Oats Creep Mix ?

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Stocker Steve

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Oats is not worth much here - - only $2.00 per bushel or $125 per ton.
Plan to feed a bunch to replacement heifers, where I am not going for a high rate of gain.
What should I consider as other items in the feed mix to hit about 1.75 lbs/day?
 
Till-Hill":1lc75wqs said:
Corn gluten pellet? Or any protein pellet, I had terrible luck mixing DDG in it, settled out real bad.

Thanks for the tip. I was considering DDG too. I know most creep feeds are a little higher in protien than oats.

Did you bother to roll the oats?
 
Not at $2/bushel my feed man always wants me to fill feeder full of oats then when about empty start with a oat pellet and maybe little bit of corn
 
Stocker Steve":qh2zrjbs said:
Oats is not worth much here - - only $2.00 per bushel or $125 per ton.
Plan to feed a bunch to replacement heifers, where I am not going for a high rate of gain.
What should I consider as other items in the feed mix to hit about 1.75 lbs/day?

Steve at that price I think the only thing I'd worry about is letting the feeder get empty. Good protein, adequate energy, high fiber..good feed for heifers.
 
Be careful. I did this same thing one year and my heifers put down too much fat in their udders. I had 12 bottle calves because none of the heifers milked enough to feed their calves. I think finding an acceptable limiter is an issue when feeding heifers this way. Salt settles out too. What I thought was an inexpensive way to develop heifers turned out to be really costly. That seems to be normal though.
 
Chocolate Cow2":1h1q59my said:
Be careful. I did this same thing one year and my heifers put down too much fat in their udders. I had 12 bottle calves because none of the heifers milked enough to feed their calves. I think finding an acceptable limiter is an issue when feeding heifers this way. Salt settles out too. What I thought was an inexpensive way to develop heifers turned out to be really costly. That seems to be normal though.

You were feeding oats or ?
 
Yes. Oats primarily. The feed mill mixed it for me. There was some ground milo (sorgum) in it but mostly oats. You can feed heifers a commercial creep mix and be ok because it's a fiber based feed.

You might want to consult an animal nutritionist. He can tell you what's the best.
 
Chocolate Cow2":vgar8yj8 said:
Yes. Oats primarily. The feed mill mixed it for me. There was some ground milo (sorgum) in it but mostly oats. You can feed heifers a commercial creep mix and be ok because it's a fiber based feed.

You might want to consult an animal nutritionist. He can tell you what's the best.
He did, TB happens to be a cattle nutritional extraordinaire.
 
Chocolate Cow2":2uwfx55s said:
Yes. Oats primarily. The feed mill mixed it for me. There was some ground milo (sorgum) in it but mostly oats. You can feed heifers a commercial creep mix and be ok because it's a fiber based feed.

I did not think oats had that much energy. How long were they on the oats/milo mix?
 
It's been 15 years or more since I did this, but I think they were on the mix for several months. It wasn't long term. Oats was the primary grain, followed by rolled milo and a little cracked corn. We put it free choice in a creep feeder. At the time, I didn't think the calves were overly fleshy but it sure messed up the heifers I kept. I don't know who's who on this message board, I can only tell you what I have experienced. I did this mixture because of the cost of grains vs. commercial creep feed. Just like what you are doing.
 
Chocolate Cow2":z41wi35c said:
It's been 15 years or more since I did this, but I think they were on the mix for several months. It wasn't long term. Oats was the primary grain, followed by rolled milo and a little cracked corn. We put it free choice in a creep feeder. At the time, I didn't think the calves were overly fleshy but it sure messed up the heifers I kept. I don't know who's who on this message board, I can only tell you what I have experienced. I did this mixture because of the cost of grains vs. commercial creep feed. Just like what you are doing.

I would imagine it was the corn and milo that was in the mix. I fed oats free choice to both horses and cattle and never had any issues. But have seen issues when feeding milo and corn. Personally I would never use either in a mix for heifers I was planning to keep for replacements. Our heifers almost get too fat on grass around here. I've had horses founder on the grama grass in a good year.
 

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