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Thumb of Michigan | lawfarms - 11/12/2026 05:40 I have a Couple of wagons we can store feed on in the shed. So limited places to store mixed feed. One wagon holds 300-350bu the other 100 or could swap it for a 200bu wagon. I see at least three different feeds, chickens ground corn/SBM it seems (perhaps 200-500# bagged up), creep feed cracked/coarsely ground corn, whole oats, mineral pellet SBM (more later on this) and a cow/finishing ration, coarse ground/cracked corn, mineral pellet, DDG, maybe limestone/vegetable oil.We ended up having issues where 50% of the boys cows were open that family was caring for the cows in trade for bobcat rent. The open cows looked poorly fed, so we ended the agreement last week. We sold the bred cows and brought the open cows and calves home last saturday. So we have more head to feed but limited pasture. The cows and calves run together except for the 5 on the bottle currently. We don't have a good way to feed the cows and calves separate. Make/buy a creep feeder. Behlen Country 750 lb. Steel Calf Creep Feeder at Tractor Supply CoI dont have just cobs to pull into the feed mix. Even when running the popcorn though the cleaner we dont have mich cob kicked out. No problem, was just tossing a possibility out there.I’ll adjust the protein numbers on the calculation sheet. I liked having oats in the mix. A neighbor always fed oats wi th their corn to calves…so no other reason then that… I'm a 100% for this, cracked corn and oats are a standard here for calves under 400-500#.
IMHO and how I do it: My calf feed starts out with high protein (24-26%), corn needs to be cracked (very few whole kernels) but not finely ground. I ran my hammer mill slower using a 3/8" screen (I have a roller mill now). As the calves grow, I reduce the CP so that I'm at 14-16% CP at 400-500#. I find watching the poop as the easiest way to know when to adjust CP down.
At 500-600# I switch to a grower ration (I skipped this above for you) that's 14-16%. Basically, backing off the oats, adding DDG, SBM, limestone and whole ear corn. I feed little or no hay, the reason for the cobs.
At 900-1000# a finish ration ~12% CP, rolled cracked corn, slowly ground ear corn (trying for large pieces of kernels, but no very few whole kernels), DDG and limestone.
All three rations have ~20# a ton vegetable oil added, increases fat content/NEg and as a side benefit knocks down a little dust. the last two rations have limestone to help balance the calcium/phosphorus ratio.
I work with a Purina beef specialist for ration development.
After all this thought, one thing that comes to mind is the size of your corn kernels, getting them cracked ang not finely ground could be problematic. Cattle and finely ground feed isn't the best is my understanding. Smaller screen & slower RPMs on your GM?
Rember all this info is from a small guy, still learning. It would be nice to have access to corn silage, earlage, a TMR wagon, ground hay, etc., but as a small guy, you got to play the cards you got.
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Popcorn feed analysis results
