Z&J Cattle
Well-known member
We are feeding a group of heifers this winter. We bought them at 450-500# and are about 90 days into our feeding cycle. We want to feed them for a total of around 180 days. They are grazing on plenty of stockpiled fescue and we put out hay when it gets really cold (which it has not done much this year here in our part of the country) and we have them on a ration of 5# per hd. per day of a rice meal/soy oil based feed that is running right around 15% protein and 12-14% fat. I would estimate that they will weigh an average of somewhere in the neighborhood of 625-650 at this time. Do I need to increase my feed ration or is this about right? When we were first bunk breaking them, we started them out on around 2# and gradually increased to 5#. Also, what kind of ADG should I be looking for given this information? My hope (being conservative I feel) is that we would start with 450-500# calves and end up with 750-800# calves at the end of the 180 day cycle for an ADG of around 1.66#. Does this sound reasonable? Any input greatly appreciated as always.
Zach
Zach