How much feed is "enough"?

[Toothacre]

First post! I'm a newbie with 40 head in North Florida.
Cows are on pasture for 8 months, coastal hay for 4, minerals, salt block at will.
Cow/calf operation, selling calves at 400-600 lbs at local sale barn.
how much supplemental feed 13% protein 50# bags is appropriate.
neighbors have commented:
1)Calves only at a creep feeder
2) pregnant/nursing cows only
3)2-5 lbs per cow per day to "maintain health"
4) only in winter to help fight cold stress
5) none ever, too expensive, and not needed.
6) all and none of the above!
Thanks for any advice!

 

[Rahe Family Belties]

I don't know your breeding, but it looks like you wean and ship calves at about 7 months.

I would vote for no supplemental feed other than protein/mineral tubs year round.

My buyers don't like fat calves. They prefer calves with some grow left in them.
Breds/cows shouldn't be fed hard due to bigger calves and harder births which creates problems down the road in breeding back.

 

[Engler]

I think the answer is yes, it all depends on the situation. IF you have good grass and the cows are maintaining condition on that, then you don't need to feed anything more.

Now let's say that it's super dry, you're dealing with a set of first calf heifers and the grass is burned up then you probably need to do something. If you ask 10 different producers you'll get at least 10 different answers what "something" is.

Last year dealing with a group of heifers we did put out a creep feeder. For what it cost and what we got back in terms of pounds it probably wasn't worth it, BUT we thought that it took some of the load off those cows that were still trying to grow themselves, plus feed a calf, plus grow a new baby. If we had one more breed back that would have fallen out of bed that was probably worth $500-700.

Additionally we do feed a couple pounds of shell corn to the cows once a week or so. They are getting little to nothing out of this from a nutritional standpoint, but we can take them almost anywhere we want them to go with a 5 gallon bucket. What is the value of that?

A third thing to consider is what is the nutritional value of your hay vs the cost and the same thing for the feed? Sometimes it is more cost effective to feed junk hay for filler along with some grain vs feeding high priced high quality hay.

One thing that I don't see you saying anything about is a mineral program. I am a huge fan of a high quality, loose mineral. Brand doesn't matter as long as it's quality.

 

[NC Liz 2]

Toothacre
The way you tell if you need to do any supplemental feeding is by your cattle's BCS.
If your cattle hold a BCS of 5 – 6 you are doing things right.
Liz

 

[M5farm]

welcome- which north Florida are you from?

 

[Bigfoot]

I would add one thing, if you do need to supplement, which IMHO is probably not necessary. Buying the feed in 50 pound bags is not very economical. Try to get set up for bulk delivery. My feed $215 a ton. The same feed in 50 pound bags is $440 a ton, and a whole lot work and trouble.

 

[TexasBred]

With good cattle, in your part of the country this should work 99% of the time

Cows are on pasture for 8 months, coastal hay for 4, minerals, salt block at will.

 

[blacksnake]

13% protein is kind of low for a supplement. If you are really needing to feed a supplement high in protein then get one that is a lot higher in protein. At least in the 20% range.

 

[dieselbeef]

a newbie with 40 hd..wow...

 

[Caustic Burno]

First post! I'm a newbie with 40 head in North Florida.
Cows are on pasture for 8 months, coastal hay for 4, minerals, salt block at will.
Cow/calf operation, selling calves at 400-600 lbs at local sale barn.
how much supplemental feed 13% protein 50# bags is appropriate.
neighbors have commented:
1)Calves only at a creep feeder
2) pregnant/nursing cows only
3)2-5 lbs per cow per day to "maintain health"
4) only in winter to help fight cold stress
5) none ever, too expensive, and not needed.
6) all and none of the above!
Thanks for any advice!

Nothing out of a sack if your cows can't maintain health and raise a calf on your grass and hay with minerals you need a better cow.
I do consider ice storms or raining in the 30's an exception as we do not build shelters here for our cattle.
I will cube them heavy for energy till the cold snap passes.
If we keep having winters like this I will rethink loafing sheds.

 

[Toothacre]

a newbie with 40 hd..wow...

I'm definitely not claiming any newbie "awards".
My wife and I bought an existing "hobby farm". Prior owners were full-time professionals, who ran the ranch on their spare time. When we bought it, it was fenced, cross fenced, 2 wells, 24x48 barn, workshop, storage shed, holding pen, "J" corral with head gate, 26 acres healthy established Bahia pasture, 18 acres for seasonal winter rye/summer millet, feed troughs.
We just added cows, and enjoy the sunsets.
Kind of like buying an existing deli in Brooklyn. Didn't change the menu !

 

[snake67]

Well, you can talk all you want but unless you know the feed value of your hay you might be throwing money away.

Anything discussed here is nothing more than a guess.

Test it

You might find you need nothing at all - that is what you should be working towards

Bez