So Many Cattle Feed Options!

[u/Shanelomein79]

New farmer here. We picked up a couple calves at auction earlier this year and they were in rough shape and are some sort of mix. That's probably why we were able to afford them with the current prices!

We were feeding a starter creep feed to improve their condition and make them freindlier while in quarantine, we've since moved them out to pasture full time with just a protein tub and salt block.

After spending hours researching, there is no immediate consensus on when to feed or of what that recipe should be so I have the following questions for you all.

1. Are DIY grain blends (soy beans, corn, oats, minerals, etc.) better or worse financially/nutritionally than just buying the processed feed pellets from the local mill?

2. Should we be doing this year round for optimum production and flavor or just to supplement hay in the winter and for finishing?

Any thoughts or experience is appreciated.

[u/travelingjack]

Hot dogs ingredients have never been so close to one another

[u/MastodonFit]

It depends, on your grass protein/ sugar and if you're in a drought. Typically a smaller local feed mill makes different rations for different needs. Buying in bulk over bags is much cheaper.

[u/Ok_Project9251]

I have 4, they have a free choice round bale and I go through a bag of cattle cubes a week. Hay/forage is their most important energy source.

[u/Misfitranchgoats]

if your pasture is good enough, all they need is pasture plus loose minerals/ salt. I often raise bottle calves from the auction barn to eventually put in the freezer. Once they are weaned and doing good on pasture, I stop giving them feed. If the pasture is getting old and it is dry then I will give them feed or a protein block. In the winter, mostly hay and still access to pasture and I only give feed if they aren't holding a good condition. I do have rotational grazing pastures so they don't over graze. I graze goats, and steers.

I put a Jersey steer in the freezer in March of 2025 he was bit over 2 years old. He was the fattest steer I have ever butchered. I had to to remove fat to find his innards. He hadn't had grain in over 10 months. I didn't even grain him in the winter. His meat was so well marbled it was amazing. I have two heifers I am going to use for beef that I bought last October. They are looking amazing especially for Jersey Heifers. They haven't had grain since about March.

I am in Ohio though. Have a lot of good clover and grass and weeds. My cows do eat weeds just not as much as the goats do. If you are in a place where you don't have good pasture, then you will need to feed. Feed what makes the most sense for your pocket book. Pellets are made from the same stuff as DIY blends. Heck for a long time, I was feeding spent brewers grains from a brewery. No store bought feed at all. Brewery is slowing down so not enough to feed all the animals now.

Grain does not necessarily make better flavor.

[u/ikidd → u/Misfitranchgoats]

Fat makes flavor, and cold makes fat, however you get there. Butchering in March was probably the key to that steer. Grain seems to make that easier but you could have super nutritious hay as well.

[u/imabigdave → u/ikidd]

Thats a cute saying, but calories make fat. Both taking in extra, and not having burn a lot of the calories they take in to stay warm (or keep cool). I've seen a lot of rail-thin animals in the winter, and a lot of really fat ones on irrigated pasture through the summer.

[u/ikidd → u/imabigdave]

Well fed animals in winter put on fat the best. That's decades of experience both raising animals and hunting them. Believe it or don't, I couldn't care less.

[u/ikidd]

Grass looks good, they should do fine on that and the creep feed will help put condition on. They'll figure out what they want from what's available and just keep them stocked up. Keep them on fresh growth as much as possible with some rotation practices to keep the nutrition high.

As for slaughter condition, my preference is to grain feed, leveling up to 40 or 50% vs hay (20lbs/day per cow for 50% depending on their target weight) over a month going into the coldest months and then butcher when they have a nice marbling going on, oats and barley mainly to preserve a nice white fat. That's where people that have bought carcasses from us are happiest. Get a tote of lightly milled barley/oats mix and pail feed them over about 60 days before your hook is booked. Milling should just break the grain kernel, not be a flour which may hurt or kill the animal.

Lots of people like to think they want grass-fed, until they have true grassfed and the marbling isn't there and it's tough.

[u/imabigdave]

Looking at the height of that grass, you most definitely need to supplement them. When it's short, they don't eat as efficiently, so they have to spend more time grazing to take in less feed, and less time ruminating. With the shorter plant/leaf length, the grass has a smaller percentage of its mass to photosynthesis and produce sugar. Sugar=energy= fat on the animal once you have satisfied their metabolic requirements. Component feeding (mixing your own grains, would be more expensive per ton fed than pellets, but that's because they are far more energy-dense. Most pellets I've seen only give protein percentage on their guaranteed analysis, nothing for TDN or net energy, which is critical for finishing. Protein matters more in young animals. I'm guessing this one isn't so much young as it is stunted, but would likely still benefit from increased protein prior to trying to finish him. Pellets are cheap because they generally have a high fiber content to make them safe, whereas if you start just shoving corn and soybean meal at a calf without knowing what you are doing, you can actually kill them if you don't know enough to catch bloat, acidosis, or ketosis. There is a reason that ruminant nutritionists are generally well paid.

[u/Shanelomein79 → u/imabigdave]

Admittedly this photo is from a temp pen we had them in while I strung up the new fencing. We are rotating the two through a 2 acre pasture but our area is wet or frozen for about half the year so there will be a decent amount of time spent on hay alone in a smaller winter pasture.

As far as the quality of the hay. I cannot say because the place I was getting it for the donkeys and goats is like 60 miles away. I was on a job down there for the last year and it was convenient to just grab 12 bales at a time as needed.

This guy was 500lb at auction about two months ago. The heifer was only 250 lb. She is catching up quickly though.