Have to agree with pricefarm. The self feeder in it's self is not the problem. However, you are looking at a holstein eating a good amount more feed compared to a beef animal for the weight gain. Due to the physiology of the body, breed influence, a dairy animal of any breed will eat a proportionately greater amount of feed in order to grow bone and size before putting on any significant amount of meat(muscle). Most all the farmers that have raised dairy beef here, meaning 90% raising holstein steers, are former dairy farmers or from dairy backgrounds. They understand the needs and growth of holsteins. I do not know any of them that have self feeders. Most are raised on a combination of silage, hay, and concentrates to supply needed vitamins and minerals for growth. Diets heavier in corn come along towards the end of the feeding period to the finishing.
I personally am not in favor of self feeders for concentrates. Just me. I like to take the time to walk through my animals when I have put feed into the feeders and they come in for it. Check them over and make sure there are no problems, like sore feet, cuts, big or hard udders on cows, scours or anything out of the ordinary on the calves. Observation goes a long way to making sure an animal is "doing good".
Also, a little hay to keep them fuller is not a good recipe. Any great amount of concentrates, like a self feeder, must be BALANCED with proper protein and other needs of the animal. Silage feeding is somewhat like a self feeder, but if you don't add what is lacking in the silage, the animals will not grow properly or gain economically. ACIDOSIS is very common in dairy cattle, and just corn and some protein and some hay to keep them fuller can result in a disaster.
I am not trying to shoot down something that you want to do. But just understand that feeding out dairy breed animals is different and more costly than beef and that there are many small pitfalls that can result in a big train wreck. And with the cost return of dairy beef, unless you are in an area that there is a good market for them, you will not make money on them.
With the continuing dairy - milk - crisis, there will be alot of dairy cows going to slaughter in the next year. If prices do not turn around soon, there will be alot of dairy farmers getting out = alot of dairy beef flooding the market = and then prices will sink even further. The next year or so is going to be very sketchy for anyone in or doing any farming in anything related to dairy; including raising steers. There are 2 different ones here that have quit raising dairy steers here, and they were feeding out several hundred a year. Not profitable.
