Creep feeding can be a very useful tool for producers with young calves. This will improve both your bottom line and your overall profitability.
It can help add a few more pounds on your calves which can translate into more dollars for you come sale time. Also it has been shown to make weaning a little bit less stressful for them.
But like with everything there are pros and cons to using it. It is up to each producer individually to decide if it is something that will work for them or not. Here are some things for you to consider:
What is creep feeding?
To put it simply creep feeding is supplying a supplement for just your calves to eat. This can be provided in either a pellet form or a textured feed. Just as long as it is something that they will eat.
In order for it to be available to only calves it has to be put in a feeder that is penned off with openings only they can get through. This will make ensure that your cows can not get in.
When it comes to creep feed there are two types that they can come in:
- Energy: this is predominately used when your forage quality is low and you need a substitution. The feed conversion of this type can vary greatly ranging anywhere from 15:1 to 6:1.
- Protein: this type is generally used for a supplementation. That is when your forage quality is good but you are looking to provide a little something more. The high protein creep will have a better feed conversion rate, somewhere around 4:1. One drawback is they will consume less of this which means they will have less total gain.
When to use creep feeding
There are many factors to consider when looking at creep feeding. 4 factors that you can look at are:
- Forage quality: if it is lush and green creep feeding may not be the best option for you. As long as the Crude Protein provided is between 8% to 10% the forage should provide enough nutrients for your calf.
- Stage of Lactation: if your cows are providing enough milk then she will be able to provide enough to meet the calf’s protein and energy needs. If your animals are more in the latter stages where her milk amount declines then you may need to consider creep feeding.
- Condition of the cow: creep feeding may be useful for young, thin cows. This will take some of the demand off of her and allow her to put some weight back on.
- Cost of gain: if it is not profitable for you to do it then creep feeding is not an option for you. Here is where you figure out if the extra weight that will be put on is more than the cost of the feed.
Figuring the cost of gain
It is useless for you to spend more that what the market price for that calf will be. The point of any business is for you to be in a sustainable net profit scenario.
Many producers think that the more weight those calves have the better but that is not always the case. Sometimes the extra weight does not fully pay off.
The market has a certain number that it likes for those calves to be in. There are generally a discount for a calf that weighs more than a certain amount. Individually these discounts may not seem like much but the more you are trying to sell the more it can add up.
Example:
I suppose I should say that the numbers I am about to use are not set in stone. These are just some examples that I have come up with to provide a point.
Let us say that you are looking to sell some calves that are in 2 different groups you are thinking of creep feeding. In one group you decide not to and they come out to in the 550lbs area. The second group you are thinking of creep feeding to put on an extra 60lbs on them which will put them in 610lbs region.
The 550lbs steer may be worth $1.10 per pound and the creep fed one could be worth $1.05. The 550lbs one would be worth $605 (550x $1.10/pound) and the creep fed one would generate $641 (610 x $1.05). The additional 60 pounds of gain would make an additional $36 or $0.60 per pound of gain. This would mean that what ever creep feed that you used could not cost more than $0.60 to add 1 pound of gain.
Calculating feed cost
Now that we have that number we can figure our feed costs.
In this example we will use a feed conversion of 6lbs of feed per 1 pound of gain. If we have a feed price of $120 per ton that would equal $0.36 per pound of added gain. So by that figure it would be profitable to creep feed.
Deciding if it is worth it
Once you have done the math you can then make an informed decision.
Another factor you should consider is the labor costs associated with creep feeding. This can be either any help that you have working for you or just yourself. If it is just you still consider labor cost because you do not want to be working for free do you?
Also if you do not already have the equipment you will need to factor in the price of that into your costs. A creep feeder can cost in the $800 to $3,000 range.
If you are looking for more pros and cons with creep feeding I discuss that more in a previous post titled The Pros and Cons of Creep Feeding.
The University of Nebraska at Lincoln has a paper that goes into more detail about creep feeding and you can find it here.
Now creep feeding as I have discussed earlier can be a valuable tool to increase the profitability of your current calf crop. Ultimately it is up to the individual producer to weigh the advantages and disadvantages to determine if it is right for their operation.
