looking for advice

[Hereford76]

is anyone custom feeding calves over the winter for the grass market or to go back on grass. trying to get examples or ideas on how to charge for wintering calves

buyer from wyo wants to buy calves here mid october and have me winter them till 4/1. i am thinking about locking them up and free choice feeding them chopped alfalfa/grass with either pea straw or oat straw and salt/min and no protein supp at all.

how would u charge for that?

[Northern Rancher]

Most outfits charge cost of feed plus yardage-your cost of gain will be quite a bit higher than a finishing lot because a bigger % of the ration will be used just for mmaintenance not alot left over for gain. We winter on straight hay here but I'm thinking of adding a bit of energy-the last few winters we've hit some long stretches of -40. If you have real good hay you'll probably be fine that isn't always the case here. Just make sure it's worth your while-even 100 calves at .50/day yardage is only $50. Whatever you do don't winter calves for grass on a cost per gain deal!!!! You'll have to make sure who pays treatment and who stands death loss too.

[jodywy]

we used to send the calves to a background lot years ago, though spring came they were too big to go back to grass, but did have sone great replacement hiefers.
the one I know that go back to grass with thier calves are calving Late May thru June, or June thru July

[Hereford76]

anyone seen any contracts on steers for march or april delivery?

[Kato]

I second that suggestion on a pound of gain payment. There are so many ways you can feed cattle like that and not make any money at all. Death loss, burnouts, poor cattle all add up to expenses that you have to absorb. I've seen guys do it, and lose money custom feeding. Not good.

[Oldtimer]

[Faster horses]

I wouldn't advise free-choice feeding them either. It's hard to manage what you can't measure. There will be lots less waste if you can feed them morning and night. They seem to do better too. Less acidisosis, etc.
I realize it is less time consuming to feed free choice, but I sincerely feel it is not as efficient feed-wise.

Good luck with your venture. I hope it works out for both of you.

[jodywy]

usually feed my replacement hiefers right with my flock of ewes, have 3 fields feed them in the morning in one , then open the gate to another that evening

[loomixguy]

Have some rations run, taking into account the weather, sex, breed, and age of the cattle, and what feedstuffs you have along with the results you expect, on a least cost basis, with and without supplement figured in. (Your local LOOMIX dealer can/will do this for you.) Providing a little supplement may pay off big time for you and the owner. Whatever you do, RUN RATIONS!

[Faster horses]

Even if you aren't going to feed grain, check your hay so you
know what you have and aren't guessing. It will make you money,

[loomixguy]

Hell, yes! Have ALL of your hay (grass, alfalfa, straw, cane, etc.) tested, so the values can be plugged into the rations! Just plugging in NRC values is kinda like horseshoes & hand grenades...your hay might be close to NRC values, and it may be off by a mile. The only way to know for sure is to get the tests....and, it may not hurt to have the water tested as well to see if there are any potential tie ups that may occur, therefore jeopardizing desired results.

[peacecountry]

boy am i ever glad i read this just got home from the auction mart . a guy was trying to get me to feed calves for .50 per lb of gain calves weighing 400 to 450.from what you guys said that dont sound that great. i was just starting to pencil this out.any imput is aprecated thanks.