feed for calves

[Anonymous]

I am trying to fatten up calves. I have been feeding them creep feed from a feeder, but they don't seem to be getting any fatter than if I feed them hay. Is there a product I can get that will make them grow faster and fatter? The calves are various breeds and weights.

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[Anonymous]

Dont let them get fat. Buyers dont like fat cattle. They are more than likely growing and putting on weight. What weight cattle are you feeding? They're conversion is probably 6-7 to 1#. They dont need to be overfed. Hay and grain works well for us.

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[Anonymous]

> Dont let them get fat. Buyers dont
> like fat cattle. They are more
> than likely growing and putting on
> weight. What weight cattle are you
> feeding? They're conversion is
> probably 6-7 to 1#. They dont need
> to be overfed. Hay and grain works
> well for us.

The calves range in size, from 150 to 300 pounds. I have twenty of them and have been feeding them for about 4 months. I've been using feed store creep feed in a free flow feeder as well as allowing them to eat pasture grass. I have heard of people feeding for about 4 months and then having enough weigt on them to sell. Mine just don't appear to be gaining other than at a normal rate as though I hadn't been feeding them. Do you suggest any particular types of grain? Also, showing my ignorance, what is 6-7 to 1#?

Thanks for the help.

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[Anonymous]

> The calves range in size, from 150
> to 300 pounds. I have twenty of
> them and have been feeding them
> for about 4 months. I've been
> using feed store creep feed in a
> free flow feeder as well as
> allowing them to eat pasture
> grass. I have heard of people
> feeding for about 4 months and
> then having enough weigt on them
> to sell. Mine just don't appear to
> be gaining other than at a normal
> rate as though I hadn't been
> feeding them. Do you suggest any
> particular types of grain? Also,
> showing my ignorance, what is 6-7
> to 1#?

> Thanks for the help. Give them 6 to 8 lbs of feed per day per animal. Its very stressful weining calves, especially that young. You may can find something cheaper than feed store feed in your area. We suppiment corn while on grazing this time of year. They may need deworming. Keep them healthy and eating.

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[Anonymous]

The real question is what is their weight in relation to their age. Most of the show cattle I saw at the National Western this year were in the 3 to 3.5 WDA(Weight per Day of Age) range. Steers and bulls will have a higher WDA than heifers. For creep feed we use Range Cubes. These are a combination of alfalfa, mollasses, corn, sunflower and wheat. The cubes we buy are 14% protein but you can get these as 7%. We are fortunate as a local elevator produces these on site. The cost is around $8.50 cwt(hundred weight). Our elevator will deliver but you can buy what you want in the back of a pickup. (Be careful these are heavy. A pickup filled to the top of the box can weigh 3,000 lbs. That is about 3 times what a 1/2 ton pickup should haul.)

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