Research Progress Report 129
Project 1295         April, 1964
Creep Feeding Fall Dropped Calves
R. C. Peterson, R. R. Garrigus, R. E. Erb and M. E. Heath, Department of Animal Sciences
This study was conducted on the Southern Indiana Forage Farm.
The nutrient requirements for a lactating beef cow that is weaning a 500-pound calf are about the same regardless of the time she calves, be it January or August. Her feed supply, however, will be quite different.
If she drops her calf in January she has good grass within 3 months and if she calves in August, the pasture is reasonably good during the first 2 to 2 1/2 months of lactation.
In addition, the January calf is large enough to consume considerable pasture by mid-April so he not only has the benefit of the increased milk flow of his dam, but he can harvest spring pasture for himself.
The reverse is true for fall calves. By the time the calf is old enough to consume grass, it is gone and the cow needs a greater feed supply to produce additional milk. Then, the August calf and his dam must depend, to a large extent, upon harvested feeds to meet their nutrient requirements.
Information concerning creep feeding fall calves in Indiana is not available.
Whether we should creep feed these fall dropped calves probably depends upon the quality and the quantity of feed available.
Some research indicates that if we must feed grain to a cow-calf unit that it is advisable to feed it to the calf instead of the cow.
Experimental Objective
The objective of this experiment was to compare the growth rate of calves that were creep fed with comparable calves which were not creep fed.
Experimental Plan and Treatment
A set of 35 August dropped calves and their dams were allotted into two groups.
The calves were about 4 months old and their average initial weight was 231 pounds.
The control calves and their dams were on a fescue pasture for the entire period and the creep fed group of calves and their dams were on bluegrass pasture until March 7 when they were moved to a fescue pasture also. These pastures had been grazed hard during the fall, and scarcely any feed was supplied by either pasture. The calves were started on creep feed with whole oats. After they began eating the oats the feed was changed to 2 parts of whole oats to 1 part of shelled corn. Fifty-six days after the experiment had started the creep feed was changed to equal parts of whole oats and shelled corn.
The cows in both groups were fed the same quantity of identical rations through out the experiment. Each cow received an average of 47 pounds of wheat silage, 7 pounds of mixed legume hay and 4 pounds
PURDUE UNIVERSITY • Agricultural Experiment Station • Lafayette, Indiana