Corn, my dad, and old school feeding

[Bonsman]

Does anybody have some good links for some research concerning feeding straight rolled corn during the winter to breeding stock? For some reason, my dad feeds rolled corn to all his cows/bulls/calves during the winter. They also get plenty of high grade alfalfa. He warms them up by feeding very little corn and then builds up the amount as it gets colder. I refuse to feed corn to my seedstock. I use 20% breeders cubes, alfalfa, minerals, salt, protien tubs, and some blue stem that we baled.

It seems like I read (or heard) something that said feeding too much corn can have an adverse affect on bulls. His cows are as fat as a "town dog" but I am scared to feed the rolled corn to my bulls.

Does anyone have any comments or links to research on the effect of feeding straight rolled corn to breeding stock?

Thanks

 

[angus9259]

Research? No. Experience? Yes. I used to feed ground corn and baby beef to my developing bulls. Then I spoke with a beef nutritionist about wanting to develop bulls without getting them fat to prevent feet and frame problems. He said my previous approach was "old school" and worked me up a pellet based in wheat mids. It's been great so far. That said, I also had him adjust that by putting salt in it to reduce intake by 20% as I still felt they were getting fatter than I like. The pellet eliminated the need for protein tubs and mineral as well since it was all in there and allowed me to used very stalky and low quality hay which I had plenty of. The cows don't get anything unless the hay quality gets too bad then they get protein tubs. If you're feeding alfalfa I can't see as you'd need the breeders cubes or the protein tubs. If I have good second or third cutting like I do this year I haven't put the pellets out at all. They are getting a protein/bovatec tub though but mostly to deal with coccidiosis.

 

[msscamp]

Does anybody have some good links for some research concerning feeding straight rolled corn during the winter to breeding stock? For some reason, my dad feeds rolled corn to all his cows/bulls/calves during the winter. They also get plenty of high grade alfalfa. He warms them up by feeding very little corn and then builds up the amount as it gets colder. I refuse to feed corn to my seedstock. I use 20% breeders cubes, alfalfa, minerals, salt, protien tubs, and some blue stem that we baled.

It seems like I read (or heard) something that said feeding too much corn can have an adverse affect on bulls. His cows are as fat as a "town dog" but I am scared to feed the rolled corn to my bulls.

Does anyone have any comments or links to research on the effect of feeding straight rolled corn to breeding stock?

Thanks

I'm not a nutritionist, and I can't direct you to any fancy websites that claim to have all the answers, but I would imagine that your Dad feeds rolled corn because of its energy content, and because the protein content is low enough that it complements good quality alfalfa hay very nicely. It's also usually readily available from neighbors or feed stores, and usually doesn't carry the price tag all the fancy pellets, cubes, and custom mixes, etc., do. Old school? I don't think so. Feeding corn - whether cracked, ground, whole, or rolled - has been done for hundreds of years, and will continue to be done for hundreds of more years because it works. Corn can be customized to fit any feeding program - from growing out calves, to finishing steers - and can obtain any results desired simply by controlling the amount fed. Perhaps you should be asking yourself why you're so adverse to feeding corn instead of finding fault with your Dad for feeding it. I don't mean to ruffle your feathers, but I learned some time back that my elders usually have a very good reason for doing things the way they do.

 

[TexasBred]

Nothing much to add to Msscamp's post other than to say if you're feeding 20% cubes you don't need the tubs. And I wouldn't pay the extra money for steam rolled corn although I did use to feed it to dairy cattle. Paid for a lot of water in the process.

 

[Bonsman]

Does anybody have some good links for some research concerning feeding straight rolled corn during the winter to breeding stock? For some reason, my dad feeds rolled corn to all his cows/bulls/calves during the winter. They also get plenty of high grade alfalfa. He warms them up by feeding very little corn and then builds up the amount as it gets colder. I refuse to feed corn to my seedstock. I use 20% breeders cubes, alfalfa, minerals, salt, protien tubs, and some blue stem that we baled.

It seems like I read (or heard) something that said feeding too much corn can have an adverse affect on bulls. His cows are as fat as a "town dog" but I am scared to feed the rolled corn to my bulls.

Does anyone have any comments or links to research on the effect of feeding straight rolled corn to breeding stock?

Thanks

I'm not a nutritionist, and I can't direct you to any fancy websites that claim to have all the answers, but I would imagine that your Dad feeds rolled corn because of its energy content, and because the protein content is low enough that it complements good quality alfalfa hay very nicely. It's also usually readily available from neighbors or feed stores, and usually doesn't carry the price tag all the fancy pellets, cubes, and custom mixes, etc., do. Old school? I don't think so. Feeding corn - whether cracked, ground, whole, or rolled - has been done for hundreds of years, and will continue to be done for hundreds of more years because it works. Corn can be customized to fit any feeding program - from growing out calves, to finishing steers - and can obtain any results desired simply by controlling the amount fed. Perhaps you should be asking yourself why you're so adverse to feeding corn instead of finding fault with your Dad for feeding it. I don't mean to ruffle your feathers, but I learned some time back that my elders usually have a very good reason for doing things the way they do.

You are not ruffling my feathers. I am simply asking for information; and you provided me with some very good information concerning how corn complements good quality alfalfa for breeding stock. I did not know that. I am 55 years old and never too old to learn. Feeding rolled corn is something that we have never done until the past 7-8 years; and nobody in our part of the country does it except us.

That said, I asked a bad question. You told me about breeding stock which is exactly what I asked; but my more specific question was about feeding too much corn to bulls and whether it could have adverse affects on their reproduction system.

I did not do a very good job asking the question; and I certainly did not mean any disrespect towards my father.

 

[angus9259]

Specifically regarding the reproductive system, it all depends on if you get the bulls fat with the corn - especially at an early age. If fat deposits in the testicles it can adversely affect them.

Not that you asked, but getting a bull fat can also affect their feet and breedability in mechanical and longevity ways that might even be more significant than testicular fat.

But corn, by itself, should cause no harm.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I feed a little corn screening once or twice a week to get cows into the corral. Corn screenings costs the same as average hay here - - 3.0 to 3.5 cents/lb. If my breeding stock can not winter on 99% hay they need a new home. I have four yearling bulls in a pen and they are on upland hay.

I don't know how you can afford to buy corn grain at today's prices, the feed values have not changed but the economics is old school. Skip the tubs and the grain, considering by products if you are short on protein. I fed DDG with straw for a while last winter.

 

[TexasBred]

Corn should not hurt your bulls as long as you're not overfeeding. You're using it primarily as an energy source. If the bulls utilize most of the energy just for their own maintenance there will be very little excess to be utilized for growth and/or gain. Dairy bulls often get 30 lbs. per head per day of a good high quality grain "mix" every day but seldom get fat. They will grow, put on some weight but staying busy utilizes most of the caloric intake.

 

[herefor-hereford]

Feed dealers have a tendency to put out their propaganda in order to sell feed. Use as much feed that you produce as you can. Processing and putting it into bags is expensive.

 

[bannedagain]

I feed a little corn screening once or twice a week to get cows into the corral. Corn screenings costs the same as average hay here - - 3.0 to 3.5 cents/lb. If my breeding stock can not winter on 99% hay they need a new home. I have four yearling bulls in a pen and they are on upland hay.

I don't know how you can afford to buy corn grain at today's prices, the feed values have not changed but the economics is old school. Skip the tubs and the grain, considering by products if you are short on protein. I fed DDG with straw for a while last winter.

Those 3 cent corn screenings can't be very good quality. Otherwise taking a 7 cent loss on a product doesn't pencil out well.

 

[Bonsman]

Thanks for the helpful comments. It just goes to show that once a person figures out how to ask the question, he can get some very helpful information on this board. :clap: