Tubs

[HDRider]

I am told if you put a tub out and the cattle don't need it, (protein, mineral, etc.) they won't eat it.

I'd think they'd eat it because it has molasses and taste good.

What do you say?

http://www.vitalix.com/cattle-products There sure are a lot of tubs.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

They will eat it.

 

[TiftonBeefmaster]

I say they will go for it because they need it. The molasses makes it palatable. And the included minerals are self limiting. The only way you can know for sure that it's just the molasses they want is to have your grass and hay tested. I keep minerals out year round. The only problem I have had with the tubs is the bull likes to flip them upside down.

 

[Aaron]

Take a few licks yourself and you might get hooked. :shock:

That being said, everything here is on the candy crack tub diet as I am not real impressed with some of last year's hay I have been putting out. About 1 in 20 bales is a real dud that they want nothing to do with - so it goes for bedding.

Spring herd has been without a fix for a few days. Have to pick some more up tomorrow from my 'dealer' or the cows might not let me see the new year.

 

[Brute 23]

I keep tubs out year round and the consumption varies drastically. They can sit for months then you will notice the cattle going to town on them. I'm not a cattle whisperer so I can't really "only put them out when they need them".

What is interesting to me is how young the calves will go to them.

 

[Cucumber35]

I notice the same thing. I keep them out all the time and consumption is all over the place. I thought my hay wasn't so hot but they eat it well and look good and have been barely touching the tubs lately. I moved them between the water troughs and hay feeders so they have to walk right past them and they still aren't eating them half as fast as they were back in the fall on grass.

 

[js1234]

Put them out to cows when the feed is dry and to fly weight Mexicans over the Summer. Some sets of cattle/fields just don't ever let up the throttle on consumption, others the consumption sees a much more measured decrease as they settle in to the season. We do the same with a liquid in wheel tubs on some ranches and I could say the same of it, though you have more control over consumption with the liquid.

 

[ClinchValley]

I have a group of weaned heifers getting my best hay (could still be better) with a tub out. Have a young bull and a heifer getting the same hay with a tub. Then my cows getting the crap hay with a tub out all the time.

Heifers and bull get a little bit of feed every day. I split a sack between them all.

The yearling Bull has been all over the hay and loves the tub. The heifers didn't touch it for a week or so but are slowly working at it. The cows are absolutely wearing it out.

 

[aaroninga]

I always have 24# protein tubs out.
Usually last about 2 weeks for 10 head. It is free choice, they get some if they want it. Not recommended to have it within about 100-150' of water.
My bull also thinks it's a toy to rough up. Can't leave a feed bunk where he can get to it.
I also have high mag minerals out year round.

 

[dun]

I always have 24# protein tubs out.
Usually last about 2 weeks for 10 head. It is free choice, they get some if they want it. Not recommended to have it within about 100-150' of water.
My bull also thinks it's a toy to rough up. Can't leave a feed bunk where he can get to it.
I also have high mag minerals out year round.

I went to the solid concrete bunks for areas that the bull can get to.

 

[aaroninga]

I've thought about the cement bunk for when I'm finished feeding him separately. Probably another 8-10 months. He's 14 months now.

 

[kilroy60]

I always have 24# protein tubs out.
Usually last about 2 weeks for 10 head. It is free choice, they get some if they want it. Not recommended to have it within about 100-150' of water.
My bull also thinks it's a toy to rough up. Can't leave a feed bunk where he can get to it.
I also have high mag minerals out year round.

I'm doing the same thing as you aaron. And our bull does the same thing.

 

[Bigfoot]

I always have 24# protein tubs out.
Usually last about 2 weeks for 10 head. It is free choice, they get some if they want it. Not recommended to have it within about 100-150' of water.
My bull also thinks it's a toy to rough up. Can't leave a feed bunk where he can get to it.
I also have high mag minerals out year round.

25 tubs feed in one year to 10 head sounds really expensive to me. Have you looked in to some cheaper supplements that may be available in your area? If you are feeding them for convenience, then scratch that thought. Tubs are probably the most convenient source.

 

[ddd75]

I always have 24# protein tubs out.
Usually last about 2 weeks for 10 head. It is free choice, they get some if they want it. Not recommended to have it within about 100-150' of water.
My bull also thinks it's a toy to rough up. Can't leave a feed bunk where he can get to it.
I also have high mag minerals out year round.

25 tubs feed in one year to 10 head sounds really expensive to me. Have you looked in to some cheaper supplements that may be available in your area? If you are feeding them for convenience, then scratch that thought. Tubs are probably the most convenient source.

exactly what i was thinking.

 

[Brute 23]

I always have 24# protein tubs out.
Usually last about 2 weeks for 10 head. It is free choice, they get some if they want it. Not recommended to have it within about 100-150' of water.
My bull also thinks it's a toy to rough up. Can't leave a feed bunk where he can get to it.
I also have high mag minerals out year round.

25 tubs feed in one year to 10 head sounds really expensive to me. Have you looked in to some cheaper supplements that may be available in your area? If you are feeding them for convenience, then scratch that thought. Tubs are probably the most convenient source.

exactly what i was thinking.

Hard to say from that info. If they are they are the small tubs around #100 its less than 1lb per day.

Right now is my highest usage time for tubs. I am averaging .92 lbs per day.

 

[aaroninga]

25 tubs feed in one year to 10 head sounds really expensive to me. Have you looked in to some cheaper supplements that may be available in your area? If you are feeding them for convenience, then scratch that thought. Tubs are probably the most convenient source.

exactly what i was thinking.

Hard to say from that info. If they are they are the small tubs around #100 its less than 1lb per day.

Right now is my highest usage time for tubs. I am averaging .92 lbs per day.

Thanks for feedback.
After reading and thinking I'm probably getting closer to 3-4 weeks on a 200# tub but not positive.
I need to keep closer track and just thought about dating the tubs with a permanent marker when I put them out. That'll help my fading memory.....lol
Thanks again

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

I tried something different this year. We are having the mill mix DDG and salt. A ton runs about $160, and in one pasture I have 17 cows and calves and they consume about 100 pounds a day. The other pasture has 13 head of dry, gestating cows and they get 50 pounds a day. I just put it in the mineral feeder, in the middle, with Vitaferm on one side and the loose salt on the other. I have weighed a few cows (we weigh every time we work them, so when we AI or give vaccines). All of the cattle have gained weight this winter since we have been on it
Our partnership cow (owned with Margonme) is a great example. She is in the "fat" group (her nickname is Fatty Patty); 13 dry cows/heifers, getting fescue/crap hay (9% protein) and 50 pounds of the DDG mix once a day. She weighed 1730 on 11/4, we started the DDG mix around December 15th, and we weighed her this weekend while giving Scour Guard (all of our Feb calvers got Scour Guard), she weighed 1835!
Another example; lactating cow (calf born 9/27) in the "skinny" group, 17 cows with calves, getting 12 to 14% protein hay, weighed 1360 on 12/15 (we flushed her), and yesterday was 1415. That group is on 100 pounds a day of the mix.

So, my point is that this has been a WAY cheaper alternative to feeding the tubs. Tubs out here run about $100 each, and do not last but a few days. My ton of DDG will last me 2 weeks. It was TB and someone else on here that turned me in the direction of finding a cheaper alternative.
Our first batch was 80/20, but the cows pretty much devoured that in just 30 minutes. We are working on our second load, and mixed it 70/30, and there is always a little left in the morning, so I know the limiting is working the way I want. The mineral feeder is cleaned up by night time chore time, when we put out more.

 

[TexasBred]

FSW the only difference is that most mixes down here use cottonseed meal for the protein source because of the availability and cost but DDG or soybean meal will also work well and you simply experiment with salt content until you get the consumption per cow per day that you want. Maximum salt consumption per cow should be around 1 lb. per day...that is MAX. Good move and looks like you're getting a lot of bang for your dollars. You may want to cut back on it and go with straight hay as those gestating cows get closer to calving date.

 

[TexasBred]

I always have 24# protein tubs out.
Usually last about 2 weeks for 10 head. It is free choice, they get some if they want it. Not recommended to have it within about 100-150' of water.
My bull also thinks it's a toy to rough up. Can't leave a feed bunk where he can get to it.
I also have high mag minerals out year round.

25 tubs feed in one year to 10 head sounds really expensive to me. Have you looked in to some cheaper supplements that may be available in your area? If you are feeding them for convenience, then scratch that thought. Tubs are probably the most convenient source.

exactly what i was thinking.

Good cooked all natural protein tubs down this way run anywhere from $85 to $100 for each 200 lb. tub. That's about a thousand bucks a ton anyway you look at it.....very expensive supplementation even though consumption is low.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

FSW the only difference is that most mixes down here use cottonseed meal for the protein source because of the availability and cost but DDG or soybean meal will also work well and you simply experiment with salt content until you get the consumption per cow per day that you want. Maximum salt consumption per cow should be around 1 lb. per day...that is MAX. Good move and looks like you're getting a lot of bang for your dollars. You may want to cut back on it and go with straight hay as those gestating cows get closer to calving date.

TB, what happens if they eat more than a pound of salt? If my math is correct, they are eating more than a pound (30 pounds of salt in the 100 pound mix). 30lbs /17 cows... 1.76 pounds. The calves are eating a little, but not much.

I thought about cutting the one bag out of the fat pen, but wondered about that 9% hay being enough.