Thinking of Moving to Self Feeder

[mdt192]

Hello,

Currently, I am feeding out 3 steers for butcher in early January. They get fed 2.5% BW on a mixture of shelled corn (75%), cottonseed meal (12.5%), and commodity pellets (12.5%). I also mix in some mineral and baking soda. They get fed half in the morning, half in the evening. Over 91 days, I averaged 3.89#/day gain on the three, so I am pleased with how they are going. However, I likely have some work travel upcoming and don't want to have to someone else handle the feeding. In the past, I had someone do a once daily feeding, and it seemed to go okay though. They are at the stage where they are getting 81.5# a day, so it would be a bit of a chore to put on someone.

I am considering moving to a self feeder to get these boys the rest of the way, just using one of my old creep feeders. My questions are:

Would their consumption go through the roof? I know it should stay the same because they can only eat so much, but wanted to see if anyone had any experience with it.

Are there any health risks for them? Acidosis or something like that if they eat too much? They have been on this diet for almost 4 months now, so they should be adjusted.

Would my gains go up or down? Honestly, they could stand slowing down a bit, the two biggest ones are in the 1150 range with 75 days to go.

Would by finer materials such as the cottonseed meal and minerals sift to the bottom and let the ration become unmixed?

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[TCRanch]

In the past, I had someone do a once daily feeding, and it seemed to go okay though. They are at the stage where they are getting 81.5# a day, so it would be a bit of a chore to put on someone.

I know absolutely nothing about a self-feeder. But I feed a neighbor's cattle (and especially the ones he's feeding out) anytime he's out of town. Sometimes multiple times a day as well as pick up the mail, feed the dogs, cats, etc. Because he would/has done the same for us. Another option is farm kids/4-H kids around that would love some extra responsibility (and credit for 4-H) with a little cash as incentive.

 

[ChrisB2]

We finish ours on a free choice corn/pellets ration. We will ramp them up over 4 weeks or so, once they are maxed out and we fill the bunks they will back off and actually eat less. 2hat you are currently doing is best, but also takes the most time & labor. We keep our bunks full mostly because it is easier labor wise.

 

[ClinchValley86]

What will they wat in a day?

Ive done it for 2 years a few years back. Had a couple get feet problem, and they ate me out of house and home. I was feeding corn/distillers, then straight corn. They were butterballs though.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Hello,

Currently, I am feeding out 3 steers for butcher in early January. They get fed 2.5% BW on a mixture of shelled corn (75%), cottonseed meal (12.5%), and commodity pellets (12.5%). I also mix in some mineral and baking soda. They get fed half in the morning, half in the evening. Over 91 days, I averaged 3.89#/day gain on the three, so I am pleased with how they are going. However, I likely have some work travel upcoming and don't want to have to someone else handle the feeding. In the past, I had someone do a once daily feeding, and it seemed to go okay though. They are at the stage where they are getting 81.5# a day, so it would be a bit of a chore to put on someone.

I am considering moving to a self feeder to get these boys the rest of the way, just using one of my old creep feeders. My questions are:

Would their consumption go through the roof? I know it should stay the same because they can only eat so much, but wanted to see if anyone had any experience with it.

Are there any health risks for them? Acidosis or something like that if they eat too much? They have been on this diet for almost 4 months now, so they should be adjusted.

Would my gains go up or down? Honestly, they could stand slowing down a bit, the two biggest ones are in the 1150 range with 75 days to go.

Would by finer materials such as the cottonseed meal and minerals sift to the bottom and let the ration become unmixed?

Thanks for any feedback.

Self feeders are very convenient. Your ADG will go down a little.
You have to work them up to a SF. Are they leaving any feed when you feed them? If not they aren’t ready for a SF yet. Gradually increase their feed until they are leaving some for several days. Then feed them like normal and while they are eating or shortly after turn them in with the self feeder.
I’ve not used the ration you are using so I’m not sure if it will separate. But I can tell you that the fines tend to settle out over time in a SF.
Once they’re on the SF don’t let it run out. That will cause them to over eat when they get feed again.
What about scratch? Are they getting hay or is the cotton seed meal ment to be there roughage?

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I have been using a self feeder for a couple of years for groups of 10 to 20 head and would never go back to buckets more than a couple. My program is to work them up on the amount of feed using buckers until they are leaving just a little bit of feed in the trough. Then they are put on the feeder. They will actually eat slightly less than feeding twice daily. But the slower gains is worth it for me to only have to fill up a feeder once a week or so with.a grinder/mixer. I keep free choice hay out for scratch.

 

[mdt192]

Awesome, thank you both for the help. I have been overfeeding the last week, and they are leaving plenty in the trough now. I will look at getting them moved to the feeder.