What would be a good way to get steers on to full feed with out killing them with bloat. ie. how much corn a day and when to increase. Is all the corn they can eat and plenty of hay full feed or just stright corn?
Going to full feed
- Thread starter S.R.R.
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farmer rich
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Full feed, I believe, is the same as free choice, we call it ad-libitum over here. It all they can eat. You should still offer some long fibre such as hay or straw to aid digestion though.
I get steers onto full feed starting with two small feeds of about 1kg of corn at both ends of the day. I will increase this by 1kg per week so that they are on about 8kg per day at the end of the third week. They will be safe on full corn by this point. If at any point they start to look dull, scour badly or just look generally sick then back off the feed straight away. Let them get over it then build them back up slowly.
You can get them on feed faster using a mixer wagon to mix forage in with the corn and slowly increasing the percentage of corn to forage.
I get steers onto full feed starting with two small feeds of about 1kg of corn at both ends of the day. I will increase this by 1kg per week so that they are on about 8kg per day at the end of the third week. They will be safe on full corn by this point. If at any point they start to look dull, scour badly or just look generally sick then back off the feed straight away. Let them get over it then build them back up slowly.
You can get them on feed faster using a mixer wagon to mix forage in with the corn and slowly increasing the percentage of corn to forage.
S.R.R.":35c3v87t said:
There is a formula used to determine how much corn (or any grain for that matter) to start with. Not only did I not remember correctly, I can't type or read tonight.
:roll: It's actually about 1 - 1.5% of their body weight. Then increase it gradually each week til they are where they should be. Steers should have other feed, be it hay, ground hay, grass, or something, besides the corn as the corn will not be enough to sustain them for 12-24 hours (depending on your feed schedule), and does not provide fiber, etc. Hope this helps, but will probably just confuse you more.
ollie
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Ouch! it isn't 12% msscamp. More like 1.5%msscamp":1cqgwwfn said:S.R.R.":1cqgwwfn said:
There is a formula used to determine how much corn (or any grain for that matter) to start with. If I remember correctly it's 12% of their body weight. Come time to feed them that night or the next morning, if the grain has not been eaten then gather it up and weigh it and adjust the grain ration accordingly. I'm sorry, but I cannot remember how often or how much to increase it by. Steers should have other feed, be it hay, ground hay, grass, or something, besides the corn as the corn will not be enough to sustain them for 12-24 hours (depending on your feed schedule), and does not provide fiber, etc. Hope this helps, but will probably just confuse you more.
I corrected it. Sorry about the major screw-up on my part. It's been a while. I was really hoping I could get it fixed before it was noticed. I should have known your eagle eyes would catch it! ;-) Thanks for the correction, and again, I apologize.
I was really hoping I could get it fixed before it was noticed. I should have known your eagle eyes would catch it! ;-) Thanks for the correction, and again, I apologize.
Susie David
Well-known member
We start the finishing (1000#+ steers, 90 day) with three pounds of corn twice a day increase to five pounds in a week, seven in another two weeks and ten two weeks later...we don't cut back on the hay until the last three weeks of finishing then its arond 25% hay to corn by weight...haven't had any problems and haven't over finished any, in fact some come out a little on the lean side. DMc
dcara
Well-known member
I posted a pic of a pair of 14mo olds last night over on the feedyard board that have been on 60/40 corn/oats with loose mineral and free choice hay (and a free choice mineral block) for 105 days (so far). I don't recommend straight corn due to bloat and scour problems. I start each calf at a couple pounds of this mix, twice a day and increase at about 1.5 lbs per week until they are up to 9 lbs twice a day with a target/finish live weight of 1000 to 1100lbs.
dcara
Well-known member
woops - forgot what board I was on. Should have said that I posted a pic on this board.
farmer rich
Well-known member
My definition of full feed would be to work them up to having feed available 24/7. 9lb twice per day would not be far off. By that stage they would be safe on full feed. They will still need access to hay/straw though. I prefer straw as they will eat more corn than if hay is offered. For every 1lb of hay consumed expect concentrate intake to be reduced by 0.5lbs. For every 1lb of straw it will be around .2lb.
dcara
Well-known member
One rule of thumb is you should not give them more feed than they can eat/lick clean in 15 minutes. The reason is that you don't want birds, possums, squirels etc. crapping in it.
