How much meal to finish angus heifers?

locky76

I've ten angus heifers around 400kgs which i plan on finishing in the near future. They've lovely grass in front of them and i'll be feeding them meal outside but i need some guidance as regards my meal feeding regime.
The price i got off my miller is €245 per tonne for a finishing ration.
I've two options in my mind:

1. 6 weeks of meal starting at 1kg of meal per day building up to 4kgs per day, this would amount to 126kgs per animal, €31 per animal.
2. 100 days of meal once again starting at 1kg of meal per day building up to 4kgs per day, this would amount to 358kgs per animal, €88 per animal.

As always any advice greatly appreciated .

leg wax

will they be big enough in 100 days if they are only 400 kilos now would you not need the carcase of 300 kgs min.

locky76

leg wax wrote: »

will they be big enough in 100 days if they are only 400 kilos now would you not need the carcase of 300 kgs min.

Maybe i'm underestimating their current weight, they're butty enough anguses.
I normally kill them around 525kgs with a killout of 52%, 273kgs killout @ €3.58 per kg= €977 payout.
I'd be happy out with that, i'd appreciate any comments on my basic sums above.

leg wax

locky76 wrote: »

Maybe i'm underestimating their current weight, they're butty enough anguses.
I normally kill them around 525kgs with a killout of 52%, 273kgs killout @ €3.58 per kg= €977 payout.
I'd be happy out with that, i'd appreciate any comments on my basic sums above.

i am not being smart but they are both the same feeding rates only diff is that after 42 days if they are not fit they stay on diet longer.so what do you want from us,add lib for 42 days v 4 kilo for 100 days theres going to be a difference and i dont have the answer as i dont really feed for factories,but what you are asking is a no brainer ,if fit at 42 days kill if not leave on longer.

locky76

leg wax wrote: »

i am not being smart but they are both the same feeding rates only diff is that after 42 days if they are not fit they stay on diet longer.so what do you want from us,add lib for 42 days v 4 kilo for 100 days theres going to be a difference and i dont have the answer as i dont really feed for factories,but what you are asking is a no brainer ,if fit at 42 days kill if not leave on longer.

What i'm asking legwax is if it is worth feeding them for the extra 58 days at an extra cost of €57, i.e. will they put on an extra 50kgs liveweight (26kgs hanging up, €93 extra) to merit keeping them longer

49801

i've formed the opinion... rightly or wrongly that anymore than 3kg/day 15/16CP at grass is too much. And once you start feeding above 3kg a day the feeding should be split morning and evening (complete pain in the hole). The more meal you feed the less grass they'll eat and grass is the cheapest feed. Just make sure grass is leafy not stemmy rubbish.

6 to 8 weeks feeding at grass is plenty. if your worried they could fatten out a bit more add .5kg/hd/day of maize meal for the final 2weeks. Dont feed the maize for more than 3week though as you'll over fatten them.

reilig

49801 wrote: »

i've formed the opinion... rightly or wrongly that anymore than 3kg/day 15/16CP at grass is too much. And once you start feeding above 3kg a day the feeding should be split morning and evening (complete pain in the hole). The more meal you feed the less grass they'll eat and grass is the cheapest feed. Just make sure grass is leafy not stemmy rubbish.

I totally agree. You have to make use of your grass. If you feed them too much meal, you're just wasting money by building fat as opposed to meat.

One of these would be ideal if you planned on feeding twice per day!!

http://www.oneillfeedsystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1:auto-cal-feeder&Itemid=7

bogman_bass

if angus heifers cant be finished off grass then nothing can

49801

reilig wrote: »

One of these would be ideal if you planned on feeding twice per day!!

http://www.oneillfeedsystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1:auto-cal-feeder&Itemid=7

only trouble is the attached price tag.:eek:

on the wish list here is a silage feed trailer that could take 2 bales.
Could be used for feeding ration by laying stock board on the wooden slats preferable with a 8x8 in the middle to raise the centre section. then just fill up the loader from the meal bin/tower and dump in.

sorry gone offtopic

locky76

Thanks for the advice folks, so best advice is to keep leafy grass infront of them and build them up to 3kg/day for 6 to 8 weeks and then kill them.
This would work out at 147kgs per animal for 8 weeks.
What weight gain could i expect in this time?

reilig wrote: »

I totally agree. You have to make use of your grass. If you feed them too much meal, you're just wasting money by building fat as opposed to meat.

One of these would be ideal if you planned on feeding twice per day!!

http://www.oneillfeedsystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1:auto-cal-feeder&Itemid=7

Bizzum

If they're inclined to be fleshy I'd be keeping an eye on them becoming over fat.

Muckit

This line really caught my eye in the beef column of Farming Indo yesterday.

Full article here: http://www.independent.ie/farming/beef/open-day-was-eye-opener-in-beef-production-2831011.html


'The day finished with an open forum and I must say that I found it somewhat ironic when I looked up at the Bord Bia posters on the wall promoting the benefits of Irish grass-fed beef, that the forum was discussing the benefits of beef production from ad-lib meal feeding.'

49801

dont think the OP's question has been answered yet.
What will angus heifers do per day.... 0.8kg/day LW?
so 56% kill out would mean 0.448kg carcass per day that is costing 0.735 euro/day (245euro/ton) just in ration costs.

say finishing price of 3.50euro. so your 0.448 extra carcass weight per day is yeilding 1.568euro/day minus ration cost/day is gives a profit of 0.833euro/day..

keep them for 8weeks will yield 46euro after your ration costs.
I've ignored fixed costs and the cost of the grass, transport, vet etc.

someone else want to jump in with figures and take mine to pieces:D

I cant help thinking that the factory prices are going to drop mid Sept as grass fed stores come available.

leg wax

the op should weigh the heifers now and after 40 days weigh againonly way to really know.its guess work for anyone on here to put figures on this , one mans heifers are different from the next different ground treatments thrive so many that can change the out come.a scales nearby is very handy but not always available to everyone due to location.