Posted 10/12/2014 15:02 (#4121864 - in reply to #4121429) Subject: RE: cattle prices, feed and alternative livestock? denice and howdy
south east Indiana
When I had lambs out west I early weaned and they were on creep from a couple weeks old. Never went on pasture at all which cut down problems with worms to just about Zero. They would be FAT /finished 140 lbs by 5 months old. That feed was whole corn and a protein pellet with extra CA added/ no hay and % protein was decreased over time. I think we started like 18% then went 14 then 12. Those were about 4 lbs of feed to 1 lb of gain.
Here I do not feed grains because of the cost of feed and very little return because of the market. Different breeds gain differently. On grass this year my NCC lambs were 90 to 100 in about 6 months. The Dorsets take longer than that and the hair sheep take longer still on grass
The biggest things to watch for are i think are urinary calculi and acidosis then coccidia can be a problem in a feed lot situation. You can not give lambs all the things calves can have.
cattle prices, feed and alternative livestock?
