Question about feed

[tulsagreenhorn]

I hear a lot of you say that you dont raise cattle out of a feed sack and I am trying to get an idea of what that means. I am extremly new to this but I have my cattle on some land and every day after work I feed them a few scoops of 20% cubes. To me that seems like the thing to do because they stay semi tamed, not where you can ride them or anything but so they know me and come to me when I call them.

I guess my question is what if anything and how often should I feed them so they have more than grass and hay? Any replies would be helpful.

 

[Limomike]

How old are your cattle? How much are you feeding them each day? Sack feeding is good for a small herd, and you are right, it does tame them. I would continue feeding if you can afford it, and dont forget to provide plenty of water and hay. As with all protein, (cubes or liquid) forage is a must or it burns their bellies. IF they are young cattle, they can get bloated if fed too much.

 

[dun]

In my view, the raising out of a sack deal means you need (operative work is need) to feed a lot of supplement long term to be able to support your animals on your exisitng forage base. Applies to grain or other feed supplemenmts and to feeding hay all year.
But that's just my interpretation

dun

 

[tulsagreenhorn]

I bought them as 400 pounders last September, and now i would guess they are about 1000 lbs. I think they are close to 2 years old and bred. Between 5 heifers and 1 bull I feed about half of a 5 gallon bucket per day. They have access to 2 ponds so water is not an issue

 

[dun]

I bought them as 400 pounders last September, and now i would guess they are about 1000 lbs. I think they are close to 2 years old and bred. Between 5 heifers and 1 bull I feed about half of a 5 gallon bucket per day. They have access to 2 ponds so water is not an issue

Depending on the supplement, that would be between roughly 10-15 pounds a day. If they don;t require the additional supplement, I personally would only give them that much a couple of times a week at most. Ours rarely get any feed from a bucket except when we bring them up to the catch pen for some reason. Even after months of no grain, if I walk anywhere in their sight with a white bucket they all come running.

dun

 

[Limomike]

I agree with Dun.. since they are fully grown cows.. they dont need as much feed. I dont feed mine any cubes unless it really gets super cold (which hasnt yet) and then not too much.
I always have the liquid feed out for them during the winter months, so the protein consumption is not an issue.