SHOW HEIFER FEED

Help Support CattleToday:

[email protected]

Active member
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Messages
38
Reaction score
0
Location
kentucky
What are some different types of feed that will do good for a show heifer. Or different mixtures that will help. I really need help I have 2 heifers that really need to grow for a sale in May. If anyone has any tips it would be greatly appreciated.
 
The trick, no matter what you feed, is consistency. Feed the same feed, the same time of the day, twice a day, every day.

Don't mess with the rations or the schedual and that is how they put on weight.
 
Not sure what y'all got up in Kentucky but some good heifer feeds are Acco and Pilgrim's. HiPro has done pretty well for a couple heifers in our barn but I personally like Acco and Pilgrim's better. Acco's website is: http://www.accofeeds.com and Pilgrim's website is: http://www.pilgrimsfeed.com. You can find out whether there's a dealer somewhere in your state that has those feeds on their websites.
 
[email protected]":2clg8p63 said:
What are some different types of feed that will do good for a show heifer. Or different mixtures that will help. I really need help I have 2 heifers that really need to grow for a sale in May. If anyone has any tips it would be greatly appreciated.

Please check your PM for a Feed Program and Ration.
 
certherfbeef":24ciz2ih said:
... twice a day,

What is the advantage to feeding twice a day, opposed to just once a day?

Thanks

Ryan
 
Any recommendations for feed for us northerners? I'm up in ND and it's difficult to find something decent up here. We've tried working with our Extension agent to mix up a custom ration but just can't get the gain we need to. We dont' have access to silage either, just free choice hay and mineral.
 
i am somewhat under the impression that us "northerners" have to feed from a bag almost. I can't get cotton seed, or cotton hulls, unless I get a semi load. Do you have distillers or gluten available? and soybean meal, or hulls? Talk to the coop, and see if they can mix something comparable to the show feed you are looking for. I have the coop's bulk version of show rite for almost half the price. if I need to I throw in a little of my own corn to bulk some up a bit.
 
Ryan":1fcnr2v1 said:
certherfbeef":1fcnr2v1 said:
... twice a day,

What is the advantage to feeding twice a day, opposed to just once a day?

Thanks

Ryan
The calf will consume more and in turn gain more. It's even better if you can feed three times a day...ideally 6 am, 12 pm, and 6 pm.
 
We feed twice a day. Some people feed three times a day. I know one person who feeds once a day. Find what works for you and stick to it. Instead of posting questions on BB's, I think more people should do their own research. Every ag college has a web site where you can read papers on research that they have done. We use our own mix based on this research. Are you going to base your program on what two or three anonymous writers post on the internet?
 
6M Ranch":2bx3vhl7 said:
We feed twice a day. Some people feed three times a day. I know one person who feeds once a day. Find what works for you and stick to it. Instead of posting questions on BB's, I think more people should do their own research. Every ag college has a web site where you can read papers on research that they have done. We use our own mix based on this research. Are you going to base your program on what two or three anonymous writers post on the internet?

A smart person can discern, good advice on here. When anyone is giving you advice, rather in person, on internet or article from College you have to be able to discern rather this information make sense or not.

Say Cowboy13 says Acco Grower is good. Then you would do some research on this feed. In doing so you will find out that it is a very respected feed, that has produced many champions in different states. So then you can come to the conclusion that this is probably a good feed.

A person trying to learn should not ever disregard any channels of advice. If you did you would be loosing the knowledge on here of some people that have fed show animals for 10, 20 or 30 years. And no extension agency is going to have that much research in a specific field such as Show Animals.
 
My point is, five different people using five different types of feed is not helpful advice. Everyone swears by their personal favorite. A search for "show cattle feed" will give you the same five choices. Universities spend thousands of our tax dollars to figure out what works best. Feeding a show heifer is no different than feeding a replacement heifer. Show cattle need the same protein, fat, vitamins, etc. that commercial/seedstock cattle do. Learning what each component of a feed mixture does, will help to determine what your cattle are lacking. There is no magic ingredient in feed. A smart person would compare the nutritional analysis on all the feeds, and find out that they are all very similar. A little research will give you the information to design your own mix, that will be 1/2 the price, and work as well or better than the commercial mixes.
 
6M Ranch":1kumzwtn said:
My point is, five different people using five different types of feed is not helpful advice. Everyone swears by their personal favorite. A search for "show cattle feed" will give you the same five choices. Universities spend thousands of our tax dollars to figure out what works best. Feeding a show heifer is no different than feeding a replacement heifer. Show cattle need the same protein, fat, vitamins, etc. that commercial/seedstock cattle do. Learning what each component of a feed mixture does, will help to determine what your cattle are lacking. There is no magic ingredient in feed. A smart person would compare the nutritional analysis on all the feeds, and find out that they are all very similar. A little research will give you the information to design your own mix, that will be 1/2 the price, and work as well or better than the commercial mixes.

I do agree that a special mix, is just as good as most of these brand name feeds. We have quit feeding acco and use a custom blend. But I disagree that it is so simple to say that show calves need the same thing as commercial cattle need. Believe me no commercial cattleman are feeding their replacement heifers the same mix as what we are our show heifers. If you base your custom mix on the information you receive through the extension agents for commercial cattle you will most likely not be very competitive.
 
aplusmnt":v09cflb0 said:
6M Ranch":v09cflb0 said:
My point is, five different people using five different types of feed is not helpful advice. Everyone swears by their personal favorite. A search for "show cattle feed" will give you the same five choices. Universities spend thousands of our tax dollars to figure out what works best. Feeding a show heifer is no different than feeding a replacement heifer. Show cattle need the same protein, fat, vitamins, etc. that commercial/seedstock cattle do. Learning what each component of a feed mixture does, will help to determine what your cattle are lacking. There is no magic ingredient in feed. A smart person would compare the nutritional analysis on all the feeds, and find out that they are all very similar. A little research will give you the information to design your own mix, that will be 1/2 the price, and work as well or better than the commercial mixes.

I do agree that a special mix, is just as good as most of these brand name feeds. We have quit feeding acco and use a custom blend. But I disagree that it is so simple to say that show calves need the same thing as commercial cattle need. Believe me no commercial cattleman are feeding their replacement heifers the same mix as what we are our show heifers. If you base your custom mix on the information you receive through the extension agents for commercial cattle you will most likely not be very competitive.

6M, Donald is exactly on point. You can't feed Show Cattle like you would replacements. As a matter of fact, you can't often, if ever feed two different Show calves the same. All calves are different. Some need more growth, some less, but more fat, and so on, and so on. These are the same reasons that a strategicly researched major show feed producer will have several different rations and supplements. This is why the feed program is probably more important than the feed itself. A well balanced ration can be tweaked for individual animals, but it must also remain well balanced. Good nutritionists will tell you they just crunch the numbers, the feeders are the experts.
 
I think we're all on the same page. I think the basic nutritional requirements are the same. We use five basic mixes, and tweak them throughout the year to fit the current situation. This is just not possible with any bagged mixes. They're designed to work on a lot of different cattle. Which brings me back to my original post. Knowledge is the key to success. Using XYZ feed because someone in Timbuktu likes it, is not the way to be successful.
 

Latest posts

Top