50/50Farms
Well-known member
Protein simply isn't the whole picture for feeding up a slaughter animal of any variety, especially as you leave the "growing" window of their youth and enter the "finishing" period. If you're growing still, sure, it's a huge part of the picture, that's why cheaping out on feed for calves is such a dreadful mistake. Same with dogs, any pups I raise for work eat 18% protein supplemented with eggs and oats until they leave that growing window. You're not there anymore, you're in the finishing window. It's time for carbs, simple carbs that pack on the pounds. If they're at a caloric surplus they'll still be growing some muscular tissue if they're not penned too tight. They'll also look to have fuller muscles as the new surplus of glycogen in the muscles absorbs water. With 90 days left until the fat lady sings, corn needs to be cycled in at least by now, or a similar source of simple carbs like milled bread, a corn and by-product ratio, etc. There are even grass cattle producers that do this with a soybean hull pellet implementation in the pre-slaughter window.
