Cracked or Whole corn..

[jmbadavis]

when feeding market beef (or in my case dairy steers) which do you prefer cracked or whole corn? Why? Looking for opinions.

 

[ChrisB]

I feed whole corn, the biggest reason being it's easier.

If you do a search on here, you should be able to find where this has been debated several times before. But to sum things up; usually the benefit of cracking or grinding the corn does not pay for the cost of doing it.

 

[bigbull338]

when feeding market beef (or in my case dairy steers) which do you prefer cracked or whole corn? Why? Looking for opinions.

first if your already feeding corn.id look at their manure to see if they are passing whole undigested corn.if theres alot then they arnt digesting as much as they could/or you are feeding alot of corn.when you crack corn they can digest an use more of it.not leave whole corn in the manure pile.

 

[hayray]

when feeding market beef (or in my case dairy steers) which do you prefer cracked or whole corn? Why? Looking for opinions.

I feed whole corn for the same reason as Chris B says. Feeding cracked corn can increase efficiency 5-10% but also increases intake above what you need if on full feed so then you end up paying more money for corn. As far as seeing whole corn passing through in the manure you see just as much cracked corn passing through as you do whole corn in cattle fed whole corn. The digestion removes starch from the kernal and it is not necessary to crack the kernal to get the starch out. There is plenty of research on this, just google feeding whole shelled corn and alot of info. comes up. For me buying a grinder mixer and going through all that extra work and expense certainly would not pay off.

 

[Limomike]

I ask why feed corn? Why not creep or something like that, if you are preparing them for market?

 

[KS Cattle]

I feed cracked corn because i mix it with accuration from Purina.

 

[swede]

well it dosent really matter because they get all the nutrients from both. even though they might not digest the whole corn they still get the nutrients.

 

[movin' on]

I just love that old-fashioned arguement.....whole corn passes through without being used and the fact that there are whole kernels present in the manure makes it so. Hayray nailed it when he pointed out that an inspection of the manure from cattle that are fed cracked corn will reveal...well...cracked corn! It's funny how a lot of people don't seem to grasp that.

 

[novatech]

The birds like it cracked. :lol:

 

[Moocow11]

cracked because they can digest it better and you get more bang for your buck or you could sock it in water for 1 or 2 hours

 

[jt]

like someone said this has been on here several times, and i have asked about this before. what i have been able to find out from on these boards and reading about it in other places is they get almost as much out of whole as cracked corn. if it is worth about 8% to crack it then crack it, but to me it is not worth it.

think about it like this.. cows get fat off of eating grass seed that has gone to a head. it goes thru them whole too, and will sprout as will the whole corn sprout when it goes thru them whole. to each his own, but to me it is not worth cracking it.

jmo

jt

 

[Moocow11]

ok then take 2 calves and feed them cracked corn an dtwo calves and feed them whole corn and then look at their stool and see which one has more corn left in it

 

[jt]

ok then take 2 calves and feed them cracked corn an dtwo calves and feed them whole corn and then look at their stool and see which one has more corn left in it

that has been discussed on these boards too.

jt

 

[dun]

ok then take 2 calves and feed them cracked corn an dtwo calves and feed them whole corn and then look at their stool and see which one has more corn left in it

They'll both have the same amount, you just won;t be able to see the cracked corn as well.
If you don;t want to see it, grind the corn. It will still be there but it will be pretty muc invisible.

dun

 

[Bez>]

Every time this topic comes up - seems almost every three months or so - I start to laugh.

Both work fine so save your money and do not grind - but if you want to spend the money - that is fine too.

Each to his own.

8)

Bez>

 

[Tod Dague]

ok then take 2 calves and feed them cracked corn an dtwo calves and feed them whole corn and then look at their stool and see which one has more corn left in it

I've had bulls gaining better than 4 lb./ day using shell corn, a touch of soy meal, and free choice hay. I can see whole kernels of corn in their stool, so maybe I should cut out the corn and see what they can really do. ;-)

 

[somn]

Well here is something to think about when I was younger during the summer we hauled sweetcorn silage away from a canning factory. My first summer I ate sweet corn three times a day for three months vary rarely did I eat anything else. It was free and I used to like sweetcorn. I gained 7 pounds that summer it may have been from the butter. It may not have. But my point is regardless of how long I chewed the corn it still came out whole. Are you trying to tell me I never digested any of the corn and I was able to not only sustain my weight I was able to gain weight on three teaspoons of butter and a couple glasses of water a day. Trust me it may come out whole but it will be digested. Humans and cattle.

 

[Tod Dague]

Dun had posted a study a while back about which to feed to light weight calves. The study favored cracked corn for light weight calves. So it may depend on the size of the calves.

 

[Tod Dague]

Dun had posted a study a while back about which to feed to light weight calves. The study favored cracked corn for light weight calves. So it may depend on the size of the calves.

Here is the post from Dun.


Joined: 28 Dec 2003
Posts: 13082
Location: MO Ozarks
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 7:12 am

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Processed corn influences calf performance
By Dairy Herd staff (Tuesday, February 01, 2005)


What type of processed corn is best to include in calf starter? The answer is not clear-cut, according to research reported in the October 2004 Journal of Dairy Science.

Researchers at Penn State University arrived at this finding after comparing the effect of four different calf starters on starter intake, bodyweight gain, structural growth and rumen development. Calf-starter treatments contained either 33 percent whole corn, 33 percent dry-rolled corn, 33 percent roasted-rolled corn or 33 percent steam-flaked corn.

Calves fed starter containing whole corn or dry-rolled corn ate more calf starter per day during the six-week treatment period than calves fed the other two treatments. However, the increased intake did little to enhance bodyweight gain, structural growth or rumen development.

Conversely, calves fed steam-flaked corn ate the least amount of calf starter among the four treatment groups. However, they had the best rumen development.

The effect of roasted-rolled corn on bodyweight gain, feed efficiency and rumen development was similar to that observed in the other treatments. However, unlike the other processed-corn treatments, calves fed the roasted-rolled corn experienced increased structural growth.

The results show that all four types of processed corn impact calf performance to one degree or another. However, more work needs to be done before experts can agree on what type of processed corn is best to feed calves.

 

[CowgirlUpNY]

I once heard (don't know if it's accurate) that digesting whole corn creates more heat/energy for animals. However, we feed cracked.