# Cheap Cattle Feed



## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Went in the Co-op this AM and manager told me that had half of a pallet of cattle feed they needed to dispose of due to weavils. It was show calf feed. Normally $10.45 for a 50/lb bag. Bought 16 bags for $4.00 bag. As far as I'm concerned weavils are protein also.

If you deal with the Co-op or feed store ask what they do with similar feed.

Of course, you don't want it to be mixing species, such as feeding hog feed to cattle. But, even here, Co-op says they now use no ruminant animal by-products, such as meat and bone meal, in any of their feeds.

For about the next month I will also be giving the herd chopped sweet corn stalks. On feed value vs cost, may be marginal when I consider my time and effort and pickup gas and wear and tear. Sort of like giving them a treat while it lasts. My Angus bull comes to the back of the pickup when I'm offloading waiting for me to pull off a couple of ears, shuck them back and stick them in his mouth. I have a local reputation for taking good care of my cattle.


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## Tango (Aug 19, 2002)

Ken, I keep thinking of the warning on the label not to give insect ridden feed to livestock. :shrug: I don't like our coop feeds because they use animal fat preserved with ethoyquin on everything and want to avoid that with my dairy cow especially, but the tags also say not to feed to calves intended for veal and I don't know where my calves will go. BTW, a little DE will rid the existing weavils.


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## JeffNY (Dec 13, 2004)

If you can get your foot in the door, the cheapest, safest feed (once you adjust them to it) is bread. I know of someone who feeds his beefers donuts. I know of someone who feeds his cows bread. You have to adjust them to it, and not feed it in large quantities. But it acts like grain, and atleast there isn't any bugs in it.


Jeff


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

I guess you folks don't recognize when cattle are out grazing they, in all likelihood, consume ants, grasshoppers, catapillers, etc. having the misfortune to be on the forage they consume.


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## unioncreek (Jun 18, 2002)

Occationally while I was still on the farm we would end up with some wheat that had weevils in it. We just run it through the hammer mill and fed it to our hogs and feeder cattle. Never had any problems with it.

Bobg


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

I didn't mean to give the impression this feed is highly weevil infested. There were some holes in the top bags which indicated their presence and the Co-op decided not to sell any of what was left on the pallet.

Who hasn't found weevils in wheat-type products stored in their kitchen cabinets, like pasta.

No big thing.


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## bob clark (Nov 3, 2005)

Ken thanks for the post. Its good to think outside the box in order to lower input costs some times


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say it decreases input cost as actually the cattle could do quite well without it. I like to occasionally give the girls treats (keeps them liking me) and I will be weaning calves within a couple of months and can use it then.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Weavil are a constant battle with any Grain.And with Bread you would be surprised at how many Bugs are in it,just they are cooked.

Now as far as feeding Bread it digest so fast it puts on excess fat on any Animal and Poultry,which causes damage to the Heart and Liver.

big rockpile


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## Tango (Aug 19, 2002)

Ken Scharabok said:


> Who hasn't found weevils in wheat-type products stored in their kitchen cabinets, like pasta.
> 
> No big thing.


Ah yes, that's why there is Tupperware and Rubbermaid


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## JeffNY (Dec 13, 2004)

Well in any grain bin, there are rats and mice. We have them and there is not a damn thing I can do about it. The bin is a wooden bin, in the barn. Been there for many many years. I just deal with it, if a rat drops out I run it down and get it .


Jeff


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## JulieLou42 (Mar 28, 2005)

Bay leaves may help in your grain storage, tightly lidded. I've never had weevils in my stored wheat, some that kept for 8 years. I've even stored wheat I took to Fla. for 6 months with an inch layer of rock salt on the bottom of it in 5 gallon plastic tubs with tight lids still free of weevils after ten years when opened in Calif. Wouldn't sprout, but still made pretty good bread.

Mice and the like have not bothered my C-O-B that's stored in a simple 30 gallon lidded plastic garbage bin. But, then, I have a cat that's a good mouser that likes to stay in the garage where it's stored.


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## unioncreek (Jun 18, 2002)

JeffNY,

The certified seed program at WSU keeps their seed in wooden bins and they had a continuous mouse problem. Someone told them to put Downy dryier sheets in each bin to stop the mice. It does actually work. I had a mouse problem in my 62 Galaxie and it worked in there also. I don't know whether it would work in a grain bin, but it may be worth a try.

Bobg


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

Ken Glad to see you are a resourceful fellow who abhors waste. We, too, have used a little sweat equity to move sweetcorn stalks to the cows every year. Never miss an opportunity to turn usable vegetation into meat or milk I say, LOL. Now if I can get my Hogs to respect polytape Electric fence :bash: 
I can use Hogs to clean up sweetcorn stalks where they stand rather than expending energy to move them, LOL.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Not to turn this into a pig thread, but I'm feeding out 2 hogs on bread and cheese.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

At one time it was a fairly standard practice to interplant corn, pole beans and pumpkins. After harvest livestock was then turned into the field.

My cattle also winter on crop stubble. Corn last two years, soybeans this one.


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## Vere My Sone (Mar 10, 2005)

How much bread can you feed to a jersey or angus
I've just been giving it to her as a treet
but have been limiting it to 2 loaves, although she'd like to have more


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## JeffNY (Dec 13, 2004)

Don't overfeed bread, keep it only as a treat. It shouldn't be a staple diet.



Jeff


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## BlueJae (Apr 6, 2012)

I read not to feed more than about 11 lbs of bread per day. I currently feed my 2 calves (600 - 700 lbs) 10 loaves per day and will be increasing it slowly to 20 loaves per day. They also get 20 lbs of a mixed grain per day which will also be increasing soon. They have all the hay they want and usually eat 40 lbs per day plus whatever they're grazing on.
They like donuts best but don't get often, they like bagels and she sheep won't eat bagels. 
My boarder likes to feed them burger buns and the pigs get the hotdog buns.


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## richmond1273 (Oct 4, 2011)

BlueJae said:


> My boarder likes to feed them burger buns and the pigs get the hotdog buns.


:happy2:


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

As I was rolling hay today I was thinking about all those hundreds of grasshoppers getting caughtin the hay hope they add to yhe proten content   I also have a deal with a friend who runs a produce stand to take all the pased ripe fruit and veggies so far much to the delite of my milk cow and the beefers love watermelon canilopes and I break the sweetcorn in half for em .they have learned to spit out the peach pits


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

BlueJae said:


> I read not to feed more than about 11 lbs of bread per day. I currently feed my 2 calves (600 - 700 lbs) 10 loaves per day and will be increasing it slowly to 20 loaves per day. They also get 20 lbs of a mixed grain per day which will also be increasing soon. They have all the hay they want and usually eat 40 lbs per day plus whatever they're grazing on.
> They like donuts best but don't get often, they like bagels and she sheep won't eat bagels.
> My boarder likes to feed them burger buns and the pigs get the hotdog buns.


This cheap feed works very well wish I could get in on this but before you butchet .in order to get better quality meat you will have to feed corn for a couple -3 weeks to firm up the fat for good bacon and better steaks .this is what the old farmers called cleaning them up so they will be fit to eat :banana::banana:


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## ds40 (Feb 11, 2009)

That's a really good buy, now you can feed them 7% of their body weight!


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