Supplementary feeding of cows and heifers, with a balanced feed source, will assist in maintaining body condition and allow target mating weights to be reached. Cattle at optimum mating weights are shown to have improved conception rates, thereby increasing the number of calves available for sale the next year. The challenge for many farmers considering supplementary feeding is how to stop the cattle from “pigging out” on good quality, balanced pellets, when really only a few kilos a day is required. Milne Feeds’ Ruminant Specialist, Dean Maughan, comments that hand feeding is not a practical solution. He shares a few options that he has seen in the field. These options have been adapted and used by farmers, and have proven successful on farm. Dean mentions that these solutions assume that the cattle have access to dry pasture, from which they get some nutrition and fibre, and also have access to clean fresh water daily.
Trail Feeding - using a “sheep” trail feeder, it is possible to feed cattle 1-3 kgs/day and only feed them 3 times a week. Dean comments that using a 9mm pellet, such as EasyBeef® or the higher energy 9mm Vitalize® pellet, makes it easy to safely trail-feed on firm ground or on dry pasture.
Restricted or “Lick” Feeding - often farmers require a simple, low-labour input method for feeding cattle and Dean suggests that restricted feeders are a great solution.
‘Simply fill the feeders up and allow the cattle to use their tongues to gain access to the pellets’, Dean says.
For this type of feeder, he recommends use of the 4mm Vitalize® pellet, as it flows through the feeder with ease. Another tip is to locate feeders a minimum of 300m from water, so that the cattle can be encouraged to leave the feeder when their tongues become dry, allowing access for other cattle. Access to the feeder is important, so it is critical to provide sufficient feeders to match the herd size.
Commercial “Lick” Feeders - There are number of commercial “restricted intake” feeders available on the market. They have been designed to handle the rigour of feeding larger cattle. The following photos are of one of a number of lick feeders that successfully fed 1100 pastoral heifers an average of 0.85 kgs/day for a three month period.
Adapting a Self-Feeder to a Restriction Feeder - To adapt self-feeders, weldmesh that is 50x75mm in size, located about 150mm from the bottom of the trough in a conventional self-feeder, has been used to restrict intake of the 4mm pellet. The idea is that the cattle need to place their tongue through the narrow gap in the mesh, to then be able to get a few pellets to “stick” to the end of their moist tongue. It takes a degree of effort to get a kilo or so of pellets, by which time the tongue is dry and the cattle are in need of a drink. The feeders below were used to restrict 250kg heifers to an average intake of 1.7 kgs/day over a 30 day period.
The self-feeder below has been built such that the weldmesh can easily be “swung” up and attached to the feeder, should it be needed for ad lib feeding at a later date.
Mobile Feeders - The technology used to produce EasyBeef® and Vitalize® allows cattle to go straight onto the pellets. There is no need for a 7-day introduction period. This has allowed some farmers to rotate their cows and heifers through the dry pasture paddocks and, when the available dry feed begins to get low, they simply “drive” a self-feeder into the paddock. The cattle continue to graze the dry feed but can also get access to a high quality, balanced supplement to ensure that they maintain or increase body weight, depending on the objective. The cattle may have access to a feeder every second week for a short period of time until the paddock is deemed to be grazed out. The cattle are then moved to a new dry pasture paddock, with no supplementation, until it is required. The safety of EasyBeef® and Vitalize® provides flexibility when grazing dry feed, while maintaining body weight and growth rates, ensuring good conception rates and more calves on the ground available for sale.
The beef industry has moved on from simply putting out a roll of hay in the hope that cows and heifers will get pregnant. Ensuring good nutrition should be a priority. Supplementary feeding the balanced and safe EasyBeef® and Vitalize®, using one of the above labour saving ideas can work for you.
For more information, please contact Milne Ruminant Sales Manager, Jess Andony, on 0435 174 719.
