I am backgrounding a yard of calves now, probably running 450-500lb average.


Currently giving them about 1/2 ground hay and 1/2 decent corn silage by volume. Feed 2x a day as much as they will clean up in 1-2 hours. As time goes by here will be 80-90% silage.


I was just doing some rough figures in my head, and I would spend about $100-120 a head in distillars to get them to jan-feb market. What am I giving up just skipping it? Thinking I might throw a little in dec or jan if it gets cold for a little extra, but otherwise am I gonna get the $100-120 back out of them?  


I am guessing rate of gain will suffer a little, but will feed conversion suffer??