Weaning Beef Cattle Cottonseed Hulls Used as Sole Roughages

One of the biggest components to successfully early on weaning of calves from drought-stressed cows and pastures is a prosperous transition to a feed ration or rations.

Much of the information on this topic cited traces back to 2 annual trials at Oklahoma State University back in 1980-82. That newspaper notes the beginning two weeks subsequently weaning are critical because stress tin be loftier and calves need to acquire how to eat and potable.

More than recent information from OSU suggests two rations for weaned calves. Both have been widely used by beef producers and proven successful, says Dave Lalman, beef specialist for OSU. Those can be found in the chart imbedded in this story.

Oklahoma State Academy

Diet A has the reward of requiring fewer commodities and no alfalfa pellets. Nutrition B is less beefy, resulting in better handling characteristics, and information technology should flow amend in cocky-feeders.

Besides included in the reports are these 8 pieces of advice.

1. The calves should be placed in a modest pen with shelter bachelor. The feed bunk and water source should exist easily accessible and recognizable.

2. The ration needs to be loftier in energy and protein and highly palatable. New Mexico research has shown young calves seem less as prone to acidosis than yearlings, and eat concentrated rations very well. Consumption of these rations be 3% of body weight within two weeks

3. Cottonseed hulls were used as the sole roughage source in one ration and a significant portion in the other, since they are extremely palatable. If chopped hay is substituted for cottonseed hulls, molasses should exist added to minimize dust. Both are complete rations and should not be supplemented with hay.

4. Soybean meal or alfalfa is a preferable protein source over cottonseed meal for immature calves, and Lalman says the ration labeled Diet B is well tested and favored by producers starting lightweight calves.

five. The original inquiry suggested three step-upwardly rations, but either A or B piece of work fine until calves get upwards to almost 400 pounds, when they can exist turned out on grass or switched to a more traditional growing diet.

six. To insure that smaller and more timid calves get a risk at feed and h2o, limit twenty calves per pen during the critical start few days on the starter ration. Placing one or ii older calves that are accustomed to eating and drinking in with the early on-weaned calves helps to reduce stress on the weaned calves and give them someone to follow to the feed bunks and waterers.

7. If coccidiosis is believed to be a potential trouble, a cocciostat should be fed at the start of the early weaning flow.

8. Watch for respiratory problems, especially during the first few days.

In that older OSU data, calves gained 1.75 pounds per day for the weaned flow and in recent years have gained 1.75 to 2.25 pounds per day on the two rations we show here. In N Dakota trials, early-weaned calves gained 1.51 to ii.32 pounds per day.

If silages and other fermented feeds will be used in an early weaning program, Rick Rasby, Academy of Nebraska beefiness specialist, says in another newspaper on early weaning those forages should be introduced gradually into the diets of young calves that are inexperienced with such feeds. Although they have loftier diet, he says, silages should only be used in limited amounts because the high moisture level and the palatability characteristics of silage brand it unlikely calves will consume silage-based diets in amounts adequate to grow at targeted levels.

More lessons from a confined-cow perspective

Oklahoma State Academy has for several years now maintained a confined-cow operation and therefore has calves on feed. Beef Producer asked OSU beef specialist Dave Lalman if he has any new lessons or thoughts from those experiences he would share. This is his answer:

"I do believe we have confirmed some things we already knew. First of all, I would consider our particular operation coccidiosis-challenged. Significant nosotros have a history of problems if nosotros confine calves in a dry lot during a stressful menses for whatsoever length of time and don't include a coccidiostat. We haven't had a trouble decision-making the disease equally long as nosotros include the additive.

"Like to a lot of southern Great Plains ranching operations, our primary forage resources is harvested hay. We exercise non produce cottonseed hulls, peanut hulls, silage, haylage or alfalfa hay hither at our location. Also, we don't have enough animals to justify the use of a semi-load of Sweet Bran (wet corn gluten feed) or wet distiller's grains because we couldn't use if fast enough before it spoils. As a upshot, our nutrition ingredients are dry out and dusty, requiring the inclusion of a liquid molasses product to cut down on dust, increase palatability, and stick ingredients together (reduce sorting).

"Consequently, we take used a TMR of about 30 to 35% processed prairie or bermudagrass hay, 7.5% liquid feed, and the rest a blend of DDGS and cracked corn. We have tried to employ the highest quality hay bachelor to us. This gives united states a palatable diet that is relatively safe in terms of digestive upset (bloat and founder), acceptable protein concentration for little calves, will support 2 to 3 pounds per day ADG, and skilful feed conversion. Plainly, there would exist many other ways to approach this depending on available resources, facilities and feed mixing/feeding equipment. This is simply the general approach nosotros have taken, every bit an example."

"This nutritional direction program needs to be closely monitored and managed daily. Feed intake, scours, pilus coat, calves consuming dirt or chewing woods and fleshiness are things to keep an eye on. The calves should exist licking themselves and pilus coat should be bright and fresh (not brown and stale looking for blackness calves for case). My proposition would be to limit feed intake once information technology reaches well-nigh 2 to 2.5% of torso weight to keep calves from getting also fleshy. In our contempo experiments, we pretty much fed the calves about all they would consume simply to learn how much they would swallow compared to their contemporaries still nursing their mothers. Every bit a result, the early weaned calves were fleshy by the 205-twenty-four hour period mark.

"Obviously, the nutritional management program requires a lot of iron, and with that comes maintenance and depreciation. We have processed our hay, blended our ration and fed using a truck with a vertical mixer/hay processor. If the truck goes downwardly, you are in problem. So you need a backup plan!"

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Source: https://www.beefmagazine.com/cow-calf/two-rations-feed-early-weaned-calves

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