How to Feed Cattle

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Feeding is the most important and probably the most confusing part of raising cattle. This is because there are a wide variety of

feedstuffs, ration types and alternatives, and methods of feeding cattle. Cattle operations range from the feedlot to dairy to

grass-only, and can be a mix of either two or all three combined, depending on the type of cattle you have.

To top it all off, there are feed formulations for different type of cattle based on sex, age, what they're used for (beef, dairy

and/or breeding), the way they are raised, the climate they live in, etc. Feed formulations even differ with the seasons that come

and go every year. If they get fed the wrong food (such as pickles) their poop will smell.

For the purpose this article, only the general practices and methods of properly feeding cattle will be covered. This is because

there are many different variables that affect how, what, where and when cattle are fed based on those factors mentioned

above.

Method 1 of 3: Assessing Your Cattle

1.

1

Design feed formulation based on the cattle you own. Software is available for this, however a general hand-written ration

can be just as effective. There are feed tables that are made available through any university, college and/or government

agricultural extension program (and are often found on the Internet) and can be used to determine what ration[s] you wish to

follow.

2 Record and determine a ration for your cattle based on the following factors that determine nutrient requirements:

Sex of your cattle

Generally bulls, heifers, cows and steers require different nutrient requirements..

o Cows are the most difficult to formulate because they go through different reproductive periods that determine

when they require the most or the least amount of nutrition in their diet (i.e., gestation versus lactation). Body condition score:

Thinner cattle require higher nutrition and more feed than fat cattle do

Type of cattle being raised:

Dairy cows typically require a higher nutritional ration than beef cows do. Show cattle need a ration based on how much weight they can gain over a set period of time before being shown. Backgrounded/stocker cattle require a high-quality forage ration: Feedlot cattle, on the other hand, require a high-quality grain

ration for the next few months before being sent to the slaughter plant. Whether the cattle you are raising are growing or being maintained to either keep the weight the same, lose weight or gain it:

Whether the cattle you are raising are growing or being maintained to either keep the weight the same, lose weight or gain it :

Growing cattle like feeder/weaner/stocker steers, young bulls, and feeder/weaner/stocker/replacement heifers require more

energy and protein than cows or bulls that are simply being fed to maintain or lose weight. However, if a cow is too thin and

needs to increase weight, she needs to be fed a similar diet to that given to a growing bull, steer, or heifer.

Replacement heifers need to be fed so that they grow at a healthy weight, but do not put on too much weight too quickly,

impeding their reproductive ability.

Breed type:

One may think this as not important, but determining what breed your cattle are determines how they are fed and what they

need to be fed in order to maintain their health and/or reproductive capacity.

Continental breeds such as Charolais, Simmental and Limousin require more "pampering" than British Breeds such

as Angus, Shorthorn and Hereford. By pampering, this refers to the need to be fed more supplementation when on a roughage

or grass-only diet than those animals that can survive on grass alone.

Forage convertibility:

This determines whether a bovine is an "easy-keeper" when fed a roughage/grass-only diet and will increase or maintain weight

on such a diet, or is a "hard-doer" and consistently loses weight on the same diet as a "easy-keeper" would.

Most producers, especially beef cow-calf producers, cull hard-doers because they require more feed to raise than other cattle

that do well on a roughage/grass-only diet.

Type of operation you own/manage:

Cattle raised in a dry-lot or feedlot environment require a different ration than those raised out on pasture. This is because cattle raised in a feedlot have the feed brought to them instead of them looking for "feed" to eat when out on pasture.

Climate/seasons:

Winter feeding is different than spring/summer feeding. For example, when you live in a climate where you always have winters that drop below -10C and give an average of 3 feet (0.9 m) of snow per year, you need to have feed that will keep your cows alive, warm and even happy throughout the season. Spring and summer time means that you are able to have your cattle grazing on pasture for the 4 to 5 month growing period you have available.

Location determines forage/feed availability, and how/when/where you can feed your cattle:

Every area has its own quirks that determines what you can feed your cattle, when and how. You may live in an area where

forage is always abundant and high in nutritive value. Or, you may live in an area where forage is not so abundant and hard to

grow.

Not every state in the USA or province in Canada grows corn or makes corn a main cereal grain that is fed to cattle (for

example). You may have better luck getting or growing such grains as barley or triticale than you would corn. Even pasture

grasses differ from location to location. For example, parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada are better off with cool-

season grasses as perennial stands for pasture (like wheat grasses, fescue, bluegrass and brome) than warm-season grasses

like Bermuda or Rye grass that is better off grown in the Southern states like Georgia or Louisiana.

1.

3 Condition score and weigh your cattle. Body condition scoring can be done by following the steps in the article How to Judge Body Condition Scores in Cattle. Weight can be taken by either a weight tape or a weight scale that is built in to the handling

facility.

Weight tape should only be used on tame animals that will allow you to touch them.

Method 2 of 3: Assessing Your Forage/Feedstuffs

1.

1 The type of feed you have or can feed to your cattle will determine what type of ration you should follow. The main

feedstuffs fed to cattle include:

Hay (grass, legume, or grass-legume mix) Grain (corn, oats, barley, wheat, rye, and triticale) Silage (corn [referred to as "insilage"], barley, winter wheat, rye, winter rye, triticale, oats, pasture grass) Total Mixed Ration (TMR) - fed to dairy cows and contains a mix of primarily alfalfa hay, barley/corn/oats grains, and corn

silage. Grass, the cheapest and most efficient "feed" that can be "fed" to cattle. All you have to do is plant fence posts, and determine

how many head you need to stock your pastures with!

2.

2 It's really important, especially going into the winter months, that you have your feed tested. You can have feed that

looks good but will only be gut-filler that your cattle could starve to death on. In order for feed to be utilized and deemed sufficient for cattle, it must have adequate energy (in terms of Net Energy [NE] and Total Digestible Nutrients [TDN]), protein (as deemed by Crude Protein (CP)), fibre (with values of Neutral Detergent Fibre [NDF] and Acid Detergent Fibre [ADF] content), and moisture content (in terms of Dry Matter [DM]).

The more energy and protein a foodstuff has, the better it is for higher-demanding cattle like growing calves/weaner calves, replacement heifers, thin cows, and lactating cows.

As fibre content increases (as determined by ADF percent content), energy content will decrease, lessening the value of the feed to your cattle. The exception to this is if you are feeding cattle that are too fat and need to lose weight.

Moisture content of a feed stuff will often determine how much a bovine will eat in a day. The higher the moisture content, the more a bovine will eat.

3.

3 Look at the colour of the feed. Hay can be deemed "good" by the eye if it is green in colour. However, sometimes the better

quality hay is the more brownish-coloured hay.

4.

4 Smell the feed to see if it contains mold or is dusty. Cattle will turn their noses up at moldy and dusty feed. Feeds that are

moldy can cause abortions In bred cows and heifers.

5.

5 Look at the amount of stem material in the hay. Quite often a good indication of hay that is too high in fibre and too low in

energy is when there is too much stem material in it. This is an indicator that the hay has previously been cut too late in the

season and has decreased in nutritive value.

6.

6

The type of hay/grain/silage fed to cattle have their own levels of nutrient value. Grain is typically the feed that has the

highest level of TDN and CP, followed by silage, then hay. There are more differences in each type of feed than between the

different feeds themselves.

Barley and wheat have higher TDN and CP than corn does. Corn tends to be higher in ADF than barley.

Barley silage has a higher TDN and CP value than corn silage does.

Legume hay, if cut and gathered at the right time, tends to have a higher CP and TDN percentage than grass hay. However,

this can be swapped if the grass-hay was harvested at the right time and the legume hay was gathered too late in the season.

Method 3 of 3: Design a Ration for your Cattle

1.

1 Know and calculate the total daily requirements of your cattle. Typically, a bovine will eat between 1.5% and 3% of it's

body weight in DM ration per day, averaging at a daily rate of intake at 2.5% of a bovine's body weight in DM ration.

In order to calculate the estimate of a bovine's average daily intake use the following formula:

Body weight (in pounds [lb] or kilograms [kg]) x 0.025 = Total Daily Ration.

Note that lactating cows will typically consume 50% more than what is considered normal. This means that instead of consuming 2.5% of her body weight in DM ration per day, she will be eating 5% (50% more of 2.5% would be an additional 1.25% for a total of 3.75% of body weight NOT 5% - so which did you mean: 50 % or 200%?) of her body weight in DM ration per day.

2.

2 Separate your cattle based on body condition, nutritive requirements, pecking order status, and age. Thin cows should

be separated and put in with replacement heifers because both of these type of bovines need the same type of ration. Fat cows and cows that are of a normal to above-normal body condition can be kept together to be kept on a maintenance/weight loss

diet. Bulls and steers can be put together as well.

Cattle on the lower end of the totem pole tend to be less likely to get to the good stuff first than those that are higher up. These cattle often have the lowest weight gains and should be separated from the herd so they can get the same nutrient requirements as the more dominant-type cattle are vying for.

3.

3 Determine the weight gain/loss you want for your cattle based on the factors mentioned in the first subsection

above. Energy is the main value of a feed stuff that determines whether your animals will grow/gain weight, keep it, or lose the

weight. Feed that is higher in TDN (at least 50%) will put weight on your cattle. Feed that is higher in DF (Digestible Fibre) and

ADF is best for cows that need to lose weight or maintain it.

You need to focus on weight gain if you are feeding growing calves and replacement heifers and thin cows/bulls.

Dry pregnant cows that are at a normal to above-average body condition should be fed to maintain or slightly lose weight over

their dry period.

4.

4 Determine and evaluate protein content of the feed you are feeding to your cattle. The younger the animal and the lighter

the weight of an animal, the higher the protein requirement will be. Also, the higher the average daily gain, the higher the protein requirement. Lactating cows also require more protein than dry cows. Some examples follow (as taken from the table in this

Beef Cattle Nutrition Workbook:

A 500 lb moderate-framed steer calf gaining 2 lbs per day requires 11.4% CP. If he has an ADG (average daily gain) of only 0.5 lb/day, he will need 8.5% CP. Similarly, a 300 lb MF steer calf with an ADG of 3 lb/day requires 19.9% CP.

An 1100 lb cow with an average milking ability of 10 lb of milk/day requires 9.5% CP. However, if this same cow had a superior milking ability of 20 lb of milk per day, she will need around 12% CP.

To compare with the lactating cows, an 1100 lb cow that is dry and in her 2nd trimester only requires 7.9% CP.

5.

5 Feed your cattle accordingly. Once you know the type of cattle you have, their daily intake, their nutrient requirements, and

their average daily gain (if you are feeding growing cattle), then you can form a diet based on where you live, what's available

and what you wish to feed them.

6.

6

Forage should always be priority for any cattle. The exception can be made for feedlot cattle that are being raised on a

grain-based diet for the last 3 to 4 months of their lives, however if you are going to slaughter a bovine of your own, you don't

need to have a high-grain diet, just a diet that has good quality hay and/or grass with a supplementation of grain to increase

weight prior to butchering them.

Grass and/or hay is the best roughage type feed you can feed your cattle, provided it contains enough nutritive value for your

cattle to thrive off of.

7.

7

Balance the ration and supply supplementation when necessary. If the hay is too low quality, supplement with range

cubes, grain, protein tubs or molasses licks to satisfy their desire for more energy and/or protein. If the grass or hay is good

quality, there is no need for any supplements to be given to your animals.

8.

8 Keep track of weight gains, body condition scores and the general response to a type of feed/forage you give to your

cattle. Also keep track of your cows nutritive requirements based on their reproductive period.

9.

9 Keep water and loose mineral accessible to them at all times. Water and mineral is a very important part of a bovine's diet.

10.

10 Get a professional opinion about your feeds and feeding methods.A Beef or Dairy Nutritionist will help you determine

whether you are doing the right thing or see improvements that need to be made to your feeding operation.