High-energy
Multiple Gains With High-Energy Receiving
Start and grow calves with the same limit-fed high-energy ration .
“ diets based on corn by-products can be fed to newly received stocker cattle without negative effects on overall health ,” says Dale Blasi , Extension livestock specialist at Kansas State University ( KSU ).
If you overlook the mention of corn by-products and focus on high energy , such a statement seems counterintuitive , running against the grain of popular logic and experience . After all , high-energy diets fed to calves are often associated with increased morbidity , stemming from acidosis and other metabolic disorders . That ’ s still true when corn is the main energy source and cattle are fed ad libitum .
Based on recent KSU research , though , that ’ s not the case when calves are limit-fed rations with energy coming from fermentable fiber rather than fermentable carbohydrates ( starch , primarily ). Think here of substituting corn with the fermentable fiber of wet corn gluten feed ( WCGF ) or the fermentable fiber and fat in wet distillers grains with solubles ( WDGS ).
More specifically , consider a diet providing 60 Mega calories ( Mcals ) of Net Energy for Gain ( NEG ) per 100 lbs . of dry matter , fed at 2.0- 2.5 % of body weight . by Wes Ishmael
KSU High-energy , Limit-feeding Research
Tyler Spore , a Ph . D candidate at the University of Nebraska , led four successive , non-sponsored research feeding trials at KSU ’ s Beef Stocker Unit ( BSU ) in 2016 .
There were 1,444 calves across the trials , received at the BSU from Montana , Florida , Texas , New Mexico and Tennessee . Calves received long stem prairie hay on the day of arrival . They were introduced to the limit-fed diet the following day at a feeding rate of 1.0-1.5 % dry matter ( DM ) on a body weight basis .
“ The desired maximum amount of dry matter intake allowed ( 2.0-2.2 % of body weight ) was attained within one to two weeks , as dictated by cattle appetite , which can be curbed by limit-feeding ,” Blasi explains .
In a nutshell , the first KSU trial compared the performance of starting high-risk calves on a high-roughage , low-energy diet , fed ad libitum , versus a high-energy , low-roughage diet that provided most
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66 • JANUARY 2021