If you’re not fighting with nasty weather, or in the field, chances are you are thinking how to get the most out of your calf crop.
If you don’t have a lot of grass, or your cows aren’t milking too well – you might consider giving your calves creep. This could really pay off later.
Here’s some quick tips from Purina, found on Living the Country Life
- Decide on a creep feeding program and gather all necessary equipment
- Start calves on creep when they are 2-3 months old
- Place the feeder in a popular place, where cows/calves commonly gather. Think close to water or shade.
- Scatter some loose hay right outside and right inside the creep pen to coax calves inside
- Keep feeding creep until weaning
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| Photo courtesy of Life on Our Iowa Farm |
Also, we liked this blog post from Katie at Dun Rite Stock and Stables Inc. She says on their farm, they use creep feed to help in transition times, like weaning to backgrounding. They also say including products like Deccox in your creep can avoid coccidiosis now and problems with pneumonia later.
Katie also says young calves are better at converting feed. She adds that for every additional 50 lbs. at weaning, thats two weeks less of feeding at the end of a calf’s life.
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| What a great slogan! |
“When we look at selling our steers for prospect calves, the higher weight at sale time gives these young members an advantage. They don’t have to push these steers as hard to hit their sale dates. They are able to bring cattle to the final shows that have reached their target sale weights; while still having a steer that appears young and fresh,” Katie says.
Now that’s something to think about for our club calf producing friends.
Have you starting feeding creep on your farms or ranches yet? Do you have any other advice for your fellow cattlemen?