![]() Whole or rolled grains are generally more palatable than finely ground grains. Do not use cottonseed meal for creep feeding calves less than 4 months old because of gossypol concerns.Ĭreep feedstuffs must be palatable to calves. Soybean hull pellets, corn gluten feed, corn, soybean meal, cottonseed meal, and commercially mixed creep supplements containing multiple ingredients are commonly used creep supplements in Mississippi. In creep feeding situations, calves often have free access to supplement. Take feedstuff nutrient content, price, and handling characteristics into account as well. When selecting feedstuffs for creep diets, consider forage conditions and milking levels of herd females to determine which feedstuffs will be most beneficial to calves. Creep FeedstuffsĪ variety of different feedstuffs and feedstuff combinations are suitable for creep supplementation of beef calves. Creep entrance slots should be 18 inches wide.įigure 1. Creep gates are also commercially available and can be placed on self-feeders or stand-alone creep feeders ( Figure 1). Wires should be 36 to 42 inches above the ground, so calves can pass underneath but mature cattle cannot. Creep feeding “gates” can be created with a single strand of electrified polywire strategically attached to T-posts and placed around creep supplement. Typically, creep access to supplemental feed or forage requires creep feeders or gates these restrict access to the supplement by larger or more mature cattle while allowing calves to feed on or graze supplementation at will. Calves raised on high-quality, abundant forage usually do not benefit much from additional creep feeding. High quality grazing is usually the most inexpensive source of additional nutrients for nursing calves. These production impacts indicate a need to supplement calves’ diets with high-quality feed before weaning. For example, both average daily gains and weaning weights increase for calves that have access to legume creep grazing on high quality bermudagrass pastures. Many warm-season perennial grasses in Mississippi pastures are often plentiful, but they do not maximize calf gains even when considered high-quality for the forage species. Pastures with low nutrient quality (most common in late summer) or low nutrient quantity (common in winter or during drought) cannot meet calves’ nutritional needs for maximum growth. Calves need extra nutrients to perform to their genetic potential. Milk from a lactating beef cow offers only about half the nutrients that a 3- to 4-month-old calf needs for maximum growth. Milk production in beef females typically peaks about 2 months after calving. Supplements can include creep feeding with concentrated feeds or creep grazing with high-quality forage. Preweaning supplementing, or “creep feeding,” is the nutrient supplementation of nursing beef calves. ![]() Creep Feeding Beef Calves Creep Feeding Basics
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