Beefbiz - 6/19/2017 08:06

I think corn silage is an outstanding feedstuff.  A great mix of energy and roughage, and returns a lot of dollars to your corn acres (just make sure to put manure where you chop to replace nutrients in the stalks).
I would like to use the balage as part of the ration, but not as the base of the ration.  Depending on how much alfalfa is in your balage, you could very easily overfeed protein and underfeed energy if this was your primary roughage - you would definitely have to blend some grain with it to get decent gains.
To tell you what to feed, your local feed nutritionist would need to know the nutrient tests on the balage (because it is extremely variable farm to farm) and he would need to know what your goals are for your calves - how big do you want to get them, and are you finishing them or selling them as feeders? With that info, then a ration can be balanced for the right energy and protein levels to meet your needs.  If you have some good protein in the balage, a simple blend of corn silage and balage (along with something to bring in supplemental minerals and ionophore) could very easily give you a 2-2.5 gain or more.  What that blend is depends on if your balage is 12% protein or 18% protein.