Feeder and cow ration

[wbenchfarms]

We finish out about 20-30 head a year for our freezer beef business, and run about 30 cows. I usually come up with a ration to feed both the feedlot and supplement the cow herd. The best gains I have ever had was using a steer stuffer with a ration that included soy hull pellets and no additional hay. The stuffer needs some work before I use it, so we are bucket feeding steers right now. We are feeding 12.5-13 lbs/hd/day of the following mix, along with free choice hay. Quantities are on a 3 ton mix.

FEEDING SHEET FOR: 6000 LB BATCH

FEED NAME % AS Mixed POUNDS
CORN 70.0000 4200.00
DISTILLERS GRAINS 16.6667 1000.00
SOYBEAN MEAL, HEATED 8.3333 500.00
A&M 8% P All Purpose Mineral 1.6667 100.00
LIMESTONE 38% 0.8333 50.00
MOLASSES 2.5000 150.00

It is a 15.66% CP, 0.65 NEg, 83.53% TDN on a DM basis. Ration is costing about $240/ton, but should be going down some once I get my corn back in the bin. Steers are Longhorn, 400-500 lbs. I have had gains over 3 lbs/day on a steer stuffer. The last round of steers I had on feed for 180 days I struggled to hit 2 lbs/day. I'm not sure what I should be doing differently to up my gains when bucket feeding.

I'm also feeding this as a supplement to a group of 8 pairs and 7 bred cows, about 100 lbs per day to the group. We check this pasture 2x a day, and usually feed 50 lbs am and pm. Not sure if I should put out the entire 100 lbs once a day to allow the more timid cows more time to eat, or keep up what I'm doing. I need to send in some hoy samples, but from historic sampling, the hay that we're feeding is usually around 8% CP. I have had better luck with supplementing cows, better calves, and hoping to stretch some of my hay supply.

I posted this in another forum, but thought I'd try for some suggestions from the folks here. Any comments welcomed.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Protein looks a tad high for finishing. Can you dial it back as they grow?

Usually cheaper to feed a little better hay than to supplement cows. Is that an option?

 

[wbenchfarms]

We can back the protein off as they finish, in fact, I would rather do that since my corn is cheaper than SBM. But, one thing that I have found is that with Longhorns it seems that a little higher protein helps them finish a little bigger than without. Not sure if it's due to the fact they are later maturing and I am trying to have them finished before 30 months, and the extra protein helps with some growth or not.

I have started leaving calves on the cows over the winter until they are older. I had been weaning in October, and with the way our weather has been the past couple of years, I always have to treat sick calves. This past year I treated 0. It does pull the cows down some, but it seems like I have better/bigger calves overall doing it this way. It's also easier so that I don't have to winter calves in a feedlot pen, I can leave them out on pasture. We make all our own hay, and sometimes quality isn't ideal. However, the cost of the hay and supplement we raise vs. buying better hay looks to be a wash.

I'm wondering if the hay in my ration is what is limiting my gains? I had someone else comment that rumen pH would be all over the place since it's a starch based diet, and that limit feeding hay may help. I'm also wondering if adding soyhull pellets back into the ration and pulling the hay would be a better option. Just trying to figure out what's going to give the best return.

 

[KAstocker]

If they eat 2 lbs of hay and you're feeding 13 lbs/hd/d, that's 7.5 f:g ratio if they gain 2 lbs/d. I don't know if longhorns would do much better than that.