Feedback on Meal composition please..

bbam

Hey guys..
got a bit fed up buying calf starter in 20kg bags so I got a 500kg bag.. the mix seems fresh and the calves are mad for it, even a few that weren't that keen on the Pattons mix..

I was just wondering if anyone more clued in could give and oppinion on its content..



It was €80 a tonne cheaper than buying in bags too which is a bonus.. the Ash was something that seemed a little high but it is similar to what I was feeding..

Also.. I was wondering why a MAX feeding rate of 1kg per 100kg bodyweight??

whelan1

main thing that is jumping out at me is there is no percentages of the ingredirents, are they listed in descending order? when we are getting meal quotes in the group we throw out any quotes that dont show the percentages of the ingredients...

Timmaay

Whelan who are ya getting your dairynuts off at the minute? Cheapest I could find for a high UFL 18% was from Paul and Vincent, just looking at the docket now, % of each constituent (ie protien/fibre etc) on it, but just a list of ingredients with no further information. I may ask the sales rep before I order again, have bought 1000s worth of nuts over the past few months from them so its the least they can do!

whelan1

send a sample of them to oldcastle labs, think it costs around 30 euro for the test, and postage, well worth it, we got the nuts tested from a feed company that are no longer in business, they where ****e.... well outside the tolerance levels for the test...

DMAXMAN

from what i see on that label i would class it as a good ration. there are no fillers in that list , just good quality ingredeients. dont know about the max feed levels, could be to do with mineral levels in the ration

himwdah

wouldnt worry about max feeding level, its been said that u need to feed over 10kgs to get the amount of minerals that an animal requires by the mineral label- normally 100grams recommended rate and it is only one 25kg bag to 1000kg finished product.

also the labels should be in desending order of weight inclusion which would seem about right for ur analysis but a look at the meal is a good indicator if its not a pellet, and as said there are no fillers in it,

on the meal sample/test i would suggest u test more than one sample as it is actually hard to get an even mix and as such a good representation of a blend by a single sample, as when it is being handled at the mill it starts to separate as they individual ingredients weigh different, blowing into a bin is very good at separating meal.

pelleting meal is a good way of getting read of less than appetising straights but also has to have a higher moisture content to form the pellets and this comes from molasses and soya oil and water. i have never trusted pellets and so only feed sheep rolls when grass is scarce and i dont want to have to shift mealtroughs, i never feed to cattle.

Sam Kade

Did anyone use that eclipse haylage ration calfage I think it's called? The ration is mixed with haylage in 20kg bags and there's no need to feed roughage as it is in the feed. The big problem is the price 11.99 for a 20kg bag, they have sample bags in dairygold and you can easily see it is half haylage half ration :rolleyes: