Re: Raising a Beef...?

Posted by paul on November 12, 2002 at 12:16:14 from (66.60.196.239):

In Reply to: Raising a Beef...? posted by T_Bone on November 11, 2002 at 22:10:06:

Got some good advise so far, I totally agree.

You are setting up a pen, water, & feeding system. Silly to do for just one, at least do 2. They are herd animals, and are much happier if they can be around others. Build you pen big enough for a handful anyhow, you'll be happier later, as will they. Your workload will be the same, just more gain for you in the end.

It generally takes 16-24 months to finish off cattle from birth. It sounds like you are starting out with _very_ young animals, and wanting to get done too soon. Plan on a little longer timeframe. You can't feed just grain to 200# critters, those are still calves for most breeds.

It is more efficent (feed-wise, altho takes longer time-wise) to graze the critters from 400# to 800+#. Are you planning on having any pasture, or just all grain & hay?

It is possible to feed them a very heavy grain diet, but they have 4 stomachs and 3 of those prefer grass/alfalfa/etc. Are you going to be buying hay? Without roughage, they are very prone to illness, and require a lot of attention to detail.

Raising your own grain feed is a whole 'nother can of worms, you can't possibly do it cheap enough unless you have 50 head or more.... One or 2, that would be impossible. Not that this should stop you. :) Just be aware, you will have some very expensive beef. :)

Ear corn can be stored in a corn crib that allows air to curculate. Kernal corn needs to be dried below 15% moisture or it will spoil. You need to crack or squish the kernals or the cattle will waste a lot of it passing through them. It is best to have some oats in there esp when they are young, and a mineral/protien/salt suppliment as well.

I'm not sure what you mean about feeding the corn green? Do you mean silage, the whole plant chopped up? That requires a silo or agbag to store, & you need to feed up several inches per day to keep it fresh. Will NOT work for a couple of animals. If there is a sweet corn or such plant near you, you can buy a load of sweet corn silage now & then for the roughage. It's low in feed value, but takes the place of hay.

Your part of the world is far, far different than southern Minnesota where I am, so I'm not sure how corn & all is grown & stored down there, here we are lucky to harvest it below 20% moisture, a corn crib can handle 24% corn, sometimes more, while kernal corn always needs to be dried down. You would be picking the WORST possible time for raising young animals 'here', but maybe that is the right time 'there'?

Wheat is not good for cattle, not more than, is it 20% of their feed? Causes them problems. Wheat hay, cut just before heading, is good hay for them, but not the grain. Barley works, but not something I am familiar with.

You would be money ahead growing a pasture for the critters to graze, and buying the grain mix from a feed supplier. That would be the smarter way to do this. Something to think about.

Now, hit us with some follow up questions, this should give you something to think about. :)

--->Paul

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: Raising a Beef...? T_Bone 22:48:59 11/12/02 (2)
  • Re: Re: Re: Raising a Beef...? T_Bone 22:59:17 11/12/02 (1)
    • Re: Re: Re: Re: Raising a Beef...? paul 08:05:08 11/13/02 (0)

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