StrojanHerefords
Well-known member
I would like to start playing around with trying salt limited feeding. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to mix between a few hundred and a ton of feed?
Mixing Medium Quantities of Feed
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Have you checked to see if some one already has salt feed in you area? Most all our co-ops offer salt feed mixes with different ratios.
StrojanHerefords
Well-known member
A premade mixed feed won't work for me because I am feeding several different classes of animals and I want to maintain a proper level of consumption.
They generally have several ratios, 1:2, 1:3, etc. You adjust the ratio to match the consumption. Plus, if they are making and selling a mix, they probably can do custom mixes.
Just keep in mind, salt works pretty good but it's not exact.
Travlr
Well-known member
"Salt limited"? Meaning any minerals are going to come independently from the feed?
redcowsrule33
Well-known member
https://sudenga.com/our-products/horizontal-mixers/
If you're looking at doing up to a ton at a time you'll have to invest in a decent mixer so the feed is homogeneous throughout.
If you're looking at doing up to a ton at a time you'll have to invest in a decent mixer so the feed is homogeneous throughout.
People use salt to limit consumption of feed. The more salt the lower the consumption. If you imagine putting a ton of sweet feed out. They will just devour it. If you do 3 parts feed, 1 part salt, they may eat #10 per hd per day. If you do 2 parts feed, 1 part salt, they may eat #5lb per hd per day.
We use to feed quite a bit of salt feed in the winter or droughts. It was one of the few reasonably priced feeds you could feed that would actually limit consumption. Once we got them lined out on it we would target around #5 per hd per day.
For us, cottonseed becaome a much better alternative.
Travlr
Well-known member
LOL... REALLY???
Oh, that cracks me up.
As somebody that has never supplemented because I never needed to or saw any reason to, as well as being an aficionado of keeping things simple... this just looks like make work (and added expense I'm sure).
To me... if you want to limit their food intake... you feed them less.
You would drive 2 hours day to hand feed cows when salt can do it for you?
With our short winters, most of the large ranches on the prairie and quite a few others don't feed hay. They use self feeders with a salt mix during winter. Our local mill mixes it and delivers it to your feeder. No tractors, no labor, nothing... just a phone call. Doesn't get more simple than that. It's kind of like feeding liquid feed. When you weigh the cost of feed vs labor, equipment, etc of cheaper feeds, some times ot comes out better.
Salt feed has been used for ever like that. It is pre-accuration and those other limit feeds. Salt is the OG of feed limiters.
Travlr
Well-known member
If I had to drive two hours to feed cattle it might be different. I'll admit that. But then if I had to drive two hours to feed my cattle I would be either leasing that ground to a local or hiring someone because my ranch was large enough to justify it... and they'd live where the cattle are.You would drive 2 hours day to hand feed cows when salt can do it for you?
With our short winters, most of the large ranches on the prairie and quite a few others don't feed hay. They use self feeders with a salt mix during winter. Our local mill mixes it and delivers it to your feeder. No tractors, no labor, nothing... just a phone call. Doesn't get more simple than that. It's kind of like feeding liquid feed. When you weigh the cost of feed vs labor, equipment, etc of cheaper feeds, some times ot comes out better.
Salt feed has been used for ever like that. It is pre-accuration and those other limit feeds. Salt is the OG of feed limiters.
I've never owned any acreage where I had to feed supplements to get the growth I've needed. It's just a foreign concept to me. If I need to feed supplements I would be doing something wrong. I'd be overgrazing my pastures or failing to stockpile enough hay. If I needed to get more growth by using supplements I would be using poor genetics. Something would have to be not working right to require supplements.
Maybe it works differently where you don't have any snow? So no hay? And the way real estate prices have changed I'm sure the numbers don't work the same anymore. I couldn't justify 10K an acre or more raising 2K cattle.
It's a big world. We can have standing grass that has little to no nutritional value. You have to stimulate more consumption and/or bring in cheap protein. More bulk like hay doesn't really do much good and the same case can be made for some feeds. I avg less than 1 bale per head per year. It's actually like .5 or .333 and some years it's near 0 with the exception of pinning heifers to wean or bulls or some thing like that getting hay.
The best part is salt feed, cottonseed, and liquid feed don't double or more in a drought like hay does. I have hay dependant people in bad shape right now because the can't even get hay, no matter the cost, and can't wrap their minds around any other option. They are like addicts when you talk to them.
StrojanHerefords
Well-known member
The problem with feeding cows less is that at some point the boss cows get the most feed and the cows that really need the help don't get anything.
Travlr
Well-known member
Not if they're on pasture... not supplements.
Not if you aren't keeping cows that do poorly to begin with. If you are in that situation I'd be feeding the strong ones and taking the weak ones to the sale barn before they need the extra feed...
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BFE
Well-known member
Some people use an old small batch concrete mixer.
