rumen buffer

[steveaust]

I have been feeding our calves on a blend of malt combings,reject malt,malt dust(extracted from the air in the top of the silos),carb soda !% of total weight and ground limestone 1%.I soak this overnight so the grain does not go straight thru them.Malt is very dry and when i rolled it and fed it out i had 2 dead steers.Much like feeding them on flour.There are different schools of thought on the carb soda,the vet says you cant overdose,the local farmers(dairy) say you can.Do i need to use it all the time or just while they get used to the grain.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I don't have a clue what you are feeding. But you say it is like feeding flour. I would advise you to keep the soda in the ration.
The insides of a cattle's stomach have tiny little "hairs" or "fingers". If the powder gets plugged up between the "hairs", the stomach stops working properly and they get sick.
Picture you taking a hand full of flour & submerging your hand in a bucket of water. When you open your hand, you will have a ball of powder stuck together.
Out here, we have the same problem with "ground" corn. Feed mills all grind it waaay too much & it's too much like flour. We always recommend for people to feed whole shell corn instead of grinding it because steers get sick on fine feed.

 

[steveaust]

Jeanne ,The malt i am feeding is produced from barley for the brewery industry. They take barley and soak it overnight (steeping),it is then transfered to a rotating drum or box where it is sprayed with growth enhancer (Gibb liquid) and kept at 100% humidity for 4 days.By this time it has germinated with a 10 mm shoot.From here it goes to a kiln where it is dryed at 90C for 20 hours,after the shoots are removed from the grain it is called barley malt.(If you start with wheat its wheat malt).Malt has little moisture in it and the protein content is higher than barley.Malt combings are all the little shoots that are cleaned(combed) from the malt.I feed my critters on this because i scored about 100 ton of waste product (Offal) whilst working in a malthouse.I am only a blocky farmer with 17 acres and 20 calves/steers,so i have to feed whats cheap.

 

[Medic24]

Hey Steve,
Would it happen to be from the Cascade Beer plant, or perhaps Fosters? :cboy:

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I'm not questioning you using a byproduct. By all means, use what you can get cheap. I don't have the resources or ability to feed byproducts. I just wanted to point out that "fine" feed can be a problem - health wise.
If you check with your local - oops - just looked at where your from - don't know if you have extension agents.
So, are you just going into winter now?? How cold is your winters??

 

[steveaust]

I dont know what an extension agent is. Where i live is in the shire of Golden Plains,gives you some idea of the terrain.The winters are not to cold,I have been here for 4 years and the coldest it has got is about 2C overnight.Bloody hot in summer though 44-45C.My biggest concern with feeding byproducts is that they might miss out on important nutrients so we always add limestone and keep a variety of salt licks about the place.Cattle love rice crackers and i hope to get some more soon.Any thing thats a bit fine or dusty we feed out wet,no problems so far.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Plus, you have grazing most year round, don't you?
We have bi-carb & yeast in our pelleted feed all the time. Anything on grain, gets bi-carb & yeast. Part of our balanced ration.

 

[Bernard]

. . . and when i rolled it and fed it out i had 2 dead steers.

I don't speak Australian, but I'm translating your post to mean two of your steers died - possibly from something you fed them - and you're showing FOUR SMILEY FACES??? Can someone help a poor ole dumb boy out here?

 

[steveaust]

Bernard, The vet told me all my steers would surely die as they had all eaten the same thing.I reckon saving the other 18 by drenching with carb soda is good reason to smile.I have not heard of adding yeast to their feed before, does it improve digestion? There is not much grazing available to us here as it is dry,a bit of grass grows in spring but we have had a terrible drought for the last 7 years and it hasnt really broken yet.I would starve if i tried to make a living out of cattle both through inexperience (stupidity?) and because i live in wheat/sheep country.I think I will stay on the beginners board after reading the posts on hobby farmers.

 

[Bernard]

I reckon saving the other 18 by drenching with carb soda is good reason to smile.

Well, I was right - I did need some help. I didn't understand from your original post that the sodium was added after the first two steers died. And while losing a couple of head is just plain bad, saving a steer - let alone 18 - is reason to smile. I don't envy you trying to raise cattle without access to traditional feedstuffs - especially forages. But, you do what you can do. Adding yeast to a ration is recommended in some situations. There have been articles featured on this site that deal with that in detail, and you can probably drag them up. Good luck, and don't worry about anyone taking you to task on these boards!