To Creep or Not to Creep?
By: Allyson Dinsdale
To creep or not to creep? That is the million-dollar question this time of year. With cattle prices soft, some may not find it worth the additional inputs while others may be pouring it to them hoping for the heaviest calves at weaning. Every situation is different but I hope after reading this article you will be able to make the best decision for your operation and ultimately improve your bottom line.
Creep feeding is the practice of offering supplemental feed to nursing calves. Offering creep feed can aid in daily gain and help increase weaning weights. Milk only provides about 50% of the required nutrients of a 3-4 month old calf, the other 50% must be made up somewhere, whether it be from pasture forage, supplemental protein tubs, or creep feed. Unlike dairy cows, beef cow’s milk production tends to peak around month two, although, we don’t typically wean calves until month seven or eight. As a growing calf’s energy requirements increase, the amount of nutrition provided by the cow decreases, making it crucial that producers offer an alternative for those calves to maximize their genetic potential.
There are several things to consider when deciding if you are going to creep or not. Calf prices and feed costs, along with pasture quality and quantity are all factors that will affect your cost of added gain. In situations where high-quality forage is abundant and cows are milking good, it may not pay to offer creep feed. However, in case of drought or low-quality forage, creep feeding will no doubt help your bottom line. Growing calves will replace forage intake with creep feed if given the choice, so it is best to analyze what is available first. Although they will choose creep over grass, milk is always number one, so creep feeding should not be offered in an effort to take pressure off of lactating cows. Finally, you must consider the post-weaning plans for the cattle. Will they be backgrounded or go right into a feedlot? Are they replacement females? These things all play into whether it will pay to creep feed or not.
Once you choose to use a creep feeding system you have to decide what kind of creep to feed. There are three different creep feeding systems that may work well in different situations.
- Grain-based creep feeds are the most commonly used creep system and typically produces the most additional gain. Rations and ingredients may vary based on what’s available and feed costs. Whole or rolled grains will be more palatable than fine ground grain and adding molasses or soy oil to the ration can help cut dust and reduce separation of feedstuffs which prevents sorting and waste.
- Offering a limit-fed high protein creep feed is a great way to stimulate forage digestion when there is plenty of low-quality forage available. Adding salt will help limit intake; calves should be limited to about 1 pound of protein per day. At this level of protein consumption, forage intake and digestion will be increased. Limit-fed high protein creeps will result in lower daily gains compared to grain-based rations but can help improve overall efficiency.
- Lastly, creep grazing is an option. Creep grazing is done by offering separate paddocks to the calves only; this is achieved by adding a creep gate in the fence line. During the summer months, legumes, millet, and sorghum-sudan grass are good options while rye, oats or wheat can be used in cooler months. One key benefit to creep grazing is that calves are going to add weight without adding a lot of fat. Calves may get a little chubby on an unlimited grain-based ration resulting in discounted prices.
Post-weaning plans for the cattle can help in your decision to creep feed or not, and also which system would work best for your operation. Creep feeding can be beneficial when calves are put directly into a feedlot scenario. It has been shown that creep fed calves put on a high-energy finishing diet post-weaning respond well because they are used to manufactured feed and are pretty well bunk broke, ultimately decreasing their days on feed. It has also been shown that creep fed cattle produce heavier carcass weights with increased marbling. Creep fed cattle that are put into a backgrounding program post-weaning tend to gain slower than non-creep fed cattle, thus losing the gains made by creep feeding. Also, it is not recommended to creep feed replacement females because it has been shown that high energy diets and higher daily gains result in decreased mammary development.
Although creep feeding might seem like a simple management decision, the economic analysis is pretty complex. Forage quality, milk production, genetic potential, feed costs, calf prices and post-weaning plans all play an important role in deciding to creep or not to creep.
Regardless of what you decide, Stutsman’s product line is designed for your ultimate success. Check out our full product listing on the Feed Ingredients product page. Looking for your local Stutsman dealer? Click here.
Source
“Creep Feeding Beef Calves (B 1315).” Creep Feeding Beef Calves. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 June 2016. Retrieved from http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=B1315