lineman-up
Active member
i was just wondering if anyone feeds calves on the tenderleen program. i was talked into it by the feed salesman and was just wondering what any of the experienced people think of it good or bad?
tenderleen program
- Thread starter lineman-up
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I was happy with the program; calves grew fast and looked nice. The one problem that I encountered with it was an unusual number of steers foundering. I started feeding some sort of roughage (corn stalks or anything cheap) and it really decreased the foot problems. I have some neighbors that raise quite a few steers on it and they seem to be satisfied with it.
I switched to other programs (Hubbard and Land-O-Lakes) simply because of the cost. But now with delivery costs being so much the closer Doboy delear is cheaper again and I am switching back. I am now feeding angus cross calves instead of dairy steers and only use the low roughage programs from 800-900 lbs up. But for holstein steers I think it is the way to go from birth on up.
I switched to other programs (Hubbard and Land-O-Lakes) simply because of the cost. But now with delivery costs being so much the closer Doboy delear is cheaper again and I am switching back. I am now feeding angus cross calves instead of dairy steers and only use the low roughage programs from 800-900 lbs up. But for holstein steers I think it is the way to go from birth on up.
lineman-up
Active member
thanks chris, now time for me to show what i know!! what should i be looking for with their feet? at what age did these problems occur? as i have said before i dont know a damn thing, my six week old calves are the oldest calves i have ever had and the only, thanks for your patience
lost in minnesota
lost in minnesota
If you follow their feeding directions exactly they claim you won't have any problems and my neighbors don't have too many problems either so you shouldn't have to worry about it. And when I say we had an unacceptable amount of problems it was probably less than 5%; and it usually occured I would guess somewhere around the 1100-1200 lb mark. Most of the ones that did founder would still finish out fine and bring just as much as their healthy pen mates. But their rate of gain did slow down as they spent less time at the bunk. Occassionally we would have one that would have problems sooner and just kind of stall at around 1000 lbs.
My neighbors bed with corn stalks and I'm not sure if that is all the roughage they get or not, but they don't seem to have many problems. But to answer your question: if they seem to start walking gingerly on usually their front feet that is what I would first notice, then they wouldn't wear their hooves properly and they would start getting long hooves.
Hope that helps. Otherwise another poster who goes by SOMN feeds a lot of holstein steers and seems to be pretty sharp; he may have some experience with the low roughage programs and have some good advice. Otherwise PM him.
My neighbors bed with corn stalks and I'm not sure if that is all the roughage they get or not, but they don't seem to have many problems. But to answer your question: if they seem to start walking gingerly on usually their front feet that is what I would first notice, then they wouldn't wear their hooves properly and they would start getting long hooves.
Hope that helps. Otherwise another poster who goes by SOMN feeds a lot of holstein steers and seems to be pretty sharp; he may have some experience with the low roughage programs and have some good advice. Otherwise PM him.
