We have brangus cattle. Just weaned some 300 to 400 lb calves. Want to take them to 550. How much feed and free hay should I give them. My feed is $220 a ton. What kind of gain should I expect. Trying to weigh weight gain and cost of gain (feed). Also looking at exploring stockers, same weight as above. I am located in southeast Texas.
Feeding my beef calves
- Thread starter stockbub
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TexasBred
Well-known member
How old were these calves that they weaned such "lighweights"?? The should get to 550 on mothers milk. What kind of feed are you getting for $220 a ton? That's cheap as dirt. Don't expect too much grain unless you feed plenty of it.stockbub":2vl15wqt said:
TennesseeTuxedo
Well-known member
Glad to see that you are back TB.
My thought is to sell the steers and retain the heifers. You all get some rain down that way and some Brangus heifers might be real valuable.
And right now light weights are selling so good if you are buying feed(which may or may not be of good quality)- it makes sense to sell the steers before you put much feed into them.
You want to grow retained heifers slower so it might fit in better with your feed situation.
I'd say if your hay/grass isn't that good you might need more protein than your feed has. And I wonder about energy with it being that cheap.
It may just be more of a filler feed that you just add some hay or grass to to keep rumen function going. So you could be feeding up to 10lbs of that /day and still not have huge gains.
It all really depends on whats in that feed. Have it tested . It doesn't cost that much and then you will really know what you are working with and be able to make sound decisions based on profit.
You can also look at the fiber content on the tag and that will give you a hint that you may have a filler feed.
And right now light weights are selling so good if you are buying feed(which may or may not be of good quality)- it makes sense to sell the steers before you put much feed into them.
You want to grow retained heifers slower so it might fit in better with your feed situation.
I'd say if your hay/grass isn't that good you might need more protein than your feed has. And I wonder about energy with it being that cheap.
It may just be more of a filler feed that you just add some hay or grass to to keep rumen function going. So you could be feeding up to 10lbs of that /day and still not have huge gains.
It all really depends on whats in that feed. Have it tested . It doesn't cost that much and then you will really know what you are working with and be able to make sound decisions based on profit.
You can also look at the fiber content on the tag and that will give you a hint that you may have a filler feed.
TexasBred
Well-known member
You'll not find what's in the feed with a typical feed test. Those only give values for requested items. Microscopic tests are more expensive and not a lot of labs mess with them.
Feed is custom mixed. They mix it on site and then pump it from mixer to super sacks or trailer. They mix 2 tons at a time . Material are corn, rice bran, cotton seed hulls, distillers grain, and two other ingrediants. Cool thing is you get to watch the actual ingredients being mixed in front of you. Only problem is the wait, but he said he would mix mine so all I have to do is pick them up . I know people feed free choice, but I wonder how much goes straight out the backside. He said he could add a couple hundred pounds of salt to slow them down. Feeding them twice daily. We are already friends. Everyone is calm so it will make loading them easier. There is about 20000 lbs of heifers and steers in this one group. Have another group around 10000 lbs. Would lobe to get them to a pot load. I am going to keep some heifers. I tested the market heifers sold for .30 less then steers. I thought it would have been closer.
Typical feed test is good enough.
There are some real good ingredients in there. Still can't even estimate its feed value without knowing how much of each and what the other two ingredients are. If its a custom mix you should be able to ask for the formula.
You have alot of money riding on your decisions- I personally would want to know what I am getting for my money. And have an idea how it would pay out feeding.And an idea of how much I should feed/head.
There are some real good ingredients in there. Still can't even estimate its feed value without knowing how much of each and what the other two ingredients are. If its a custom mix you should be able to ask for the formula.
You have alot of money riding on your decisions- I personally would want to know what I am getting for my money. And have an idea how it would pay out feeding.And an idea of how much I should feed/head.
