Anyone that "knows" me, knows I always recommend building your feed program around whole shell corn. It is the cheapest, and actually the healthiest. At least out here, if you try to buy "cracked" corn, you end up with dust. Anything that is fine ground is potentially bad for your calves. The stomach has fingers (filliai ?sp?). Powdery feed can clog up the fingers, so the bacteria can't work. WSC will not do that, and young calves "generally" prefer it.
I do NOT raise bulls - I sell them after weaning & preconditioning. I would recommend feeding like I feed my replacement heifers.
Bulls & heifers - you want them to grow to their potential, without putting on fat. I have an advantage of having really good 15% baleage for my winter feed. I only give my heifers about 5# WSC/head/day thru the winter. I will increase that to maybe 7# month or so before we plan to breed them. AFter they are bred, it is grass time, so they get turned out on grass all summer with the cowherd.
I would think the same would work for a bull. I don't have to add protein pellets, because they get enough protein from their hay. You would have to make sure they got at least a 14% protein ration until they are about 900#. Then about 12% should be good.
We have a great guy on here
@TexasBred. He is/was a nutritionist and has great advice. My husband was a nutritionist and he was my "advisor" on all our feed program.
Not sure what others would recommend, but if I was feeding a bull, that is what I would do. Well 5# might be light ration for a growing bull. It's all in the "eye of the master". Watch for fat & watch their manure.
@TDM nephew has been a dealer for little over a year, and Biozyme has not offered that product, so maybe the Sure Champ Ration Builder is a replacement??
"Ration Builder is a
32-percent protein pelleted base mix, fully fortified with vitamins, minerals and the Amaferm ® advantage."