If you intend to keep the calves after weaning and are only feeding 1kg per day then a simple 70:30 barley-citrus pulp/soya hulls mix is adequate or a standard beef ration at 12% protein.
When feeding only 1kg per day, the protein content of the ration will have little bearing on animal performance.
Protein content
If you are selling the calves after weaning and intend to increase meal feeding levels to 2kg per day, you should increase the protein content of the ration to 14-16%. This will help keep the shine on the calves and prevent them from starting to get fatty.
If you go down the route of feeding meals ad-lib through a creep feeder, then it will be important that you have the ration well balanced and keep the protein content up at around 15% to 16%. You should avoid feeding rations with a cereal content of higher than 50% as this will increase the risk of acidosis.
SHARING OPTIONS