“Stress on plants from last summer and fall, as well as this spring’s weather across most of Alberta has slowed forage growth in pastures and hayfields,” said Barry Yaremcio. “If it stays dry, the amount of growth will be limited, and it is possible that pastures will run out much earlier than normal.

“In general, 70 per cent of total forage growth occurs before July 15. If significant amounts of rain do not come soon, total growth could be compromised.”

One strategy to stretch limited forage supplies is to creep feed calves throughout the summer. Calves that are 45 to 60 days old can digest grains and use the nutrients to improve growth rates.

“An Ontario Ministry of Agriculture fact sheet indicates that on poor pastures, for every five pounds of creep feed consumed, calf growth rates improve by one pound,” said Yaremcio. “A second advantage of creep feeding calves is that the amount of grass consumed by the calf is reduced, which stretches the amount of grass available for the cow.”

Calves under 700 pounds eat grain slowly, chewing it enough that processing is not required.

However, using whole oats or barley as the sole ingredient in a creep ration for small calves does not work, said Yaremcio.

“A creep ration requires 14 to 16 per cent protein to ‘frame out’ the skeleton properly and to develop muscle,” he said. “Intakes generally are in the two- to three-pounds-per-day range for 350-pound calves and can get as high as eight pounds per day when the calves are 600 to 700 pounds.”

Producers can include 35 per cent peas in a mix of wheat, barley, or both.

“Check local grain prices to determine if the mix is less expensive than a commercial product,” he said. “The advantage of feeding a pelleted product is that it contains the necessary minerals and trace minerals. If wheat is to be part of the creep feed, inclusion rate should not exceed 20 to 25 per cent of the mix to minimize the chance of acidosis. If no additional protein is added to the creep feed, it is possible to have short fat calves that could be discounted at the auction market come fall.”

A commercially prepared creep ration is another option.

“These products should contain a minimum of 75 per cent total digestible nutrients (TDN) and the required 14 to 16 per cent protein content,” he said. “Screening pellets generally have lower energy content than grain and do not deliver the necessary energy needed to get the additional gains on the calves.”

Creep feeding during the grazing season can result in 25 to 100 pounds of additional gain.

“If 700- to 800-pound calf prices stay at the current price of $1.85 per pound for steers, the calf could increase in value by $46 to $185 each, which could be a good return on investment,” said Yaremcio.

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“It’s possible that pastures will run out much earlier than normal,” said Barry Yaremcio. “In general, 70 per cent of total forage growth occurs before the 15th of July. Due to dry conditions from last fall and especially pastures that were overgrazed, total growth could be compromised.

However, calves that are 45 to 60 days old can digest grains and Ontario data indicates that on poor pastures, calf growth rates will improve by one pound for every five pounds of creep feed consumed.

“Calves weighing less than 700 pounds eat grain slowly and chew the material sufficiently that processing is not required. Average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency is equal to that of processed grain,” said Yaremcio.

But using whole oats or barley as the sole ingredient in a creep ration for small calves does not work.

A creep ration requires 14 to 16 per cent protein to “frame out” the skeleton properly and to develop muscle. Intakes generally are in the two- to three-pounds-a-day range for 350-pound calves and can get as high as eight pounds a day when the calves are 600 to 700 pounds. A recipe for a homegrown creep feed is to include peas at 35 per cent of the mix with oats or barley (or a combination of the two). If wheat is to be part of the creep feed, inclusion rate should not exceed 20 to 25 per cent of the total grain mix to minimize the chance of acidosis. If no additional protein is added to the creep feed, it’s possible to have short fat calves that could be discounted at the auction market come fall.

Another option is a commercially prepared creep ration. These products should contain a minimum of 75 per cent total digestable nutrients (TDN) and, again, 14 per cent to 16 per cent protein content. Screening pellets generally have lower energy content than grain and do not deliver the necessary energy needed to get the additional gains on the calves.

“Creep feeding the calves for the majority of the grazing season can result in 25 to 100 pounds of additional gain compared to animals that are not supplemented,” said Yaremcio. “If 700- to 800-pound calf prices stay at the current price of $2 a pound for steers, this could increase the value of the calf by $50 to $200 per calf. It’s a good return on investment.”

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“If it stays dry the amount of growth will be limited and it is possible that pastures will run out much earlier than normal,” Barry Yaremcio said in May.

“In general, 70 per cent of total forage growth occurs before the 15th of July. If significant amounts of rain do not come soon, total growth could be compromised.”

One strategy for stretching limited forage supplies is to creep feed calves throughout the summer. Calves that are 45 to 60 days old can digest grains and use the nutrients to improve growth rates. An Ontario Ministry of Agriculture fact sheet indicates that on poor pastures, for every five pounds of creep feed consumed, calf growth rates improve by one pound. A second advantage of creep feeding calves is that more grass is available for the cow.

“Calves weighing less than 700 pounds eat grain slowly and chew the material sufficiently that processing is not required,” said Yaremcio. “Average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency is equal to that of processed grain.”

However, using whole oats or barley as the sole ingredient in a creep ration for small calves does not work. A creep ration requires 14 to 16 per cent protein to “frame out” the skeleton properly and to develop muscle. Intakes generally are in the range of two to three pounds a day for 350-pound calves and can get as high as eight pounds a day when the calves are 600 to 700 pounds. A recipe for a homegrown creep feed is to include split or cracked peas at 35 per cent of the mix with oats or barley (or a combination of the two grains). If wheat is to be part of the creep feed, inclusion rate should not exceed 20 to 25 per cent of the mix to minimize the chance of acidosis. If no additional protein is added to the creep feed, it is possible to have short, fat calves that could be discounted at the auction market come fall.

Another option is a commercially prepared creep ration. These products should contain a minimum of 75 per cent Total Digestible Nutrients and again, 14 per cent to 16 per cent protein content is required. Screening pellets generally have lower energy content than grain and do not deliver the necessary energy needed to get the additional gains on the calves.

“Creep feeding the calves for the majority of the grazing season can result in 25 to 100 pounds of additional gain compared to animals that are not supplemented,” said Yaremcio. “If 700- to 800-pound calf prices stay at the current price of $2.85 a pound for steers, this could increase the value of the calf by $70 to $285 per calf. It’s a good return on investment.”

The post Short on forages for cattle? Creep feeding could be the answer appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“These findings have important implications for management of young bulls prior to puberty,” said PhD student Alysha Dance, who looked at the effects of nutrition on hormone production, age of puberty, semen quality, and testicular characteristics in 26 bull calves.

Her research draws on previous work by Dr. John Kastelic, who found bulls on a high-nutrition diet in early life had more reproductive hormone, which led to earlier puberty and increased testicular weight and sperm count.

“We had testes that were 20 to 30 per cent larger and 20 to 30 per cent more sperm in those testes,” said Kastelic, head of the university’s faculty of veterinary medicine.

“We can really profoundly get bulls with larger testes and more sperm by just feeding them really well.”

In Dance’s study, the calves were put on three levels of milk — four, six, and eight litres a day — until nine weeks of age. Then the calves were transitioned to a silage diet that corresponded to 70, 100, and 130 per cent of the recommended daily intake for bull calves.

“Throughout the entire duration of the feeding period, the high-nutrition group was larger in terms of their body weight than the other two groups,” said Dance.

Scrotal circumference and luteinizing hormone — which are both related to reproduction — were also higher in the calves fed a high-nutrition diet.

“In the high-nutrition diet, the early rise (in luteinizing hormone) was occurring earlier and at a higher rate than in bulls on a low-nutrition diet.”

• From the Canadian Cattlemen: Undernourished bull calves can’t make up lost ground

Testosterone production, which is driven by luteinizing hormone, was also higher in the high-nutrition diet.

“The high-nutrition bulls had more testosterone coming up earlier than those on the low-nutrition diet.”

Dance also evaluated the age of puberty using semen from the bull calves and found a difference of 45 days in puberty progression between the high-nutrition diet and the low. And when evaluating age of puberty based on scrotal circumference, she found a difference of 81 days.

“This is a quite significant difference between the high and the low diet in terms of progressing the bulls to puberty a little bit sooner.”

But there was no difference in calf fertility between the high- and low-nutrition diets, she said.

“Once they were past puberty, we used that semen for in vitro fertilization in the lab, and there was no difference between the amount of embryos produced and the high, low, and medium groups,” said Dance.

“We’re causing the bulls to come into puberty earlier, but it’s not at the compromise of fertility at all.”

There’s also little risk of overfeeding bulls prior to weaning.

“Virtually all of the work done on nutrition in bulls… was done after weaning. That’s really the wrong time to be overfeeding bulls,” said Kastelic. “Overfeeding bulls after weaning is very detrimental.

“Prior to 30 weeks, what you feed them is hugely important.”

And though some studies on creep feeding suggest that calves fed a lower-nutrition diet will catch up after weaning to their creep-fed counterparts, the work done by Dance and Kastelic shows otherwise.

“If you fed them poorly prior to 30 weeks and then at a much higher level after 30 weeks, you couldn’t make up for that earlier deficiency,” said Dance.

“Something critical is happening prior to 30 weeks in these bull calves.”

Dance will be completing further research on the mechanisms that are creating these effects in bull calves.

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