Receiving Ration for just weaned Calves

[Stocker Steve]

I have been adding CTC crumbles to a balanced creep ration for receiving new calves. Recently a new feed sales rep in our area has been pushing expensive "receiving rations" for the first two weeks.

Do you have any positive experiences with special minerals, vitamins, yeasts, or other additives in a receiving ration?

 

[msscamp]

Not sure if this will help or not, but we always use Hubbard AS70 for a month or so with our weaning calves. It's medicated and helps them to not get sick while they are adjusting to being without Mom. It works very well, too.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

I have been adding CTC crumbles to a balanced creep ration for receiving new calves. Recently a new feed sales rep in our area has been pushing expensive "receiving rations" for the first two weeks.

Do you have any positive experiences with special minerals, vitamins, yeasts, or other additives in a receiving ration?

Steve

About 6 months ago, I changed from a feedmill prepared starter feed to a 50/50 blend of corn gluten feed/soyhull pellets. Cost savings is 40-45%. Have used this blend on salebarn calves from 125lb to 700lb+. I'm really pleased with the results. All of the nutritionists that I have spoken to say that antibiotics in feed can't deliver high enough doseage to be of real benefit. Only thing they recommend is Bovatec as a coccidiastat. Now using mineral w/Bovatec for that.

First 2 weeks calves get hay and all the pellets they will eat. Beginning of the third week we restrict the pellets to 1%bw/day to keep calves from getting to fat. At the end of the 4th week the receiving program is over and calves go into our grazing program but still get 1%bw pellets as a protein/energy supplement. Due to our current extended drought, grass is running very short and we have changed our blend to 35% CG/65% soy hull. Now we are feeding 1.5%-2.0%bw/day with very limited grass. Calves appear to be doing well with little forage. When feeding CG a high calcium mineral (4:1 Ca/Phos)is recommended due to CG having high phos levels.

For more info on feeding byproduct feeds, I have attached
this link:

http://agebb.missouri.edu/dairy/byprod/index.htm

Hope this info helps.

Regards

Brock

 

[msscamp]

All of the nutritionists that I have spoken to say that antibiotics in feed can't deliver high enough doseage to be of real benefit. Brock

Wow! Dad has improved his management skills from exemplary to stellar! Since we started with the AS70 we have not had one single calf that needed doctoring for anything. Prior to the AS70 we always had a couple that would come up sick.