stemy than the second. Both got put up with no rain.

 

[CowboyRam]

Not all the calves have a messy backside.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Not all the calves have a messy backside.

Are you feeding once a day? twice a day? Same feeding time every day?

 

[CowboyRam]

Are you feeding once a day? twice a day? Same feeding time every day?

Once a day at about the same time every day.

 

[Dave]

We gave them free choice grass hay for the first 4 days in a corral. Then turned out hay field regrowth with salt and minerals. Around day 30 the grass was getting thin. 150 calves got one big square bale of grass hay (1,100+/-) a day and they started with Anipro tubs (liquid protein).
35 purchased calves (some were previously weaned and some weren't) get all the grass hay they will clean up, 2 pounds cracked corn, and a 20% protein tub. These calves averaged 365 pounds a purchase. Normally I limit feed alfalfa as their protein source but hay is real expensive and scarce here this year. In a normal year they would get about 3 pounds of alfalfa every other day.

 

[BC]

The Cattle Kandi is not a mineral block. Look at the label. It is 18% crude protein. It and the alfalfa is providing too much protein and that is causing the loose bowels.

 

[CowboyRam]

The Cattle Kandi is not a mineral block. Look at the label. It is 18% crude protein. It and the alfalfa is providing too much protein and that is causing the loose bowels.

Thanks, That is what I was thinking. I know I remember reading something similar to what you said on one of the other post, just don't remember what one. Unfortunately I don't have any grass hay; I have already switched to my second cutting hay, maybe I should switch them to first cutting, it would have more grass in it.

 

[angus9259]

I am the fella who was feeding alfalfa hay on a different thread and they had the squirts. It turns out I think what they needed was some time. It takes some some (I think) for their gut to adjust after weaning. So I'm feeding alfalfa still (it's all I have) and they've come around nicely - stools are MUCH better.

That alfalfa thread also suggested I add some shell corn, which I'm just starting to do now as well. All that said, my preference is to feed some soft grass hay (not first cut stalky stuff) with oats (which can be expensive) - especially on animals I'm retaining so they don't get fat. I might be tempted to add some corn if I was wanting to push them faster. I think the alfalfa for me is going to work out though and may be even better with a bit of shell corn as suggested in the other thread.

 

[CowboyRam]

I am the fella who was feeding alfalfa hay on a different thread and they had the squirts. It turns out I think what they needed was some time. It takes some some (I think) for their gut to adjust after weaning. So I'm feeding alfalfa still (it's all I have) and they've come around nicely - stools are MUCH better.

That alfalfa thread also suggested I add some shell corn, which I'm just starting to do now as well. All that said, my preference is to feed some soft grass hay (not first cut stalky stuff) with oats (which can be expensive) - especially on animals I'm retaining so they don't get fat. I might be tempted to add some corn if I was wanting to push them faster. I think the alfalfa for me is going to work out though and may be even better with a bit of shell corn as suggested in the other thread.

That could be, they just need some time to adjust. Not all of mine have the squirts. I don't have any bunks to feed corn, so all I can feed at this time is the sweet pro tubs and alfalfa hay. I have been thinking of replanting that field that the calves are in to grass, but I am not sure when that is going to happen. I will just continue what I am doing then.

 

[Dave]

Here is a feed bunk that a person can make pretty cheap that is nearly indestructible. 4 old junk tires free from a tire store (use 16 inch pickup tires), a 2x12, two 2x6's, a couple 1 foot pieces of 2x4, and some nuts and bolts. I have made them in 12 and 16 foot lengths.

 

[TCRanch]

That could be, they just need some time to adjust. Not all of mine have the squirts. I don't have any bunks to feed corn, so all I can feed at this time is the sweet pro tubs and alfalfa hay. I have been thinking of replanting that field that the calves are in to grass, but I am not sure when that is going to happen. I will just continue what I am doing then.

How many calves? You could dump the corn on top of the sweet pro tubs, use the empty ones, or on a bed of hay.

 

[MurraysMutts]

I think I'd just take the tub away. They don't need that much protein. The alfalfa SHOULD provide all the protein they need.

Remove protein tub, add loose mineral.
Done...

 

[J+ Cattle]

You can also use 55 gallon closed top plastic barrels, cut them using a jigsaw following the seam from when they were molded. This is a cut from top to bottom lengthwise, use some small bolts and put the two halves together. Drill some drain holes in them and you have a cheap feed bunk.