# Anyone using a self feeder?



## Fowllife

Are any of you using a self feeder/steer stuffer for beef cattle? Right now I have a couple feeder out at a different farm that I bucket feed every day. It works pretty good for me since it is on my way home from work, and my hay ground is at this farm. But, the wife is sending me on a bear hunt in Canada for 10 days and I would like to make it easier on her when I'm gone. I leave the end of the month so I done hay a lot of time to switch rations up, but I have some. I am currently feeding ground ear corn with a suppliment pellet, and they graze the pasture.

I would like to be able to just fill it before I leave so she only has to check on them & fill the water when needed. If I start to up there daily ration and put it in the self feeder will this work, or am I asking for a train wreak? The self feeder worked very good for me last year with some dairy steers & very limited pasture, but I don't know how the beef calves will take it.


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## hog987

It should work fine once they are on full feed. I just put 70 head of beef calves on the self feeder. The only thing is you will have to feed more mineral to the cattle if they are on the self feeder for a long time or some of them will get stiff or get bad feet. But if your only doing it when your gone should work fine. A lot of my cattle now are 1000 pounds + and are on self feeder to finish them.


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## Fowllife

Thats good to hear. What do you estimate there feed consumption to be on the self feeder? If I figure 2-3% body weight/day will I be pretty close? They will still have pasture to graze also.


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## hog987

On fresh lush pasture they will eat about 50/50 grass to grain. On poorer pasture it might be 70/30 grain to grass. I used to figure over the summer they would average1/3 grass 2/3 grain. So the grain part will be close to 2% body weight and than 1% for grass.


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## bluefarmer

The first couple of days they will eat more just because they are not used to it


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## Tim/South

bluefarmer said:


> The first couple of days they will eat more just because they are not used to it


I get a charge out of watching them eating until they poop then eat some more. Once they find it is there 24/7 in becomes old news.

I was using the creep attachment on a self feeder. As the calves grew so did their appetite. They grew to eating a ton per week. Now I just fill the bellies up once a day.


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## Fowllife

Thanks for the help guys. I have been increasing their ration every day & feeding twice a day by hand into the self feeder. They seem to be up to about 3% day right now. I think I will fill the feeder this week after I grind another load & see how it goes. I would have a week to keep an eye on them then before I leave.


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## Fowllife

Well it looks like I have them switched over good. I was getting a little nervous though when they were up to 4% daily intake with feeding them twice a day. They have backed off to about 2% now which is good.

It does confirm what I have been told though, they will eat more feed if ration fed twice a day then they will on a self feeder.


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## hog987

Ya it is kind of funny work them up to full feed and they will keep eating and eating and than all of a sudden there feed intake drops. Yes you can get them to eat more if you feed them of about 90% of full. But do they gain any better???

My question is with the way there stomach works when they are on full feed are the bacteria working more efficient? Can they eat less and get the same gain.

Maybe someone who know more than I do can answer?


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