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To increase the growth rate of calves, many farmers creep-feed them. In the weeks leading up to weaning, the feed conversion rate of calves is the highest of their lives at between 3.5kg and 4kg dry matter to a kilo liveweight gain.
Creep-fed calves weigh an extra 25kg which could be worth another £55/head if selling young stores. Plus many farmers use creep feeding to reduce the incidence of pneumonia at weaning. Condition can be kept on cows during late summer as grass growth tails away.
However, farmers need to consider labour, equipment and calf health before putting the feeders out. A recent study in the US claimed that the price of the feed only amounts to between 65% and 70% of the overall cost of creep feeding.
Further creeping feeding can cover up poorer breeding by making up for poor milk production in cows.
When to start
When to start depends on what type of cattle you produce. The typical timing is six to 10 weeks before weaning but if you are producing fast finished bulls then feeders can go out 12 weeks before weaning. If the priority for creep is to reduce any check in growth at weaning and cows have plenty milk, start four to six weeks before.
Currently creep feed rations are costing between £210/t and £250/t in Scotland
The amount eaten by the calves can vary significantly depending on the season and the cows’ milk, typically between 100kg and 150kg of creep feed will do a calf for a six- to 12-week period. Currently creep feed rations are costing between £210/t and £250/t in Scotland.
What to feed
This should contain high levels of digestible fibre such as whole oats and/or sugar beet pulp and once calves have got used to this diet gradually introduce cereals and other starch-based feeds.
A nutritional balance is important in creep feed, with crude protein at 18%/kg/DM or more, and also up to 30% bypass protein. Once the calves are on the feed you can reduce the protein level to 15-16%kg/DM. It is a good idea to have a good amount of energy in the mix at 11-12 ME/kgDM and digestible fibre at least 30% neutral detergent fibre (NDF).
Rolled oats
Whole oats are slow to break down and are good for rumen development in young calves. But once you start seeing the whole oats in the dung they should be rolled.
Other high-fibre feeds like sugar beet pulp, malt culm or malt residual pellets, wheat feed pellets or soya hulls are good options too.
Further open troughs can be put in the calves’ area for concentrate
Forward creep-feeding by putting up an electric fence which allows calves through to a fresh pasture is a cost-effective way to increase growth.
Further open troughs can be put in the calves’ area for concentrate.
Not worth creep feeding in Nebraska, study finds
A report from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the US has shown that farmers there could be better off not creep-feeding calves. The key issues to profitability were finishers preferring lighter cattle and creep-feed costing just under £300/t, which is nearly £100/t more than in Scotland.
The three-year study by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at the Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory (GSL) using spring-calving cows tested the effects of creep-feeding on calf weaning weight and productivity.
Further, the report found that creep-fed calves retained their additional weight through to slaughter
Unsurprisingly, the study found that offering supplementary feed to growing calves dramatically increased weaning weight. It was also pointed out that creep-feeding could reduce the impact of undernutrition from the cow during gestation. Further, the report found that creep-fed calves retained their additional weight through to slaughter.
The experiments used commercially available feed mixes with additives to control intake. The economic analysis is simple and based on the difference between the cost of the additional feed versus the additional benefits. The report showed that while creep feeding may be economically viable, the overall profitability can often be negative.
The performance results
Feeding creep to young calves is a balancing act. On the plus side, it will improve performance as a good-quality creep will drive early rumen development in the calf, leading to greater lifetime performance. However, those same creeps can begin the process of laying down fat in the udder of heifers. This fat will go on to compromise her lifetime milk production. Creep can also mask the underperformance of cows as mothers as it covers up poorer performing cows in the herd.
At slaughter, the carcases from the creep-fed animals were heavier and had more backfat
In the trial, the creep feed was introduced 100 days prior to weaning and in total, each calf ate an average of 1.75kg of creep per day, meaning a total intake of 175kg of creep. At weaning, all calves were weighed, and it was found that the creep fed calves were 20kg heavier than those that did not receive creep. This gives a feed conversation ratio of just under 4kg of feed to 1kg of liveweight gain. Each year, the calves were then kept as one group, treated the same and followed through to slaughter.
At slaughter, the carcases from the creep-fed animals were heavier and had more backfat. In the USA, carcases are also graded on the level of marbling, so this was also looked at when the animals were slaughtered. There was no difference in marbling.
Cost of creep feeding
In the trial, the cost of the creep feed was $374.68/t (£299/t). Based on the intakes above, the average cost per calf was $63.49 (£50.70) for the year. Further costs to be added to this were:
The overall cost of creep feeding the calves was $91.87 (£73.48)/calf.
The lowest cost per calf was $69 (£55) and the highest $110 (£88)/calf.
The report highlights the importance of not concluding the benefits of creep feeding based on the cost of raising the calf weight and the cost of feed by the price paid per kilo. This hides challenges like the price slide effect where lighter calves are more valuable per kilo compared to heavier calves.
The study showed that in 2014, creep-fed calves were valued $0.57 (£0.46) less per kilo than the lighter calves, making the lighter calves more valuable on a per-head basis, without considering added difference in the cost invested in creep feed.
Over the three years, the difference in price paid per kilo between creep-fed and non creep-fed calves equated a loss of $83.26/calf (£67/calf)
There was a more significant impact on profitability due to this price slide than expected. Over the three years, the difference in price paid per kilo between creep-fed and non creep-fed calves equated a loss of $83.26/calf (£67/calf).
However, the additional weight on the creep-fed calves put their average sale price up $97.89/calf (£78/calf). The difference between the two figures meant that the additional weight on creep-fed calves was worth $14.63/calf (£11.75). This figure gives a much smaller margin to pay for creep feed than the average annual cost of $91.87/calf (£74/calf).
Nevertheless, the report does point out that there were large fluctuations between the years, so it was suggested that farmers explore the price slide between creep feeding and not creep feeding before a decision is made.
More costs than just feed
Another consideration the study highlighted was that the cost of feed accounts for between 65% to 70% of total costs. If the study only looked at the feed costs and average calf price for calves fed creep, then putting feeders in was profitable in two of the three years in the experiment
In 2015, the cost of the feed was $68.87 (£55) with an increased calf value of $81.84 (£65) leaving a margin of $12.97 (£10). However, the report explains that once all the costs and the lower value of additional kilos above the non creep fed calf weight are incorporated, creep feeding never turned a profit. The results show that on average they lost on average $41.61 (£33) ranging from the biggest loss of $102 (£81.70) to the lowest -$15.21 (£12.18)
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