how much grain?

[Irishred]

All four of my boys are doing great now. Healthy and always hungry. Five is still a bit skinnier than the other 3 but he is getting there. Anyway, they will be on bottles for about 3 more weeks and are really eating the grain well - out of buckets . I also give them a little hay and they do eat some but probably half of it gets spread out in the pen (small arm full dropped in the pen when I give them their bottles).

My question is how much grain should they be getting? I know y'all talk about a % of body weight but I haven't a clue on how much they weigh (some where around 100-125lbs if I were to guess). Using a cup from the MR I am giving them (all 4 not each) 8-10 scoops a day right now. How much should I be increasing and what is a max goal/age? I'll be increasing their hay as well but a little slower than the grain for now. Oh, and when is a good age to start mixing in the ground corn?

Thank you.

 

[IGotMyWings]

One rule of thumb is as much as they can eat in 20 minutes. I apply that with a little caution as my bull calf is a hearty eater and would scarf down more than I can afford to give him where the steer seems to savor each bite. My bull is (eyeball guessing) 350 pounds and he gets between 1/4 and 1/2 ofa 5 gallon bucket, the steer gets about a 1/2 of a gallon pitcher's worth in his pan as he's in the (again, eyeball guessing) a little shy of 200 pounds. Hope this helps a little!

 

[bigbull338]

before i wean calves off the bottle i want them eating atlest 4lbs of grain a hd a day.an then slowly push them to 8lbs of grain pre hd a day in feed.an thats about 250lbs of feed a week.

 

[KNERSIE]

before i wean calves off the bottle i want them eating atlest 4lbs of grain a hd a day.

Good advice, but that is the absolute minimum, otherwise continue a little longer with the milk, if you have a slow eater it often helps to cut him back to one bottle a day untill they eat enough to wean.

 

[bigbull338]

the reality is when i weaned calves they was eating 8 to 10lbs of grain a day pre head.i started the weaned reg calves on 6 to 12lbs of feed a day.an go up to 20 to 25lbs a day pre calf.if i can get them to eating that much.

 

[spinandslide]

Is there a difference in feeding a Bottle Calf destined for the freezer versus one destined for your herd at this age??

 

[bigbull338]

yes a steer/calf going to the freezer you want to feed them as much grain as theyll eat.a steer for freezer id try to feed 20 to 25lbs of feed a day plus hay a day.a replacement heifer/bull 15 to 20lbs feed plus hay a day.

 

[KNERSIE]

Is there a difference in feeding a Bottle Calf destined for the freezer versus one destined for your herd at this age??

In heifers the danger is always there to get them too fat by feeding a too high energy ration to the point where fat accumulates in the undeveloped virgin udder. The significance is that fat forms in the same place where mammary tissue would develope later on affecting the future milking ability of the heifer.

The same applies for bulls, once the fat accumulates in the neck of the scrotum its there for keeps just like in the virgin udders of heifers.

 

[TexasBred]

What kind of calves are they are what are your future plans for them??