What age can they be completely off the feed and just on grass? Not that we mind the feeding, just curious?
I guess it depends on what your end game is for them. If you plan on selling them as green yearlings then I guess you could stop any time. If you plan on finishing them out, then just plan on increasing their grain as they grow. Either way having them trained to come when you holler isn't a bad thing.
Our boys were all bottle calves, so weren't getting all they needed from momma. We'd be doing it a bit different if they had momma to care for them
I'm sure all the tractor jockeys around here think I'm crazy for raising hay on ground that could be row cropped. Ton for ton we can raise silage and corn cheaper than hay.
2 are Holstein cross and 2 are jersey cross. They're growing nicely for sure! Thank you.
We'll keep em through the winter, so will continue with the grain on top of their grass. Got plenty of hay to make it through the winter as well. It;s not at all a hassle to feed them the grain - Just more curious. Also because we go away from time to time for a few days here and there, so I suppose another question would be is it ok to skip a few days when we are gone (as long as they have grass? Or is it best to just get the neighbor over to give them their grain?
Get a neighbor to help and keep grain ration consistent. Skipping one night isn't usually an issue. But 3-5 days means restarting grain can lead to acidosis/bloat. Keep their rumen stable -- ask a neighbor.
Steve, not sure this is a valid question, but how can a person tell the energy amount from the feed tag on the two listed below. Thanks.
We will be planning on selling them and possibly breeding one of the two heifers we have. The steers have already been dewormed and vaccinated as needed when they were babies. We've had 4 of them since they ranged between 3 days old and 1 week. We recently got the 2 heifers from someone we know in exchange for helping them move and store some of there stuff at our place. Those two are about 2-3 months older. They are a bit bigger weight wise and more broad, but our boys are catching up. I assume they will fill out a bit different since they are angus cross. The heifers are 100% angus from registered stock. Here's another question we were discussing the other day - The two heifers, we aren't certain they have been dewormed. My husband was wondering if we should just go ahead and deworm them to be safe and IF we do, should we do the boys again as well? He has been working and helping out on cattle farms for years, but when they are your own, little things come up here and there that make you question if we're doing it right! As for feed - they are on decent pasture. We rotate every few weeks to a month to keep it growing good. They get about 4-5 lbs of grain each in the evening. They all seem to be pretty healthy and happy
