adlib feeding for calves, grain

[PuG]

Afternoon. Just brought my herd in for the winter - calves have a creep area with (as normal) unlimited access to hay and lucerne bale (mixed). Still suckling there mum's. I also have a creep feeder which I never use, I've got a ton of barley mixed with peas sitting here and I was considering rolling it to go in the feeder. Could you get away with just filling up the hopper or would they tend to gorge themselves on the grains? Just to ration them per head is difficult this year because I have some mixed ages so they will tend to bully the little ones to hoover it all.

Cheers,

 

[andybk]

will need careful starting on cereals , gradually build up to add lib ,

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Mix something else with it to start . Beet nuts, Maize Glutton. Any think high fibre

 

[MrA.G.]

They will gorge on it. Personally I wouldn’t use a creep feeder in this situation. I would set up a few troughs and feed them either once or twice a day. If there is enough trough space hopefully the younger ones will get their share.

 

[PuG]

Thanks for replies - I think I'll lift in the feed tubs which case and start slow!

Cheers

 

[Farmer 83563]

Thanks for replies - I think I'll lift in the feed tubs which case and start slow!

Cheers

Worth vaccinating against clostridials if not already done

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Thanks for replies - I think I'll lift in the feed tubs which case and start slow!

Cheers

If you could get hold of brewers grains you could feed that add lib pretty quick then slowly mix in barley until you on add lib barley

 

[nxy]

Morning PuG

As I sit here in December I start to wish I had bought a farm in the south rather than the Limousin. Hows the weather with you?

We started creep feeding about three weeks ago. We start on whole oats and some years switch over to rolled triticale but this year I have lots of low bushel weight oats so they will stay on those. I always work on the theory that they get the protein from the mum so the peas would be overkill. I have never had a problem in going straight into ad lib whole oats but would be wary with anything else.

In your situation you could just start with a half a bucket full and see if they clear it up in an hour or two then slowly build up. I might not roll them or only just touch them with the rolls to crack the peas but not the barley andiIf you have a dedicated creep area I would remove the park from the front of the feeder so they all get a chance to find the food.

Worth vaccinating against clostridials if not already done

Interesting but I have to say in twenty years of farming cattle in France I have only vaccinated cattle once and that was because the government made me vaccinate against blue tongue.

 

[defender]

Adding baking soda to barley prevents bloating when starting of creep feeder

 

[Fergieman]

Put a little in front of them and see what they eat. If they are sucklers still on their mothers they will not eat huge amounts to begin with.

 

[PuG]

Morning PuG

As I sit here in December I start to wish I had bought a farm in the south rather than the Limousin. Hows the weather with you?

We started creep feeding about three weeks ago. We start on whole oats and some years switch over to rolled triticale but this year I have lots of low bushel weight oats so they will stay on those. I always work on the theory that they get the protein from the mum so the peas would be overkill. I have never had a problem in going straight into ad lib whole oats but would be wary with anything else.

In your situation you could just start with a half a bucket full and see if they clear it up in an hour or two then slowly build up. I might not roll them or only just touch them with the rolls to crack the peas but not the barley andiIf you have a dedicated creep area I would remove the park from the front of the feeder so they all get a chance to find the food.



Interesting but I have to say in twenty years of farming cattle in France I have only vaccinated cattle once and that was because the government made me vaccinate against blue tongue.

We've had some beautiful autumn weather over the last two months. Thankfully winter has arrived! snow on the mountains. I sometimes think the opposite, why on earth did we buy farm that suffers from baking summers, its nice looking forward to rain big step from Cornwall.

Thanks for all the replies - will try the suggestions and see what happens. Ours is a knife mill so it tends to turn it more towards a powder but I will start them on some later in the week and see how it goes.

Next year hoping to plant a Sorghum grain crop.

 

[czechmate]

Morning PuG

As I sit here in December I start to wish I had bought a farm in the south rather than the Limousin. Hows the weather with you?

We started creep feeding about three weeks ago. We start on whole oats and some years switch over to rolled triticale but this year I have lots of low bushel weight oats so they will stay on those. I always work on the theory that they get the protein from the mum so the peas would be overkill. I have never had a problem in going straight into ad lib whole oats but would be wary with anything else.

In your situation you could just start with a half a bucket full and see if they clear it up in an hour or two then slowly build up. I might not roll them or only just touch them with the rolls to crack the peas but not the barley andiIf you have a dedicated creep area I would remove the park from the front of the feeder so they all get a chance to find the food.



Interesting but I have to say in twenty years of farming cattle in France I have only vaccinated cattle once and that was because the government made me vaccinate against blue tongue.

Do you have any spare oats to sell?

It was 18 C, just last Saturday , you have a short memory , it seems bloody raw now, changed quick...

 

[czechmate]

We've had some beautiful autumn weather over the last two months. Thankfully winter has arrived! snow on the mountains. I sometimes think the opposite, why on earth did we buy farm that suffers from baking summers, its nice looking forward to rain big step from Cornwall.

Thanks for all the replies - will try the suggestions and see what happens. Ours is a knife mill so it tends to turn it more towards a powder but I will start them on some later in the week and see how it goes.

Next year hoping to plant a Sorghum grain crop.

Is that a hammer mill?
I use a hammer mill, I run it a bit slower to get bits of grain, rather than flour

 

[PuG]

Is that a hammer mill?
I use a hammer mill, I run it a bit slower to get bits of grain, rather than flour

That's the name I was looking for - knifes that beat against sieve insert. Does a brilliant job, even a manual feed to push through maize, beat, your hands etc. Short of changing the pulley there's not much I can do for the speed but I might search to see if theres a more coarse sieve available.

 

[czechmate]

That's the name I was looking for - knifes that beat against sieve insert. Does a brilliant job, even a manual feed to push through maize, beat, your hands etc. Short of changing the pulley there's not much I can do for the speed but I might search to see if theres a more coarse sieve available.

Oh, I see, not a pto one.