feeding nuts to store bullocks

triggerharvey

well just wondering would store bullocks need nuts during the winter along with good quality silage

simx

triggerharvey wrote: »

well just wondering would store bullocks need nuts during the winter along with good quality silage

I always give them 1.5/2kg daily, they'll be that step further when going to grass, if it pays to be that little step further is the question, id say it depends alot on silage too

Sam Kade

simx wrote: »

I always give them 1.5/2kg daily, they'll be that step further when going to grass, if it pays to be that little step further is the question, id say it depends alot on silage too

Do you cut back a month before they go to grass? Otherwise they will put on compensatory growth and stand still for a while on grass.

triggerharvey

most lads say to stop feeding nuts about six weeks before they go to grass

1chippy

There are very few lads around here that dont feed meal to stores over the winter. most lads will remove meal 4-6 weeks pre- turnout.

simx

Sam Kade wrote: »

Do you cut back a month before they go to grass? Otherwise they will put on compensatory growth and stand still for a while on grass.

Usually cut it down to 1 kg in the later stages and then off altogether about 2/3 weeks pre turnout

Good loser

Gave 3 kgs to 400 kg FRs all Winter. Still not fit for factory.

freedominacup

Good loser wrote: »

Gave 3 kgs to 400 kg FRs all Winter. Still not fit for factory.

What's your point?

Farmer Pudsey

It depends on the cattle, however there is a big difference between so called good silage. If your silage is around 70DMD store cattle depending on breed will gain from 0.4-0.6/day. I would be more worried about minerals and Vitimans. Mind you I feed about 1kg to cattle inside to get the minerals into cattle. Store's from 4-500kgs will need from 70-100grams of minerals I also give the same in calcium(cubicle lime). This will put bone on stores over the winter.

6 weeks before letting off I remove the meal. i also feed the better quality silage at the start of the winter. Two weks before letting off I reduce the amount of silage cattle have access to and feed minimum haylage for last two days this means that when they go out the tend not to spend the first few days galloping around the field. I think I get about 0.5 kgsday on fresian stores over the winter this way

Like Good Loser I find it hard to finish same they still tend to grow a bit outside and are slow to flesh up even after 6 weeks of feeding the better one's at 700kgs live weight(350k/O) the still can be fat gade 2+/3-. This means that it is very hard to get them to finish while the price is high.

With HEX/AA Bullocks/heifers it will pay especiall if you can get 50%+ factory fit the middle of June and hit the high price bracket at this time of year. A 280kg AA heifer would have made aroind 1400 euro this year at present she would be back around 1230 euro. If she consumed 300kgs of ration between the winter and during may/june it would cost 90 euro leavinh another 80 profit.

freedominacup

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

It depends on the cattle, however there is a big difference between so called good silage. If your silage is around 70DMD store cattle depending on breed will gain from 0.4-0.6/day. I would be more worried about minerals and Vitimans. Mind you I feed about 1kg to cattle inside to get the minerals into cattle. Store's from 4-500kgs will need from 70-100grams of minerals I also give the same in calcium(cubicle lime). This will put bone on stores over the winter.

6 weeks before letting off I remove the meal. i also feed the better quality silage at the start of the winter. Two weks before letting off I reduce the amount of silage cattle have access to and feed minimum haylage for last two days this means that when they go out the tend not to spend the first few days galloping around the field. I think I get about 0.5 kgsday on fresian stores over the winter this way

Like Good Loser I find it hard to finish same they still tend to grow a bit outside and are slow to flesh up even after 6 weeks of feeding the better one's at 700kgs live weight(350k/O) the still can be fat gade 2+/3-. This means that it is very hard to get them to finish while the price is high.

With HEX/AA Bullocks/heifers it will pay especiall if you can get 50%+ factory fit the middle of June and hit the high price bracket at this time of year. A 280kg AA heifer would have made aroind 1400 euro this year at present she would be back around 1230 euro. If she consumed 300kgs of ration between the winter and during may/june it would cost 90 euro leavinh another 80 profit.

On a growing animal .7kg/day LWG is only maintenanace. .5kg is less than maintenanace.

Farmer Pudsey

freedominacup wrote: »

On a growing animal .7kg/day LWG is only maintenanace. .5kg is less than maintenanace.

Overwintering in Ireland is all about cost. Fresians bullocks on average over a lifetime gain about 0.7-0.8kgs/day. I used to buy(am moving away from them) fresians bulls and bullocks. From my calcularions bulls averaged about 1kg/day over 12 months and bullocks averaged 0.7/0.8, continentals will do better Herefords similar and AA vary from 0.3-0.8 (they give you the shivers at times)

Indoors anything around 0.5 is good liveweight gain for traditional breeds unless on a finishing ration. these cattle unless they have compensatry growth struggle to exceed1.2kgs/day. Everybody is giving figures for continentals a totally different animal. Cost is another thing I can put this weight on at a cost of 1.5/day ( last years costs) reducing to 1 euro a day for last 6 weeks. For a 110 winter this gives a cost of about 150/head for wintering. If I feed another 2/kg day at a 10-1 conversion it would cost around the same 3 euro/kg however fresians will not convert at that rate nearer to 13/1 extra kgs costing 4/kg live weight gain. both of these figures are higher than the final carcasses weight value at 4 euro/kg it equates to 2/kg LW( that might be a bit optimistic in price and killout).

Most finishers will not even dream of giving meal to fresian cows(no matter what age they are) being stored and they are fully grown O often question the feeding of ration to fresian bullocks however I am wary of housing for a second winter at 650+kgs

Good loser

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Overwintering in Ireland is all about cost. Fresians bullocks on average over a lifetime gain about 0.7-0.8kgs/day. I used to buy(am moving away from them) fresians bulls and bullocks. From my calcularions bulls averaged about 1kg/day over 12 months and bullocks averaged 0.7/0.8, continentals will do better Herefords similar and AA vary from 0.3-0.8 (they give you the shivers at times)

Indoors anything around 0.5 is good liveweight gain for traditional breeds unless on a finishing ration. these cattle unless they have compensatry growth struggle to exceed1.2kgs/day. Everybody is giving figures for continentals a totally different animal. Cost is another thing I can put this weight on at a cost of 1.5/day ( last years costs) reducing to 1 euro a day for last 6 weeks. For a 110 winter this gives a cost of about 150/head for wintering. If I feed another 2/kg day at a 10-1 conversion it would cost around the same 3 euro/kg however fresians will not convert at that rate nearer to 13/1 extra kgs costing 4/kg live weight gain. both of these figures are higher than the final carcasses weight value at 4 euro/kg it equates to 2/kg LW( that might be a bit optimistic in price and killout).

Most finishers will not even dream of giving meal to fresian cows(no matter what age they are) being stored and they are fully grown O often question the feeding of ration to fresian bullocks however I am wary of housing for a second winter at 650+kgs

Thanks for that FP and earlier post.

Last year was the first I gave those Friesians so much ration; I thought, because of the 3 kgs, a lot would come fit in August especially in such a good year. About one third will - which is very poor. It did stretch the silage however.

Doubt now if they were much faster than other years when they may have got no meals.

Guess too the % Holstein is rising all the time.

I never really paid much attention to mins/vits.