The premise behind cooking feed ingredients such as corn or barley is to gelatinize the starch bonds that are in the whole grains. This is the reason that most feedlots steam flake corn or use high moisture corn and ensile it. Starch is stored in the kernal and the heating/moisture process of cooking/ensiling help to make the starch more readily availible for digestion. Steam flaking adds to increased digestion as it physically fractures the starch bonds. Flaking has to be done so that the width of the flake is the thickness of a dime. Show feeds will ususally be flaked to the thickness of a couple of quarters put together, so the starch bonds will more than likely come out unscathed. If you plan to cook ingredients, I would recommend that you not add more than 10% to the diet on a dry matter basis, as it can lead to acidosis, and potential scours/loose stools (makes that feed "hot"). It is best to talk to a professional feed formulator/University professor that has knowledge on this topic. If you need assistance, please be sure to know the wieght of the animal(s) that you plan on feeding, the target weight desired and the target date desired. This will get you to a hypothetical ADG that you need. If you are feeding multiple animals, you can tailor your needs, but make sure you have a good feed scale. I hear to many times that a "bucket per day" is good. You need to know how many pounds, since bulk density of the feed can change. Scoops don't serve well as a weight indicator. If you want to learn how to feed like the pro's, spend a week with a bunk reader at a feedlot sometime. One other item to consider is the forage that the animal is eating, and if you are hand feeding hay or letting the animal eat "ad libitum" (hay feeder with a round bale). Forage testing is cheap, and it does a lot of good when deciding a best route of choice for putting pounds on a said animal.
