Feeding beet to hiefers/mineral needed?

stop thelights

We will be feeding 10 to 15kg a head of fodder beet to heifers that will be calving in sept and some that will be calving in the following spring. Would they need minerals with this amount of feeding?

At the moment the milkers are on 15kgs of beet with minerals but should should the bulling heifers get minerals. Just unsure of what the minearls will be balancing out?

freedominacup

stop thelights wrote: »

We will be feeding 10 to 15kg a head of fodder beet to heifers that will be calving in sept and some that will be calving in the following spring. Would they need minerals with this amount of feeding?

At the moment the milkers are on 15kgs of beet with minerals but should should the bulling heifers get minerals. Just unsure of what the minearls will be balancing out?

Short answer get a beet mineral. AFAIK beet is low in quite a few minerals but most merchants stock minerals specifically for beet/maize.

DMAXMAN

freedominacup wrote: »

Short answer get a beet mineral. AFAIK beet is low in quite a few minerals but most merchants stock minerals specifically for beet/maize.

beet/maize minerals are high in phosphorus and calcium. also carry a good level of copper to counteract soil on the beet(soil on beet can lock up copper in the animals.are you using soya or rapeseed for protein?:)

freedominacup

stop thelights wrote: »

We will be feeding 10 to 15kg a head of fodder beet to heifers that will be calving in sept and some that will be calving in the following spring. Would they need minerals with this amount of feeding?

At the moment the milkers are on 15kgs of beet with minerals but should should the bulling heifers get minerals. Just unsure of what the minearls will be balancing out?

BTW be careful with dirt on beet for milkers. Not such a big deal for beef cattle but you can get sediment build-up in cows that are fed beet for a number of years. If I'm overstating the obvious I apologise:o

stop thelights

freedominacup wrote: »

Short answer get a beet mineral. AFAIK beet is low in quite a few minerals but most merchants stock minerals specifically for beet/maize.

Ya the milkers are on the maize/beet minerals as they are getting both maize and beet! We wash all our beet labour intensive but i'm hoping to try out washing it through an old keenan feeder and see how it works if at all!:pac:

I would love to know more about nutrition! I know lack of calcium will lead to LDA's but what is phosphorus linked to? Think i'll add it to the mix when we're mixing up the ration for them. We're using soya as rapeseed u'd have to feed it through the diet feeder as they won't eat it mixed in the ration!

Cheers for the replys:)

freedominacup

stop thelights wrote: »

Ya the milkers are on the maize/beet minerals as they are getting both maize and beet! We wash all our beet labour intensive but i'm hoping to try out washing it through an old keenan feeder and see how it works if at all!:pac:

I would love to know more about nutrition! I know lack of calcium will lead to LDA's but what is phosphorus linked to? Think i'll add it to the mix when we're mixing up the ration for them. We're using soya as rapeseed u'd have to feed it through the diet feeder as they won't eat it mixed in the ration!

Cheers for the replys:)

A couple of basic pointers so.

Maintenance for an adult cow= 65MJ/ME
1 litre of milk needs around 5MJ/ME
4-6 weeks before calving cow needs maintenance plus 20 MJ/ME for pregnancy.
Cow yielding 27 litres needs 200MJ/ME or around 18kg/DM @ an average of 11ME. Fresh calved she will get some energy from weight loss but we would always try to reduce the length of time that she looses weight as much as possible.

The guy who lectured us in nutrition years ago told us when formulating cow diets to look after the energy and you won't be too far off on the protein requirements. A bit of tweaking will get you there. It can be a bit harder with low protein forages like maize and beet.

http://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/pws/Content.ice?page=AgricultureAlternativeFeedsStraightsProducts&pgForward=businesscontentfull

I was surprised at the mE figures quoted for some of the straights on this link but it's probably not a bad guide.

bob charles

stop thelights wrote: »

Ya the milkers are on the maize/beet minerals as they are getting both maize and beet! We wash all our beet labour intensive but i'm hoping to try out washing it through an old keenan feeder and see how it works if at all!:pac:

I would love to know more about nutrition! I know lack of calcium will lead to LDA's but what is phosphorus linked to? Think i'll add it to the mix when we're mixing up the ration for them. We're using soya as rapeseed u'd have to feed it through the diet feeder as they won't eat it mixed in the ration!

Cheers for the replys:)

Most importantly make sure the ratio of Ca:P is 2:1. and make sure to wash the beet, You will get bonkers Iron readings with dirty beet. Being there and gotten the Tshirt only last year. I should have known better as I always reccommend washing beet but last year we were very busy and from looking at the heap of beet it looked clean. Started getting stomach problems, washed a load and there was 5% earth on it :eek: