Feeding cull cows

If it was me id'd just feed them 3 or 4 kg of tolled barley and keep it as cheep as possible. Grass has more than enough protein in it for that job. When grass gets tight give them a bale of high quality silage

id wonder is there enough energy in the nut... wheat feed, palm kernal and sunflower listed before the molasses which would be 5-8% of the nut.

http://www.teagasc.ie/newsletters/farmingtips/2012/dairy-20120229.asp

Kovu wrote: »

Oh ya, half in the morning round 9, other half at half four or five. There was a sizable amount of grass on that field when they went in, could have been cut if we had better access. There will prob go out a bale of hay to them in a couple of weeks, we just want the fields eaten first. They'd take the dry hay over the wet grass if we put one out now.

I'm not telling you you're wrong just telling you what I would do (which is probably wrong anyways) I have no doubt you'll end up with nice fat puddings for the factory either way!:D

Robson99 wrote: »

Are beet pulp nuts as good as soya hulls as a source of fibre in a high concentrate finishing diet or would I be better to just give straw. Currently getting 8kg of barley maize and beef nut mix with ad lib hay and silage. Was going to up it to 10kg [ 2kg pulp nut ] but think its expensive compared to barley or prices quoted for soya hulls in the comic

Soya hulls are a better source of fibre. And are a good bit cheaper than pulp nuts.

Hi All,

I have a question so just posting it here rather than starting a new thread.

I'm wondering what daily LW gain would you expect to get on feeding continental cows?

I put in 5 continental cows, good R grade LMX and SIX cows. The plan was to finish or sell live in Jan/Feb 2021. They were on about 2.5 KG of meal (16% Protein nut) for around 6 weeks. With the recent rise in cull cow prices I decided to push them a bit so they were upped to 7 Kg. (split in two feeds). They were on this level of feed for 16 days before I sold them live, last week.

These cows were a few autumn calvers that lost their calves and a couple of spring calvers that weren't in calf. So overall they didn't get that much feeding.

The were on 76DMD first cut silage and access to straw. When selling I would say 3 cows were fit to kill and the other 2 were close to it.

I weighed the cows the day they were upped to the 7KG and I weighed them again at home the night before they were sold. For the final 16 days 3 cows gained 20Kg, one gained 10kg and the other one gained 5Kg.

The ones that gained the least were the younger shapier cows. It seems they had reached their peak as I mentioned it to my haulier and he said they were well fit to kill and this is what he thought. So upping the feed was wasted on those two and barely worth it for the other 3.

The meal is costing €270/tonne and the cows sale price averaged 1.75€/kg live and they averaged 750Kg.

For the 3 cows that gained 20Kg this is 1.25Kg/day . Whats your thoughts on this level of performance? Is it good or poor given the circumstances?


It a pity I didn't weigh them at housing as I be able to compare the performance on the lower level of feeding. I'm thinking I substituted good silage with expensive meal for little gain. I realise the nut wasn't ideal for fattening cows, something lower in protein and higher in energy would be more suitable. But that's what I had and feed to store cattle etc. I found in the past that cattle aren't that keen on maize meal .

Would they have performed better on a higher energy nut/meal mix? Or what level of gain would people normally expect? Or is it the case that cows level of gain is not as high as younger cattle, so high feeding levels is not worth it?

Thanks in advance

Sugarbowl wrote: »

Not answering your question but I sold cows like yours same weight and got the same euro/kg.
I didn’t pile on the ration but gave a shake the week before the sale. They were slaughtered by the next week.

Sounds like we got the going rate so, I'd say mine are killed by now also. I think moderate feeding would pay, but I don't think heavy feeding does. But I know lads who would feed cows heavy for 6 weeks and more and swear by it. I'd like to hear the figures.

I don't think I'm going to get any answers here though, there no replies coming back... Maybe everyone is on holidays 😊

Neo Sanders wrote: »

Hi All,

I have a question so just posting it here rather than starting a new thread.

I'm wondering what daily LW gain would you expect to get on feeding continental cows?

I put in 5 continental cows, good R grade LMX and SIX cows. The plan was to finish or sell live in Jan/Feb 2021. They were on about 2.5 KG of meal (16% Protein nut) for around 6 weeks. With the recent rise in cull cow prices I decided to push them a bit so they were upped to 7 Kg. (split in two feeds). They were on this level of feed for 16 days before I sold them live, last week.

These cows were a few autumn calvers that lost their calves and a couple of spring calvers that weren't in calf. So overall they didn't get that much feeding.

The were on 76DMD first cut silage and access to straw. When selling I would say 3 cows were fit to kill and the other 2 were close to it.

I weighed the cows the day they were upped to the 7KG and I weighed them again at home the night before they were sold. For the final 16 days 3 cows gained 20Kg, one gained 10kg and the other one gained 5Kg.

The ones that gained the least were the younger shapier cows. It seems they had reached their peak as I mentioned it to my haulier and he said they were well fit to kill and this is what he thought. So upping the feed was wasted on those two and barely worth it for the other 3.

The meal is costing €270/tonne and the cows sale price averaged 1.75€/kg live and they averaged 750Kg.

For the 3 cows that gained 20Kg this is 1.25Kg/day . Whats your thoughts on this level of performance? Is it good or poor given the circumstances?


It a pity I didn't weigh them at housing as I be able to compare the performance on the lower level of feeding. I'm thinking I substituted good silage with expensive meal for little gain. I realise the nut wasn't ideal for fattening cows, something lower in protein and higher in energy would be more suitable. But that's what I had and feed to store cattle etc. I found in the past that cattle aren't that keen on maize meal .

Would they have performed better on a higher energy nut/meal mix? Or what level of gain would people normally expect? Or is it the case that cows level of gain is not as high as younger cattle, so high feeding levels is not worth it?

Thanks in advance

Just on your maize meal point, i find that they will eat it if you stick with it. Usually get the hang of it when the fines from the end of a nuts bag are mixed with it. And there is usually always one in the group that will polish the trough.
Always been told to feed maize meal to cull cows and to continental stock bulls for fattening.