What to feed?

[T-Bone]

My heifers (3girls) are about 10 months old and I have been feeding them some creep 13% about 4-5 times a week once a day. They have also been grazing on some native grass. I am trying to get them ready to breed in the late spring. What else can I feed?

 

[dun]

Minerals, salt and water.

dun

 

[T-Bone]

For how long do I keep them on creep? Also, I have menerals for them. How do I get them to lick the salt and mineral block?
I am just starting, thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[dun]

If the pasture/hay is of decent quality they probably don;t need the creep. Put out quality loose mineral in a feeder of some sort and a salt block alongside, they'll catch on. Over feeding heifers can lead to more problems then under feeding them a little bit. When the grass comes on in the spring they'll get to breeding weight. What breed and weight are they now?

dun

 

[J. T.]

I would use loose minerals as opposed to blocks. They can't get enough of what they need from a block.

 

[T-Bone]

crossbred Beefmaster,Limosine & Brangus they weigh about 450-500lbs.

 

[Aero]

you only have another 175 lbs or so to gain in 4 months or so. thats 175 lbs / 120 days = 1.46 lb/day

on the outside if they were fed free choice creep, they could probably gain double that.

sounds like you are right on schedule... maybe a little ahead.

 

[milkmaid]

My heifers (3girls) are about 10 months old

crossbred Beefmaster,Limosine & Brangus they weigh about 450-500lbs.

Seems really small to me. I'm thinking they should be at least 600lbs at 10 months. 500lbs at 10 months would mean less than 1.5lb ADG. Were they orphaned/bottle calves or raised on a cow?

 

[Aero]

My heifers (3girls) are about 10 months old

crossbred Beefmaster,Limosine & Brangus they weigh about 450-500lbs.

Seems really small to me. I'm thinking they should be at least 600lbs at 10 months. 500lbs at 10 months would mean less than 1.5lb ADG. Were they orphaned/bottle calves or raised on a cow?

i agree that i would not be satisfied if they were mine, but using the 65% rule, as long as they are 675-700 lb by breeding time, they should be in good receptive shape, no?

 

[T-Bone]

Also, they have stopped grazing. Should I feed them daily? I also have coastal hay out for them. I give them about 4lbs/head of creep about 4-5 times/week . Please advise and thanks for all the comments.

 

[jersey lilly]

What are you feedin them? the creep ration, if it's got alot of roughage in it, that could be why they aren't grazing or eating hay. We had that problem when we started feeding our daughters show heifers last year.(had gotten up to almost 20 lbs of feed per head per day.3% of body weight) The bagged feed you buy, beef grower whatever has alot of roughage in it and so therefore they dont need the hay. Hay is cheaper tho than payin an arm and a leg for roughage added to a bagged feed. See if you can find a feed that doesn't have the roughage added. You won't feed as much, but they will then go to grazing and eating the hay. I also recommend a loose mineral. We use the MG Brand 12-12.
Right now we are currently feeding her heifers for this years fair, 7 lbs each of the feed, and free choice hay. They are spring (jan feb) calves and averaged 750 lbs in November at tag in. We started feedin them the middle of October. Last year we averaged 3.8 lbs of gain per day.

 

[preston39]

T...,
dun is right ...salt minerals and water. Usually they will eat most anything due to increase appetite. Check and make sure nothing else is involved. We like loose minerals and salt in the winter and use blocks in the summer. If you think they are mineral and salt deficient....sprinkle a little on top of the dry feed.

 

[T-Bone]

Thanks for alll the good info.........

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

crossbred Beefmaster,Limosine & Brangus they weigh about 450-500lbs.

That weight is very low IMO. You should be shooting for them to be well grown out by breeding time, so that they can handle a decent size calf. If they don't get to 65% of their mature weight by breeding time, they just won't cycle.
Hard for me to believe that cross will only be 1000# MATURE type cattle - more like 1200#.
You are feeding bare minimum grain. They can START out at 1% of their body weight EVERY DAY, plus all the hay/grass, and LOOSE mineral/salt.
If you had really well grown out weaned calves, than yes, they can achieve breeding size with good pasture, like Dun can do, but you are talking pretty small heifers for their age. It is a lot easier to put the weight on them now before breeding, to assure a good healthy animal at calving time. Getting them bred is only the first battle, calving them & getting the REBRED is the biggest battle.
I do not believe in SHOOTING for bare minimums (or under bare minimums).

 

[T-Bone]

Okay, so do I change the feed? If so to what? And how much do I give? Thanks for your input.

 

[J]

For how long do I keep them on creep? Also, I have menerals for them. How do I get them to lick the salt and mineral block? I am just starting, thanks in advance for all your help.

You have to get down on all four and show them! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Naw just kidding they usually figure it out on their own and after they try it once they will go to it when they need too.

I agree with dun, but along with those three items maybe you should throw in some quality hay and grass. In my opinion the creep is just an added bonus.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

If these heifers are that hard doing to be that weight at 10 mo. i would look in to trading up. im thinking they are real framey.heifers like this like was said are slower maturing and slow to breed and you will have a ton of money in them when they have that first calf.

 

[T-Bone]

Thank's, give me several solutions to consider. Should I take them off the Creep?

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I would feed them once a day every day according to there weight and keep using the 13% protein i use 13% with bovatec

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Deffinately keep them on the creep. I would increase it over the next few weeks, until they are getting at least 3% of their body weight per head per day. So if they were 500#, they can easily handle 15#/hd/day. This is a lot of expense, but you are behind on their growth if you want them ready to be productive cows.
As said, they need loose mineral/salt mixture (look up plastic mineral feeders) and quality hay. Cattle can litterally starve to death, standing in knee deep "dead" grass, and poor quality hay.