I'm sure that what I do is a little different because little grain other than corn or wheat is grown anywhere near here. We begin with a base ration that has the same protein/fat/fiber profile as Chambero. Basically it's cotton seed hulls, steamed flaked corn and soybean meal along with what ever else is cheap and makes the minimum nutritional profile work.
Keep in mind that everything mentioned here is said with show calves in mind. I feed each calf individually depending on its body type. Think about it this way...people have all different body types. If we were on diets trying to end up all with the same body type in a year, each of us would be eating differently in order to end up with the same result. For example we had a Paddy O'Malley heifer last year that only ate oats and beat pulp because she was so easy keeping and had to keep her volume and body depth as low as possible if you can believe that. On top of that she was a chronic bloater, not bad enough to be life threatening, just bad enough that she couldn't eat properly. But this diet kept that in check. The point is all are different.
Steers and heifers up until 8 months are fed protein at a level that keeps them with a comfortably loose stool. In other words, when they get too loose I back off the protein. I try to get at least a pound of pure protein in those 5-8 month old calves if possible. I use soybean meal to do this. Many people use Calf Manna or a similar high protein pellet to raise protein levels, but it's a waste of money in our ration. The base feed has a high quality mineral and vitamin premix, we feed a high priced, high quality vitamin mineral supplement (shag), so there's no reason for anything other than soybean meal. It's highly palatable, and good for the hair and skin. And at current prices I can feed a pound of protein for about 45 or 50 cents a day. 8 months we back the protein down to 16% for heifers and 14% for steers. We also begin adding dry beet pulp at this point at the evening feeding. The reasoning there is that they have been tied up all day and away from water. Immediately after eating they will usually drink. Swells them up and teaches them when to drink at the shows. At 13 months we'll back it down to 14% for heifers and 12% for steers unless the steer is a real hard feeder and we need to start finishing him even earlier. Here our steers are aimed at finishing at 17-19 months. Always back the protein off if they become loose.
We feed MOST heifers our base ration, 25% oats, tweaked for protein. I'd be lying to tell you that I know why we do this. Many people will say that you feed oats in heifer rations to keep them from getting fat. Not true. Oats are 4% fat. That's higher than our base ration. We finish steers on a 5% fat ration. Oats aren't going to keep them lean. But it works so that's why I do it. I do not feed oats to steers, they are too expensive here to be "just another grain."
As a rule of thumb, we begin to feed barley two months out from the show we are trying to peak for. On steers we use our base ration, 25% barley and adjust for protein with SBM. I adjust the ration to 5%fat by using Purina Athlete, a high fat pelleted horse supplement. It's also the "Gold Nugget" found in Purina Show Chow "Finishers Edge". If heifers need to be smother or fatter we ad barely and take away the oats. When depends on how much they need. Keep in mind these are show cattle. I'm feeding them to win, not worrying about getting them too fat. We keep the heifers diet to 4% fat. You can up the fat to 5% for steers by using many products like Fast Fat or even corn oil, but I like "solids" better because they don't cause loose stools as easily. In my experience, these loose stools can come with using liquid supplements before the 5% threshold is reached. More than 5% fat probably will cause loose stools and high fat will prevent the absorption of vitamins and minerals which is key to keeping the freshness of the calf.
Although many people do it, I could never finish a steer properly without barley. My calves finished on barley both appear smoother and feel smother to the touch. It was explained to me that barley deposits fat subcutaneously (under the skin) while corn deposits fat intramuscularly (in the muscle). I can't figure any scientific fact that would back that up, but it sure SEEMS that is true. Never the less that's a good way to think of it. I have never had a calf to bloat on barley, but obviously others have so it bears watching.
I am in Georgia and the only barley I can get comes from western Canada. So it's not cheap. Neither is the Purina Athlete. But it works. One thing that I do have is a cheaper base ration. I am paying $6.75 a bag for it and quality wise it will stand up with any Show Chow, or $14 a bag grower you can find. I realize you can mix your own for less but that is so not practical here. And there are no custom feed mills anywhere near here and those that are within driving distance couldn't make the same feed twice if they had to.
Chambero brought up the question of steamed flaked grains vs. cracked grains. There have been studies after more studies showing that cracked grains offer as much nutrient absorption as steamed flaked grains. HOWEVER, we are feeding for show calves and trying to get a certain body type. The more "texture" or bulk your feed has, the easier it is to get the shape you want for the show ring. To take that to an extreme, you can get all the nutrition you need from a pelleted feed. But you'll never get the look in your calf you get from a highly textured feed. Always use steamed flaked grains when practical. Here, there is a large price differential between cracked oats and rolled oats. We use cracked oats. It's just not practical to do otherwise. But our feed has so much texture already, it doesn't matter. Another example is that many feed mills here, well there aren't "many feed mills" , but a majority of the ones here are beginning to have pelleted cotton seed hulls due to the ease of handling pelletization provides. That is fine for adding fiber to a diet of a "real world" animal. But it won't work for show cattle because we need bulk and texture in our feed to get the "look" we are aiming for.
It was 1990 and I was 30 years old before I knew that you didn't feed show calves straight out of the bag. How to feed cattle used to be a big secret. I was taught by Knick Overpeck who I consider to be one of the best and most successful professional fitters who ever lived. If Knick were alive today, he would be in his late 70's early 80's. He still holds the record score for reasons at the national collegiate livestock judging contest. Besides having a good calf to begin with, "feeding" is the single most important item related to success in the ring. Feeding not only encompasses nutrition, but being able to analyze your animal and knowing what sources of nutrition will get it to the point you are aiming for.
