Feed per pound of gain

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I was listening to Superior Auction. The auctioneer would say "feed per pound of gain." What does this mean and if it means just what it says how do you go about figuring it.
 
Feed per pound of gain (Feed Conversion) means exactly what it says. How much feed it took for an animal to put on a pound of weight.

You figure it out by taking the total pounds of feed fed to an animal and dividing it by the amount of weight the animal put on over a given period of time.

It will vary by the type of feed fed, and the type of cattle. Some feeds put weight on faster than others, and some cattle gain weight faster than others.
 
8:1 - Average (Limousin)
6:1 - Very Good (Charolais)
4:1 - Excellent (Angus)
2:1 - Fantastic (Hereford)

Enjoy :cowboy:
 
Aaron":46mbm5jy said:
8:1 - Average (Limousin)
6:1 - Very Good (Charolais)
4:1 - Excellent (Angus)
2:1 - Fantastic (Hereford)

Enjoy :cowboy:

I don't think I have ever heard of a 2:1 conversion gain/feed efficiency (FE). Here's an article with some recent Hereford data showing FE to be between 5 and 6 lbs of feed per lb of gain.

There are many other variables that affect FE also such as temperature and environment, initial weight/size, type of feed, non-feed intake (hay or grazing), breed (as Aron mentioned) etc.

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Cattle_Bre ... tID=259581
 
dcara":2bmkq78x said:
Aaron":2bmkq78x said:
8:1 - Average (Limousin)
6:1 - Very Good (Charolais)
4:1 - Excellent (Angus)
2:1 - Fantastic (Hereford)

Enjoy :cowboy:

I don't think I have ever heard of a 2:1 conversion gain/feed efficiency (FE). Here's an article with some recent Hereford data showing FE to be between 5 and 6 lbs of feed per lb of gain.

There are many other variables that affect FE also such as temperature and environment, initial weight/size, type of feed, non-feed intake (hay or grazing), breed (as Aron mentioned) etc.

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Cattle_Bre ... tID=259581

There was a purebred Herf yearling bull in the U of Montana test last year consigned by a fellow in South Dakota that had a FE of 1.88:1. Of course it's not the norm...but it is amazing. I would like to see more genetic tests to determine the heritability of such a trait. :cowboy:
 

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