rnh2
Well-known member
Planning on keeping some heifers. I've done this before but would like better results. What's good ration/amount to feed these babies? Seems my way they get potbellied.
I've used a creep feeder with good results. Fill it with a 14% crude protein ration mix consisting of soybean meal, corn, oats mixed 50:50, soyhulls, vitamins and minerals and free choice grazing and/or hay.rnh2":mo9uiayn said:K thanks they're 1/4 brahma 1/4 charlais 1/4 gelbveih 1/4 red angus. Wild mix but I think they'll do good
rnh2":376v3el9 said:K thanks they're 1/4 brahma 1/4 charlais 1/4 gelbveih 1/4 red angus. Wild mix but I think they'll do good
Rumen development. Under 6 months of age cattle can't properly utilize npn and you just fool yourself as to how much nutrition you are actually providing to them. 200 days is on the strong side of 6 months to be sure.fenceman":yd4ahyho said:Hope you don't mind mh2 I have a similar question. For convenience I've put a group of just weaned 6 to 7 month old heifers in with a group of yearling 12 to 14 month heifers.
The older ones were raised on a stocker ration and grass. They are now on dry grass ,fair hay and tubs.
Bad idea????
Butch mentioned no urea under 200 days. These calves are right about that. Just curious, why?
Once a calf is near 400 lbs. he can utilize urea ok but it's best used on a high energy grain based diet. For a diet that is primarily use natural protein supplementation.fenceman":m4be6uy3 said:Hope you don't mind mh2 I have a similar question. For convenience I've put a group of just weaned 6 to 7 month old heifers in with a group of yearling 12 to 14 month heifers.
The older ones were raised on a stocker ration and grass. They are now on dry grass ,fair hay and tubs.
Bad idea????
Butch mentioned no urea under 200 days. These calves are right about that. Just curious, why?
Lucky_P":19z9nqfv said:CB wrote:
Once you go past a 3 way cross calf you are reducing weaning weights.
I'm not so sure that's necessarily the case, CB. Predictability may be out the window, and choosing a complementary service sire may be difficult - depending upon what you're wanting these crossbred heifers to produce, but I'm unconvinced that more than 3 breeds in the mix automatically translates into reduced weaning weights.
For example:
What if all 4 parents from the 4 breeds involved were in the top 1% of their breed for WW? There's no reason that I can see why weaning weights would necessarily plummet, just because there were 4 breeds in the mix instead of just 3.
Caustic Burno":3nybr93e said:That is just the data from several major Ag Universities.
Guess I am not willing to gamble my dollars.
The 3 way cross cow will wean a calf 86% of the F-1.
The mongrel was even lower and I don't remember the number without looking it up.
With falling prices 14% or more is a lot to give away.
http://www.noble.org/ag/livestock/heterosis/
One word: consistent. Your bulls may have few nice calves, but I see too many variables in your calf crop and none of them looks like identical to each other, even in weights.cowgirl8":2ce2ucit said:Caustic Burno":2ce2ucit said:That is just the data from several major Ag Universities.
Guess I am not willing to gamble my dollars.
The 3 way cross cow will wean a calf 86% of the F-1.
The mongrel was even lower and I don't remember the number without looking it up.
With falling prices 14% or more is a lot to give away.
http://www.noble.org/ag/livestock/heterosis/
So are you saying it is impossible to get good weaning weights from a mongrel or a 3 way and will always get good weaning weights from a bull with papers? Its that easy, so says the university...
However, adding a new breed to the mix wont hurt the weaning weight, especially if its a purebred bull on Heinz 57 cows. On other hand, mongrels on mongrels can give you a very mixed results, and the weaning weights are way variable.Caustic Burno":3bnith2x said:Muddy you just gave the definition for back 40 cattle.
M-5":1v12mcqf said:Y'all are wasting your time trying to explain it. Some get it, some deny it.