How much grain and what type is the best?

[Bcollins]

I'm ready to finish 3 jersey steers and 1 hol. Wanted to put them on some grain before we butcher them. Wanted to know your opinions on what type grain should I use? How much should I feed them a day? Should I feed once a day or twice?
How long should they be on grain before we butcher them?

Thanks Brent

 

[ENNOT]

There's a guy east of here that finishes holsteins and he feeds pretty much just rolled corn. I'd probably feed them at least 90 days just to get some flavor in them.

Probably start them of at 6 pounds/head/day. You might weigh it to be sure, but a coffee can holds about three +or- pounds of grain.

I would feed twice a day and make sure they clean it all up and that one or a couple aren't eating most of it.

 

[somn]

If it was me I would feed them shell corn and 1.5 pounds of 40% protein pellets with 22% from urea per day. (Using 400 grams monensin and 250 grams tylan per ton as the drug in the pellets.) I would let the calves get adjusted to the corn slowly as suggested in the previous post then when they have adjusted to the corn I would make sure that they have feed in the bunk all day long everyday until slaughter. Make certian they are getting the 6 pounds of protien per day total for the four head. Corn consumption will vary until they are are on full feed corn. After that mixing the ration will be simple.

 

[TexasBred]

Holy Moly man....that's lots of urea. I hope your limiting intake considerably. Also your monensin and tylan levels need a decimal in there somewhere. 400 gr. ton of monensin will knock them off feed in a heartbeat and research shows anything over 30-40 grams per ton does no benefit. Hopefully you meant Mgs.

 

[shorty]

I never liked using urea for protein , I use soybean meal and a few of my raw soybeans.

 

[rk]

Holy Moly man....that's lots of urea. I hope your limiting intake considerably. Also your monensin and tylan levels need a decimal in there somewhere. 400 gr. ton of monensin will knock them off feed in a heartbeat and research shows anything over 30-40 grams per ton does no benefit. Hopefully you meant Mgs.

I'll bet those numbers are for the concentrate itself. By the time it's blended, urea and rumensin should probably be at appropriate levels.

 

[dun]

I never liked using urea for protein , I use soybean meal and a few of my raw soybeans.

I figure if I'm going to feed urea I might as well save the money and just go pee on the hay

 

[HEREFORD ROADHOG]

i like to mix 1500 lbs corn 250 lbs 36 % beef pellets 100 lbs dry molasses 150 lbs barley or oats . makes a fine ration. probably feed for at least 3-4 months -just depends how big they are now & how big you want them. bring them up slowly increasing as they keep it cleaned up. twice a day is best. good luck.

 

[rk]

I never liked using urea for protein , I use soybean meal and a few of my raw soybeans.

I figure if I'm going to feed urea I might as well save the money and just go pee on the hay

Urea is good source of soluble protein and, used properly, can actually improve performance in some situations.

 

[msscamp]

Wanted to know your opinions on what type grain should I use? How much should I feed them a day? Should I feed once a day or twice?
How long should they be on grain before we butcher them?

Thanks Brent

We generally start them out on 1-2% of their body weight, then build them up to 15 lbs or so of ground corn, once a day. When we are grain finishing, it is always corn and it is always fed once a day. We currently have 2 animals that are being fattened for butcher, and they have free choice hay (grass/alfalfa) and get a 5 gallon bucket of ground corn once a day. We usually feed them out for 60, sometimes 90 days (depending on how full the freezer is).

 

[somn]

Holy Moly man....that's lots of urea. I hope your limiting intake considerably. Also your monensin and tylan levels need a decimal in there somewhere. 400 gr. ton of monensin will knock them off feed in a heartbeat and research shows anything over 30-40 grams per ton does no benefit. Hopefully you meant Mgs.

I meant exactly what I said. I'm not missing a decimal anywhere. You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. The urea level isn't all that high either. I love these internet cowboys who think they know how to feed cattle.

 

[TexasBred]

somn... :stop: UNLESS that urea level is in liquid feed or in a blender pellet to be mixed with corn etc. to dilute it tremendously that is a toxic level. That's 150 pounds of pure urea per ton of finished feed. Even if you feed as little as 6 lbs. of complete feed per day that calf gets over 7 oz. of pure urea......urea is 287% equivalent protein !!!!!!!!!! Now...go back and get your numbers straight before you mislead some good cattlemen into killing some animals by following you're recommendations.

 

[alabama]

Well I have the same question but with some different factors. I also need to know what to feed. I have always used ground earcorn mixed 80% earcorn with 20% soybean meal. And yes I liked it.
Well this year the cornfield got bush hogged due to the drought so I need to buy feed.

Here is a list of what I have to work with:

1) Angus heifers, two of them that have been raised with my replacements since birth in December 2006. That makes them about 9 months old. They were fed during weaning (soybean hulls) but have been on grass alone since June of 2007.
2) Shelled corn in bulk at market rate. From a farmer with irrigated fields that is storing the corn in his grain bins about a mile from me and I have a gravity wagon.
3) I have an old JD hammer and mixer mill so I can grind the corn and mix with whatever I can get local. I think it will hold about 5 tons.
4) I can buy soybean meal or cottonseed meal at the feed store in 50-pound sacks.
5) I can buy soyhulls in bulk bags buy above market price at the coop.
6) I can get cottonseed by the ton at a gin 2 miles down the road. At bulk market price. However, cottonseed will clog the hammer mill but I can add it through the mixer.
7) I will have bucket feed them in a one-acre lot with plenty of hay or I could feed them free choose in the same lot.

Questions:
1) When should I put them on feed and for how long?
2) What age or weight should they be butchered?
3) What should I mix to feed them?
4) How much should they be feed? A free chooses feed would be nice.

Thank you for any help.



I just reposted this over on the feedyard page. I thought I may have had it in the wrong place.

 

[somn]

somn... :stop: UNLESS that urea level is in liquid feed or in a blender pellet to be mixed with corn etc. to dilute it tremendously that is a toxic level. That's 150 pounds of pure urea per ton of finished feed. Even if you feed as little as 6 lbs. of complete feed per day that calf gets over 7 oz. of pure urea......urea is 287% equivalent protein !!!!!!!!!! Now...go back and get your numbers straight before you mislead some good cattlemen into killing some animals by following you're recommendations.

Well TexasBred Considering you seem to think of yourself as the master cattle nutritionist the first thing you will want to do is give Kent feeds a call here is their website you should be able to find a contact number for them on that site. http://www.kentfeeds.com/Product-Select ... Pellets-(1)-(2).aspx

I'm sure Kent Feeds will be very interested to hear how they are misleading good cattlemen into killing their animals by feeding their product. The mass produced NRB 40-25 protein pellet has a higher inclusion rate of urea than the pellet that I feed. My pellet has 40% protein with 22% by way of urea theirs is 40% protein 25% by way of urea. After you get done telling them how stupid they are come on back here and show us how much smarter you are afterwards. It always amazes me how people on here are clueless about what they are commenting on but yet they just continue to flop at the mouth about it. Internet Cowboys make life fun for the rest of us.
One last suggestion you may want to take your own advice go back and get your numbers straight before YOU mislead people with your wild figures.

 

[Brandonm2]

Well I have the same question but with some different factors. I also need to know what to feed. I have always used ground earcorn mixed 80% earcorn with 20% soybean meal. And yes I liked it.
Well this year the cornfield got bush hogged due to the drought so I need to buy feed.

Here is a list of what I have to work with:

1) Angus heifers, two of them that have been raised with my replacements since birth in December 2006. That makes them about 9 months old. They were fed during weaning (soybean hulls) but have been on grass alone since June of 2007.
2) Shelled corn in bulk at market rate. From a farmer with irrigated fields that is storing the corn in his grain bins about a mile from me and I have a gravity wagon.
3) I have an old JD hammer and mixer mill so I can grind the corn and mix with whatever I can get local. I think it will hold about 5 tons.
4) I can buy soybean meal or cottonseed meal at the feed store in 50-pound sacks.
5) I can buy soyhulls in bulk bags buy above market price at the coop.
6) I can get cottonseed by the ton at a gin 2 miles down the road. At bulk market price. However, cottonseed will clog the hammer mill but I can add it through the mixer.
7) I will have bucket feed them in a one-acre lot with plenty of hay or I could feed them free choose in the same lot.

Questions:
1) When should I put them on feed and for how long?
2) What age or weight should they be butchered?
3) What should I mix to feed them?
4) How much should they be feed? A free chooses feed would be nice.

Thank you for any help.



I just reposted this over on the feedyard page. I thought I may have had it in the wrong place.

Maybe I am too countrified; but we always just loaded up five gallon buckets and threw the whole cottonseed in the troughs unmixed and unmilled and let the cattle mix it with the rest of their diet in their stomach. They will eat whole cottonseed like candy.

 

[somn]

somn... :stop: UNLESS that urea level is in liquid feed or in a blender pellet to be mixed with corn etc. to dilute it tremendously that is a toxic level. That's 150 pounds of pure urea per ton of finished feed. Even if you feed as little as 6 lbs. of complete feed per day that calf gets over 7 oz. of pure urea......urea is 287% equivalent protein !!!!!!!!!! Now...go back and get your numbers straight before you mislead some good cattlemen into killing some animals by following you're recommendations.

1.5# protein pellets X 22% from urea = .33 pounds urea

.33 pound of urea @ 281% = .927 pounds protein from urea. You still want talk like you know it all?

 

[rk]

somn... :stop: UNLESS that urea level is in liquid feed or in a blender pellet to be mixed with corn etc. to dilute it tremendously that is a toxic level. That's 150 pounds of pure urea per ton of finished feed. Even if you feed as little as 6 lbs. of complete feed per day that calf gets over 7 oz. of pure urea......urea is 287% equivalent protein !!!!!!!!!! Now...go back and get your numbers straight before you mislead some good cattlemen into killing some animals by following you're recommendations.

Well TexasBred Considering you seem to think of yourself as the master cattle nutritionist the first thing you will want to do is give Kent feeds a call here is their website you should be able to find a contact number for them on that site. http://www.kentfeeds.com/Product-Select ... Pellets-(1)-(2).aspx
I'm sure Kent Feeds will be very interested to hear how they are misleading good cattlemen into killing their animals by feeding their product. The mass produced NRB 40-25 protein pellet has a higher inclusion rate of urea than the pellet that I feed. My pellet has 40% protein with 22% by way of urea theirs is 40% protein 25% by way of urea. After you get done telling them how stupid they are come on back here and show us how much smarter you are afterwards. It always amazes me how people on here are clueless about what they are commenting on but yet they just continue to flop at the mouth about it. Internet Cowboys make life fun for the rest of us.
One last suggestion you may want to take your own advice go back and get your numbers straight before YOU mislead people with your wild figures.

Maybe I'm not understanding the argument here......didn't he say he is blending it with corn?????

 

[somn]

somn... :stop: UNLESS that urea level is in liquid feed or in a blender pellet to be mixed with corn etc. to dilute it tremendously that is a toxic level. That's 150 pounds of pure urea per ton of finished feed. Even if you feed as little as 6 lbs. of complete feed per day that calf gets over 7 oz. of pure urea......urea is 287% equivalent protein !!!!!!!!!! Now...go back and get your numbers straight before you mislead some good cattlemen into killing some animals by following you're recommendations.

Well TexasBred Considering you seem to think of yourself as the master cattle nutritionist the first thing you will want to do is give Kent feeds a call here is their website you should be able to find a contact number for them on that site. http://www.kentfeeds.com/Product-Select ... Pellets-(1)-(2).aspx
I'm sure Kent Feeds will be very interested to hear how they are misleading good cattlemen into killing their animals by feeding their product. The mass produced NRB 40-25 protein pellet has a higher inclusion rate of urea than the pellet that I feed. My pellet has 40% protein with 22% by way of urea theirs is 40% protein 25% by way of urea. After you get done telling them how stupid they are come on back here and show us how much smarter you are afterwards. It always amazes me how people on here are clueless about what they are commenting on but yet they just continue to flop at the mouth about it. Internet Cowboys make life fun for the rest of us.
One last suggestion you may want to take your own advice go back and get your numbers straight before YOU mislead people with your wild figures.

Maybe I'm not understanding the argument here......didn't he say he is blending it with corn?????

rk

It appears TexasBred might not be a real bright fella or else he can't read. I'm guessing a little of both. I clearly stated in my first post this: ( If it was me I would feed them shell corn and 1.5 pounds of 40% protein pellets with 22% from urea per day. (Using 400 grams monensin and 250 grams tylan per ton as the drug in the pellets.) I would let the calves get adjusted to the corn slowly as suggested in the previous post then when they have adjusted to the corn I would make sure that they have feed in the bunk all day long everyday until slaughter. Make certain they are getting the 6 pounds of protien per day total for the four head. Corn consumption will vary until they are are on full feed corn.) My suggestion to TexasBred would be that he has 2 eyes and one mouth so next time he should read it twice maybe then his mouth won't be flopping about something stupid. I guess some people would rather make themselves look completely stupid than admit that they can't understand. These internet cowboys are sure lots of fun.

 

[TexasBred]

Somn..I admit I did misread your post but please note in my first response I did say "unless you're feeding this in liquid feed OR in a blender pellet (which you are) then that level would be toxic. My apologies....but you leave a lot of dangling comments, like "6 lbs. of protein" which you mentioned in your last post. Is this pure protein or are you using protein to refer to your grain ration?? Just curious. But you and Kent Feeds are pushing the envelope on the urea. I personally wouldn't feed that much nor recommend it. (One man's opinion I know)

And I'm not trying to be an internet cowboy or smart ass. I've done consulting nutritional work for 30 years plus...but I too make mistakes. Thanks for pointing this one out to me and again my apologies. No offense for intended.

 

[somn]

Somn..I admit I did misread your post but please note in my first response I did say "unless you're feeding this in liquid feed OR in a blender pellet (which you are) then that level would be toxic. My apologies....but you leave a lot of dangling comments, like "6 lbs. of protein" which you mentioned in your last post. Is this pure protein or are you using protein to refer to your grain ration?? Just curious. But you and Kent Feeds are pushing the envelope on the urea. I personally wouldn't feed that much nor recommend it. (One man's opinion I know)

And I'm not trying to be an internet cowboy or smart ass. I've done consulting nutritional work for 30 years plus...but I too make mistakes. Thanks for pointing this one out to me and again my apologies. No offense for intended.

In your first post you told me how I had my decimals in the wrong places and how my inclusion rates will knock cattle off feed in a heartbeat and how feeding at levels over 30 - 40 g per ton does no benefit. After I replied that my decimals places were correct and you obviously didn't know what you were talking about instead of re reading my post so you could maybe understand you replied by saying how it was toxic and blah blah blah then you pulled some wild figures out of the air then you told me I needed to go back and get my numbers straight before I mislead good cattlemen into killing some animals by following my recommendations. Apparently because you can't read I'm not a good cattle man.

My last post read just the same as my first post not difficult to understand for people with even the slightest knowledge of feed rations.

3 jersey steers and 1 holstien steer = 4 head
4 head X 1.5# protien pellets = 6 pounds if you can't put 4 x 1.5 # together and come up with the 6# I stated for the four head chances are good you probably should not be feeding cattle in the first place.


That is fine if you think Kent Feeds and myself are pushing the limits with urea and you would not recommend it because after seeing your knowledge in regards to cattle nutrition I would never follow any of your recommendations anyway. Things change and 30 years ago the cattle industry didn't even resemble what it is now. If I want advice on how to pitch cow **** into a manure spreader I will ask a guy who pitches cow **** into a manure spreader for advice not the guy in town who has seen it done before and thinks he knows how. Same goes for cattle feeding advice I will ask the guy who actually does it not someone who pretends to. It is harder to argue against success than it is random thoughts.