Amount of salt

[Dixieangus]

So a few questions. One- if mixed with feed what is the maximum amount of salt a 250lb calf can eat, then as it ages like 350lb,450lb ect. Two- like when it says 14% protein pellets does that mean for every pound of feed there is .0028lbs of protein per pound? See what i am wanting to do is feed my calves cottonseed meal with salt (cotton seed meal is 40% protein). So see if i have figured this correctly..



I was feeding 50 pounds of 14% protein feed to 7 calves wich boils down to about 7 pounds per day /head..... so .0028% protein in a pound times 7 is .0196 pounds of protein per day/head...... 40% feed is .008 pound of protein per pound so .0196 divided by .008 equals 2.45.... so i would need 2.45 pounds of 40% to equal 7 pounds of 14%......just wanted to see if this would be correct.


And btw the calves are grazing rye and local grass about how many pounds of 14% should i feed per day to get them to gain a good bit of weight....or is 7 adequate?

Thanks in advance

 

[B&M Farms]

your figures on the protein per pound of feed are correct. The cottonseed meal probably will be a cheaper source of protein. The 7 pounds of 14 percent protein feed depends on what your doing with the calves and their weight. Im not sure about the salt, but if your feeding free choice feed and using salt as a limiter, i would start low.

 

[Dixieangus]

Im planning on feeding them out till about september or october and then selling them

 

[Kingfisher]

So a few questions. One- if mixed with feed what is the maximum amount of salt a 250lb calf can eat, then as it ages like 350lb,450lb ect. Two- like when it says 14% protein pellets does that mean for every pound of feed there is .0028lbs of protein per pound? See what i am wanting to do is feed my calves cottonseed meal with salt (cotton seed meal is 40% protein). So see if i have figured this correctly..



I was feeding 50 pounds of 14% protein feed to 7 calves wich boils down to about 7 pounds per day /head..... so .0028% protein in a pound times 7 is .0196 pounds of protein per day/head...... 40% feed is .008 pound of protein per pound so .0196 divided by .008 equals 2.45.... so i would need 2.45 pounds of 40% to equal 7 pounds of 14%......just wanted to see if this would be correct.


And btw the calves are grazing rye and local grass about how many pounds of 14% should i feed per day to get them to gain a good bit of weight....or is 7 adequate?

Thanks in advance

Why do you ask? I am just curious? Salt intake don't usually come up as a topic if your feeding some sort of mineral...Thanks in advance.

 

[JSCATTLE]

I creep my calves with cotton seed meal . I start them with pure meal for 2 weeks . Then slowly add salt . To around10, percent . More than 15percent can be harmful .I'm feeding 15 calves in one pasture they eating about 4 bags a week. Close to two pounds a head a day . I could back off the salt and get more gain but the cows are heavy milkers. Calves look good but. Not to fat. This works well for me but you may do your own test. When I first tested this method I took 30 pairs same bull and split them into two groups .creeped. one group not the other calves were born within 30 days . Creeped group weaned 40 pounds heavier . Average 2 pounds of consumption per head a day. Creeped for 120 days .

 

[Dixieangus]

im going to feed cottonseed meal (very pricey and high in protein) they only need a few pounds a piece so depending on oh much salt they eat is depending on how high to mix the feed....ex- if they can only eat .5lbs/a day and i want them to eat 2.5 pounds of cottonseed meal then i would need to mix it 1 to 5

 

[OLD DUSTY]

How much are you paying for cottenseed meal?

 

[TexasBred]

I wouldn't recommend anyone feed straight cottonseed meal to any animal. CSM is a protein source used to supplemnt other ingredients like corn, soyhulls, etc. etc. etc. and simply will not give you the gain you're looking for when fed alone because you have to limit the intake so much. As for salt intake, feed salt separately...just put some in a trough and let your calves eat what they want. If you're thinking about using salt as an intake limiter for a "range meal" you'll not get much gain either. Like trying to eat popcorn that is too salty. No matter how badly you want it you simply can't eat bush so much. As for salt being harmful, it can be but normally requires an intake well above 1 lb. per day to cause any concern and calves the size of yours will never eat that much. To calculate pounds of protein simply multiply the lbs. of the product fed by the crude protein value, ie; 14% pellet fed at 7 lbs. per day will yield .98 lbs. of crude protein. Keep in mind that perhaps that 14% feed is only 70% digestible, thus you have less than .70 lbs. of digestible protein.

 

[Dixieangus]

I wouldn't recommend anyone feed straight cottonseed meal to any animal. CSM is a protein source used to supplemnt other ingredients like corn, soyhulls, etc. etc. etc. and simply will not give you the gain you're looking for when fed alone because you have to limit the intake so much. As for salt intake, feed salt separately...just put some in a trough and let your calves eat what they want. If you're thinking about using salt as an intake limiter for a "range meal" you'll not get much gain either. Like trying to eat popcorn that is too salty. No matter how badly you want it you simply can't eat bush so much. As for salt being harmful, it can be but normally requires an intake well above 1 lb. per day to cause any concern and calves the size of yours will never eat that much. To calculate pounds of protein simply multiply the lbs. of the product fed by the crude protein value, ie; 14% pellet fed at 7 lbs. per day will yield .98 lbs. of crude protein. Keep in mind that perhaps that 14% feed is only 70% digestible, thus you have less than .70 lbs. of digestible protein.

Why not??? on the salt as a limiter....As i see it if i can mix it to where they get 2.5 pounds of csm then that would be the same as feeding 7lbs of 14%.....correct

 

[TexasBred]

The math is right. But if you really want them to have a nice weight gain you need to feed something with more energy and enough feed to at least give them some feeling of being satisfied. (full). If you're simply wanting to feed 14% protein using salt as a limiter that's fine. Your best result will be "limited feed intake". Living in and buying feed in the south, CSM will be your primary protein source in most cattle feeds anyway. Last time i priced cottonseed meal by the bag it was about $10 a bag....salt around $5.

 

[JSCATTLE]

Dixie do a Google search on creep feeding with cotton seed mean . Several university studies have been done to prove high protein such as csm feed at 3 to 5 pounds a day on a limited basis limited with salt is the only way creep feeding is profitable .12 to 14 percent pellets take from 9 to 14 pounds of intake for one pound of gain . Ie @ 1.12 a pound for the calf and .12 cents a pound for feed it loosening money .

 

[Aero]

pretty weird numbers you have there.

50 lbs of 14% protein per day yields 7 lbs of protein. (0.14 lb of protein per pound of feed)
7 lbs of protein from 40% meal requires 17.5 lbs fed. (7 / 0.4)

just looking at protein levels in feed is just as ridiculous as just looking at (1) trait in your animals. you wont gain much from it and you could help yourself and your animals by doing a little bit of reading. if you think you have read enough and this plan still sounds like a good one, you haven't read enough. when you audibly laugh out loud at yourself for wanting to implement this plan, you are getting somewhere.

 

[Dixieangus]

so no csm for me.....

 

[JSCATTLE]

If the calves have already been weaned . U may use the meal it add protein to there ration. I don't have much experience raising light weights. But I do know that it is useful from a creep feeding stand point . Because all u are trying to do is boost protien calves feel full from milk .

 

[TexasBred]

Dixie do a Google search on creep feeding with cotton seed mean . Several university studies have been done to prove high protein such as csm feed at 3 to 5 pounds a day on a limited basis limited with salt is the only way creep feeding is profitable .12 to 14 percent pellets take from 9 to 14 pounds of intake for one pound of gain . Ie @ 1.12 a pound for the calf and .12 cents a pound for feed it loosening money .

JS when you cut the CSM with salt to limit intake but do the math on it as well. Not all that cheap since salt has no very little nutritional value other than to supply sodium. As Aero said, lbs. of crude protein is NOT the only measure to use in trying to anticipate gain. The CSM/salt works good as a winter supplement primarily for mature cattle when when you're wanting to put gain on some calves you need calories and you're not going to get that with a mix that is from 25% to 35% salt. That mix very well might take 10-12 lbs for each pound of gain. A high quality complete feed should take only 6-7 lbs. for each pound of gain and IF it's a top quality feed will require even less. Why hand mix a feed that you plan to "limit feed" anyway when you can buy a more complete and better feed ready to feed??

 

[TexasBred]

If the calves have already been weaned . U may use the meal it add protein to there ration. I don't have much experience raising light weights. But I do know that it is useful from a creep feeding stand point . Because all u are trying to do is boost protien calves feel full from milk .

:bs: ever checked what the protein and fat is on "mama's milk"??

 

[JSCATTLE]

then y don't u tell me what the point of creep feeding is then ?????????

 

[JSCATTLE]

If the calves have already been weaned . U may use the meal it add protein to there ration. I don't have much experience raising light weights. But I do know that it is useful from a creep feeding stand point . Because all u are trying to do is boost protien calves feel full from milk .

:bs: ever checked what the protein and fat is on "mama's milk"??

I know for a fact it works I'm not like some on here that just puts there two cents in I've actually did feed test with 14% free choice and40 % csm and a control for 3, years to determine which worked best . But apparently that's not the right thing to do apparently just calling bs because you have more post is the way to go . This isn't my first rodeo no matter what the post count is . And I'm not a hobby farmer either ....

 

[TexasBred]

then y don't u tell me what the point of creep feeding is then ?????????

Maximum weight gain perhaps?? Meal/salt is more typically to supplement low quality hay and even more often for mature cattle. You can do much better for less money unless you're goal is to simply limit intake and settle for limited results. ;-) On the 3 year test how many head were in the test and what were the other feeds involved in the test and what was cost of gain for each trial?

 

[JSCATTLE]

Year one ...
40% limit fed 15 head 1.5 lbs per head per day
2700 lbs of feed 405 lbs of salt ..17 c per pound csm 5.50 $ per 50 salt
$459 csm +40.50 salt 499.50 total feed Sale price average 1.20 lb Average weight 565 Control weight 520 so + 45 lbs x 1.20 720 -499.5 profit 220.50
14% free choice.15 head 10 lbs per head per day 9 tons feed $2390 605 average weight 85 lbs x 1.14 1453.50 2390-1453.50 loss 936.50