about 60 days of age. My recommendation for club calf producers is to put limited amounts of creep feed out when the oldest calf is about 60 days old. As older calves begin entering the creep feeder, it will entice younger calves to begin eating as well. The extra weight and condition club calves put on prior to weaning will enhance their phenotype and generally increase their sales value. Under some circumstances (excellent pasture for grazing or heavy milking mother cows) producers may choose to delay creep feeding March-April-May born show calf prospects until early October.
ingredient. Oats are the single best feedstuff for young growing animals because oats are the only feedstuff other than GMO grains for which the protein quality increases as the percent composition of protein increases. The creep diet should never be composed of 100% shelled corn. Corn is too high in TDN and too low in crude protein. Corn contains approximately 91% TDN and only 8%-10% crude protein. An exception for including a high percentage of shelled corn in a creep diet is for early-weaned calves that will go onto an accelerated, single phase, finishing pro-
“My recommendation for club calf producers is to put limited amounts of creep feed out when the oldest calf is about 60 days old.” Commercial producers who sell their calves at weaning may also find an advantage for creep feeding their calves the last 30 days of the nursing period. Some feedlot operators will pay a premium for calves that are started on grain as part of a pre-conditioning program, i.e. “bunkwise” calves. A creep feed should be palatable and readily consumed.A good creep diet should contain at least 14% crude protein and 70%-80% TDN. The protein should be composed of all natural protein. Urea or other NPN (non protein nitrogen) sources should not be used, as young calves cannot consume enough energy to utilize the urea. The addition of low-level antibiotic is desirable. The creep feed should contain approximately 70-100 grams of antibiotic per ton of mixture. Including an ionophore such as Rumensin or Bovatec® to prevent coccidiosis is important, also. Choices of feed ingredients may vary according to locale. Cost of feed ingredients and availability of feeds should determine what feedstuffs make up the creep diet. For most areas of the United States, oats are the single best ingredient. If oats are of a high quality, high in crude protein and TDN, they can be the sole
gram. Research has found that feeding a creep diet high in shelled corn increases propionate production (one of the three major volatile fatty acids in the rumen), which in turn increases onset of marbling – thereby increasing quality grade at harvest.
My favorite creep diet contains: • Kent® Baby Beef 34 with 240 grams Bovatec:ton • Beet Pulp shreds without molasses • Whole oats Other diets I recommend include: Diet 1: • 57.8% crimped oats • 22.5% cracked shelled corn • 20% 32% commercial protein supplement Diet 2 • 25% ground alfalfa hay • 55% cracked shelled corn • 20% 32% commercial protein supplement Diet 3 • 4% dried molasses • 5% ground corn cobs • 10% ground alfalfa hay • 29% soybean meal • 30% cracked shelled corn • 3% animal fat • 1% added calcium carbonate
Other than oats, I prefer not to incorporate any grains into a creep diet. Cattle are ruminants and as ruminants they are designed to eat high fiber diets. Therefore, I prefer creep diets that contain highly digestible fiber feedstuffs along with oats and a protein supplement. If you are interested in show cattle, a highly digestible, high-fiber creep feed will expand the rumen and the intestine in calves, helping to create cattle that are deeper flanked. Feedstuffs that contain highly digestible fiber include soybean hulls, beet pulp, brewers dried grains, corn gluten feed and distiller’s grains. These feedstuffs are low in starch, also. Therefore, overeating
“Oats are the single best feedstuff for young growing animals because oats are the only feedstuff other than GMO grains for which the protein quality increases as the percent composition of protein increases.”