Patience- you will figure it out with time.
The first thing is to go to the feed list and update it-- the nutrients and $$$ for even common feedstuffs were not the same as what I needed for around here. The NEM and NEG figures are critical.The costs are for
100lbs AS IS. The ration maker is only as good as the figures you put in.
You can add your own ingredients to the list all the way up to 100
on the formulation page you put in the number(off the ingredient list page) of the ingredient you want to use- It will load all the figures
Then you figure out how much you might want to use of each ingredient
This is not the spot where you worry about accuracy- you just enter ball park figures then tweak them.
I just start out with 500 of what I think I will use the most of- then add 200 of the next and 100 the next and down the line.
Now you start tinkering with the numbers till you get what you want for nutrients and gain
Don't forget to pay attention to the Fat(4% or less to be safe) and the Ca
hos ration 2:1 and don't go below %40 DM-- all the others the program will red flag for you.
Down below you will see a spot to list the weight and estimated
DRY MATTER consumption (full feed around 3%BW) It also gives you a place to fill in the type of animal(the list to choose from is off to the right)
To the side it will tell you what your results should be with that ration. Including the DM and actual lbs needed to be fed if using wet ingredients.
Then you go back and tweak the numbers and ingredients till you find the least cost mix that will give you the est gain you need.
Once you have what you think looks good click on the Mixing Tab
That is where you can see the ration as % as is and % DM (double check DM figures to make sure you don't go over optimum levels of ingredients and meet fiber needs)
At the top you enter how much you want to make in a load- and it will tell you lbs to add.
Again its only as good as the figures you use
You can also go to the nutrients tab- and find out what you are paying the most for (might be a good choice to go back and see if you can use less). And you can check to see if too much of the protein is all from a bypass source or if you have a good balance.
If you have too much of a mineral you can see where its coming from so you can recalculate and use less of that ingredient.
If you want to print a page Make sure you
SELECT and only print the selected page- or it will print off EVERYTHING pages and pages.............