Grow ration fiber ?

[Texas PaPaw]

Am trying to formulate a grow ration for 3-500 lb calves. Corn gluten feed and soy hull pellets will comprise the majority of the ration and cottonseed hulls will be the fiber source. When using the OSU ration calculator, the lower the % cs hulls the higher the adg, better conversion and lower the cost of gain. I'm wondering what the minimum % cs hulls could be and still provide adequate fiber/scratch factor. The cgf and soyhulls are both high in fiber but due to their digestibility their effective NDF (eNDF) is greatly reduced.

Does any one know the minimum effective NDF (eNDF) would be for this scenario. Where can one find this info? Have done a google search and did not find anything definitive.

Thanks for your assistance.

 

[Tod Dague]

Am trying to formulate a grow ration for 3-500 lb calves. Corn gluten feed and soy hull pellets will comprise the majority of the ration and cottonseed hulls will be the fiber source. When using the OSU ration calculator, the lower the % cs hulls the higher the adg, better conversion and lower the cost of gain. I'm wondering what the minimum % cs hulls could be and still provide adequate fiber/scratch factor. The cgf and soyhulls are both high in fiber but due to their digestibility their effective NDF (eNDF) is greatly reduced.

Does any one know the minimum effective NDF (eNDF) would be for this scenario. Where can one find this info? Have done a google search and did not find anything definitive.

Thanks for your assistance.

Do you have a small grass paddock that you can put them in? If you do you can leave out the CS hulls all together.

I plan to put my calves in a grass lot and supplement them with some DDG that I had left over from last year. When the grass starts getting rank I may add some soy hulls.

 

[novaman]

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2489.pdf
This seems to give some good information about the feed ingredients you are talking about. Take a look at pages 4 and 5. It sounds like cottonseed hulls make excellent effective fiber. Hope this link helps!

 

[TexasBred]

Am trying to formulate a grow ration for 3-500 lb calves. Corn gluten feed and soy hull pellets will comprise the majority of the ration and cottonseed hulls will be the fiber source. When using the OSU ration calculator, the lower the % cs hulls the higher the adg, better conversion and lower the cost of gain. I'm wondering what the minimum % cs hulls could be and still provide adequate fiber/scratch factor. The cgf and soyhulls are both high in fiber but due to their digestibility their effective NDF (eNDF) is greatly reduced.

Does any one know the minimum effective NDF (eNDF) would be for this scenario. Where can one find this info? Have done a google search and did not find anything definitive.

Thanks for your assistance.

CS Hulls are about the best source of eNDF especially in Texas. Inclusion rate can vary depending on your preferences but 10% up to as much as 15% should be more than enough. Starches are a non factor so you just want something to build the rumen mat with the good "fill factor" and "scratch factor". CS hulls will certainly do that for you. I have no idea what they cost these days. The only other thing I think of would be some of the ground cotton burrs some folks have used during drought years but I doubt any will be available until ginning begins. Are you set up to where you could incorporate some corn silage into the mix if the price was reasonable?

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Thanks to all for your input.

Normally grass or hay is my fiber source. However due to this crazy weather am concerned about the availability of grass and hay later this year. Had ryegrass hay priced to me at $65/roll. Had some cs hulls priced at $115 ton a few weeks ago. At these prices, the cs hulls are a competitive fiber source. Am sure they will get higher in the fall. Just trying to have a plan B in place if needed.

TB, that is the info I needed as the lower level of cs hulls is the most cost effective, but wanted to be sure 10% hulls would be satisfactory. According to the OSU calculator 10% cs hulls would give an eNDF of 38.32 which would more than meet the criteria in the linked MSU flyer.

I do not have the capability to mix silage or cotton burrs on the farm. All mixing is done by my feed supplier and cs hulls are the fiber source he has. Grass and hay are normally fed free choice and the cgf/sh are limit fed daily with the amount determined by grass condition and economics. If necessary, will probably include cs hulls in my mix and by getting ahead of the curve can increase my supplemental feeding level to stretch my grass/hay supply.

Thanks again for everyone help.

 

[TexasBred]

Sounds like you're looking well down the road...great approach... wish I did a better job of planning. Best Wishes and hopefully the rains will come and hay will be more plentiful and less expensive. I've been riding around some and am seeing a lot of ryegrass being cut and baled. Can't remember ever seeing as much ryegrass as this year.