Does creep feeding pay?

[Anonymous]

The age old question. Would you try to limit them or just let them eat full feed? Think they will get too fleshly? Does it really hurt replacement heifers? I know I'm full of questions. Any thoughts or actual experiences would be very helpful. Thanks so much!

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[Anonymous]

> The age old question. Would you
> try to limit them or just let them
> eat full feed? Think they will get
> too fleshly? Does it really hurt
> replacement heifers? I know I'm
> full of questions. Any thoughts or
> actual experiences would be very
> helpful. Thanks so much!

If you'r selling feeders no! it does'nt pay to creep feed the cost of feed is not ofset by the gain the real value is at the feed lot, these calves will on average gain better than calves not creep fed "but" the feed lot will not pay more for calves creep fed

keeper calves and heifers do better if limited creep fed

heifers will develope better and make better cows

someone else will have another view 0r have another way thats the beauty of farming

regards Art (red country farms)

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[Anonymous]

> The age old question. Would you
> try to limit them or just let them
> eat full feed? Think they will get
> too fleshly? Does it really hurt
> replacement heifers? I know I'm
> full of questions. Any thoughts or
> actual experiences would be very
> helpful. Thanks so much!

Go to <A HREF="http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/beef/" TARGET="_blank">http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/beef/</A> for some good info.

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[Anonymous]

> If you'r selling feeders no! it
> does'nt pay to creep feed the cost
> of feed is not ofset by the gain
> the real value is at the feed lot,
> these calves will on average gain
> better than calves not creep fed
> "but" the feed lot will
> not pay more for calves creep fed

> keeper calves and heifers do
> better if limited creep fed

> heifers will develope better and
> make better cows

> someone else will have another
> view 0r have another way thats the
> beauty of farming

> regards Art (red country farms)

good question i peroanally don't think so i would rather have a cow that can put the wieght on the calf. i would rather concentrate on the cow rather than trying to feed the calf to help compensate. then you have to look at calving season too, spring or fall. in winter time you are feeding anyway and you can make a place to creepfeed calves seperate and take some of the strain off of the cows in severe weather. i live in the south we don't have hard winters so it is only on occasion that it gets rough. we try to feed less and stockpile forage for winter i graze until mid november. in summer it gets dry sometimes.

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[Anonymous]

> good question i peroanally don't
> think so i would rather have a cow
> that can put the wieght on the
> calf. i would rather concentrate
> on the cow rather than trying to
> feed the calf to help compensate.
> then you have to look at calving
> season too, spring or fall. in
> winter time you are feeding anyway
> and you can make a place to
> creepfeed calves seperate and take
> some of the strain off of the cows
> in severe weather. i live in the
> south we don't have hard winters
> so it is only on occasion that it
> gets rough. we try to feed less
> and stockpile forage for winter i
> graze until mid november. in
> summer it gets dry sometimes.

the cow herd is under roof from mid nov to end of may

there is no extra room etc. barn #3 has 198 animals

96 are aug to oct calves they eat round bale silage from a 85ft feeder both sides

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[Anonymous]

I would rather buy calves that are used to eating they are easier weaned and get sick less.(i feed my calves)But the problem is that alot of cattle are bought to graze pasture land and the buyers do not want the extra flesh that usually comes with creep fed calves.If I am feeding a cow through the winter anyway I can't see adding more cost to the process.But it may be a wash the calves are heavier but they will probably be docked if they are too fleshy.

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[Anonymous]

> The age old question. Would you
> try to limit them or just let them
> eat full feed? Think they will get
> too fleshly? Does it really hurt
> replacement heifers? I know I'm
> full of questions. Any thoughts or
> actual experiences would be very
> helpful. Thanks so much! Well it definitely pays cause you are putting on each pound for .28-.35 cents and selling it for .85-1.00 cents not to mention it takes alot of stress off of the cow and pasture and they are eating when you wean them which prevents them from getting sick and if they did you would have a way easier time getting them to eat some antibiotic. I am telling you this as a cow/calf man. If I were going to tell you as a feedlot man(which I am both) I will tell you that I would way rather buy skinny cattle that are going to have a lot of compensatory gain but that is strictly my benefit not yours. Also if you have good growing cattle you should be able to full feed them until you wean them and they will hardly be fleshy at all, but once you wean them alot of their "easy growth" is gone and you will need to slow down. I know guys who keep cattle on a self feeder their whole lives and they are finished in fourteen months and they get top dollar at the salebarn, but these cattle could be weighing another hundred pounds if they had been slowed down but they are 1250 and look real finished instead of thirteen and real finished but they are way ahead of schedule