Carrying too much body condition early in life can negatively impact heifers retained as replacements. That’s according to experts at the Kansas State University Beef Cattle Institute.
The experts said adding more feed to the diet of calves still suckling their dams can benefit growth. But they warned those diets must be monitored to keep the heifers from getting over-conditioned. That supplement feed is called creep feed, which can be any feed supplement given to the calves that the dams cannot access.
Beef cattle nutritionist Phillip Lancaster said knowing the feed conversion is important.
“I recommend limiting the intake of the creep feed to three to four pounds of feed per head per day; if it gets higher than that, the feed conversion is poor, and the profitability is worse because expensive feed is being substituted for a cheaper, forage-based feed source,” he said.
Kansas State University agricultural economist Dustin Pendell advised producers to calculate the cost of supplemental feed related to the rate of gain for the animal.
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Pendell said, “Producers need to know the feed cost per pound of gain and the expected price of the weaned calf. As long as the expected price is greater than or equal to the cost of the additional pound of feed, then it makes sense to creep feed.”
However for heifer calves that will be retained as replacements Kansas State University veterinarian Bob Larson said that while there are growth and nutrition benefits when producers choose to offer supplemental feed to heifer calves, the diet needs to be managed closely so that those heifer calves are not over-conditioned.
Larson said, “Research has shown that heifer calves that haven’t reached puberty are fed a diet that causes them to deposit fat in the mammary gland. They may have decreased lifetime milk production.”
Kansas State University veterinarian Brad White said there is a nutritional plane that is optimal for growth.
White said, “While it is important for heifer calves to grow bone and muscle, producers need to be cautious to ensure the females aren’t depositing fat in the mammary gland.”
Larson does not recommend offering free-choice creep feed for heifers that will be retained in the herd.
Larson said, “It is best to allow them to grow on forage while they are suckling, wean them at the appropriate time and then hand deliver the nutrients they need to keep them in their optimum growth curve.”
Lisa Moser is an instructor in agricultural communications and journalism at Kansas State University.
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