What do you feed a beef cow?

[OkieChickenGal]

I want to get a black angus bull calf raise it, and sell it. But my question is what do you feed them and how much do you feed them? Also, do mixed breed bulls sell?
Thanks in advance!

 

[cassie]

It depends a lot on where you are, what feeds are available, and what your goals are. I used to raise and sell Holstein calves. I bought drop calves, fed them goat milk (I had goats) and all the hay and grain they would eat. I sold them at between 250 and 300 pounds. When I raised a steer for myself to butcher, I fed free choice hay and grain. To me, economics was not a factor but fast growth and a nice carcass was. If you have pasture, that would be your best bet.

 

[res]

I agree with Cassie.

Beef steers eat A LOT if you want to end up with prime marbled cuts of beef. Ours have free choice EXCELLENT pasture or round bales, and are fed roughly 20lbs EACH of local "Beef 13" grain/vita/min mix per day. We usually average a tad over 3lbs of gain per day. Usually process around 1500lbs, which is typically about 18 mths of age. The Angus/Simmental we are feeding out right now will likely be over 1700lbs when we process him this fall, as he was 966lbs on Feb 4th with a ADG of 3.78 lbs.

You can raise beef on pasture and hay alone. It is certainly cheaper, but you don't get the tender marbled cuts of meat that grain-fed produces. We have slaughtered straight off pasture, and the meat is now where near the quality produced after just 4-6 mths of being grain fed.

You don't have to buy the "expensive" beef feeds available at most feed stores. Look around for a local mill, even Amish or Mennonite, if you have them in your area. We buy our feed from the Mennonite - $7.50 for a 50-lb bag, or $12 for a 100-lb bag. WAY WAY WAY cheaper than the crap that TSC sells, which is basically pelleted floor sweepings. The Mennonite feed we buy is true cracked/rolled/crimped grains, no fillers at all.

 

[DellaNTuff]

What age is the calf you are buying? And are you planing on selling for meat or a breeding animal (not sure what you mean by do people buy mixed breed bulls)

If it is a young calf it will need milk replacer, quality forage (hay or sylage) and I feed a grain made and formulated for young calves to mine as well.

Peoples preferred fating rations vary from area of the country (or country I am in canada) and personal preference for grass fed, conventional ext.

If you could post more info about the calf and the end goal that would help lots!

I will say for sure though cattle feed much better and are much happier with at least 1 other for the most part.

 

[Folly's place]

Yes, you need at least two calves, not one. then breed, available feed, and what sort of pastures you have matter. Babies need milk replacer and pelleted grower feed, and pasture. DO NOT raise a bull calf! Have him castrated ASAP, and raise a nice steer instead. Polite bulls are raised with their mamas in a herd; bottle fed bulls are very much more likely to be human aggressive.
Mary

 

[bbond]

I would suggest for your first time buying an already weaned calf unless you have a lot of experience with cattle. I had a bottle calf nightmare this year. If you do go the bottle calf route make sure they’ve had colostrum and come from a vaccinated herd.

 

[Folly's place]

Our best calves came from herds recommended by the local LA veterinarians; we called and asked who had vaccinated, Johnnes disease free cattle, worth buying. Nothing from the auction!
I'm right now reading Temple Grandin's newest book about handling and raising farm animals, and it's great!
Mary