Page 18 - MWC 08-5-2021s

CREEP FEEDING CALVES Oklahoma State University The Midwest Cattleman · August 5, 2021 · P18

By David Lalman

Occasionally the question (forage) is being replaced by for maternal
of whether creep feeding is a another. Similarly, the greater tissue main-
cost-effective practice comes up. the plane of maternal nutri- tenance or
The simple answer for commer- tion, the poorer the conversion even weight
cial cow/calf operations is “not of creep feed to calf gain. In gain. This is
in most circumstances”. This our fall-calving experiments, simply not
is particularly true for spring efficiency of creep feed conver- true. Most
calving operations. Calf wean- sion to calf gain is quite good experiments
ing weights can be increased because native range forage that track
anywhere from about 20 to 80 quality is low, and cows are in cow weight
pounds. However, in most cases, a maintenance to negative en- change and
the value of added weight gain ergy balance (losing weight). calf milk in-
will not cover the added feed, Our results have been around take show
labor and equipment costs un- 4.5 to 5 pounds creep feed:gain that calves stock producers likely have en-
less feed is exceptionally inex- when fall-calving cows are get- consume all the milk available tirely different objectives when
pensive and (or) when value of ting around 5 pounds of supple- whether they are creep fed or it comes to creep feeding. Chief
added weight gain is exception- mental feed. However, the more not. Creep feeding simply does among those include market-
ally high. supplement the cow is fed, the not change or improve cow ing and expression of genetic
For example, in a summary poorer the creep feed conver- weights or body condition. potential for growth.
of 31 experiments where calves sion. Situations that reduce Calves prefer milk first, pal- Creep feeding has been
had unlimited access to creep calf nutrient availability im- atable creep feed second, then studied in the animal science
feed, average increased calf proves the efficiency of creep; forage. Consider that the in- field for many years and there
weaning weight was 58 pounds. low milk production, low qual- tensity of creep feed and forage is quite a lot of good data avail-
Average creep feed conversion ity forage, overgrazed pastures consumption is elastic and op- able. Hopefully, some of these
was nine pounds of additional and thus low forage availabili- posite. The lower the quality of fundamental concepts will be
feed to one pound of added calf ty, drought, fall-calving, etc. Of the forage, the more creep feed helpful the next time condi-
weight gain. Assuming bagged course, the opposite is true as and less forage calves want to tions warrant considering this
creep feed could be purchased well. In general, limiting creep consume and vice versa. practice.
for $275 per ton or $0.1375 per intake improves creep feed con- Not all beef cattle produc-
pound, the feed cost per pound version substantially. This is ers make this decision based
of added weight gain is about especially true with low-quali- on the economics at the time
$1.24. In a recent Oklahoma ty forage and protein-rich creep of weaning. For example, seed-
Department of Agriculture feeds limited to 2 to 3 pounds of
Market News report, value of intake per day.
added gain between 527-pound Another consideration is the
steers and 575-pound steers flesh condition of calves that
was about $0.86. If the creep are marketed at weaning. The
feed could be purchased in bulk longer calves are exposed to
for about $240 per ton, the feed unlimited creep consumption
cost per pound of added weight and the lower the forage quali-
gain decreases to $1.08. ty, the more they want to eat. If
In a recent Nebraska study, calves are fed free choice creep
spring-born calves were fed for 90 days or longer, there is a
creep for 105 days prior to risk of over-conditioning lead-
weaning. In this study, labor, ing to a market discount. On
equipment, transportation, the positive side, if heavy creep-
and depreciation costs for the fed calves go straight to the
creep feeding enterprise were feed yard for finishing, carcass
estimated at $28.38 per calf, or weights and in most studies,
about $0.27 per head per day. marbling scores are improved.
Conversion efficiency can Occasionally, I hear that
range from 3 to 20 pounds of creep feeding “takes the pres-
feed required per pound of sure off the cows”. I think the
added weight gain. High-qual- assumption is that calves con-
ity, abundant forage results sume less milk, and therefore,
in very poor feed conversion cows produce less milk and thus
because one high-quality feed have more nutrients available

• Featuring ‘ Program’
Cattle Weekly

• DVAuction Service for convenient
online viewing & bidding
Vienna, Mo 65582
Selling All Classes of Cattle Wednesday @ 10:00 a.m.
For more information: Ross Patton 573-308-6657 • Bill Patton 573-308-6658
• David Patton – 573-308-6655 •
Visit our website at www.scrsvienna.com • or E-mail us at: SCRSVienna@gmail.com