Let's start at the beginning with using a quality feed. Most all of our livestock projects eat a concentrated show feed. Concentrated feeds are the ones with all the grain and other items premixed in a bag. They have been formulated by someone with a lot of experience in livestock nutrition. If you buy a national brand show feed, it has probably been formulated by someone with a PhD in animal nutrition. The ones from your local feed mill were probably formulated using a computer program developed by a PhD in animal nutrition. Those PhD people have spent many years studying animal nutrition and developing that bag of show feed or computer program to maximize the performance of your animal.
Now the thing is, it was formulated by the PhD to be beneficial to the majority of show animals. And if you have shown livestock long, you know they can be very different even if they are the same species, breed or even siblings. This is where I see youth fall into one of two traps.
TRAP 1
The first trap is the trap that all animals should be fed the same. This is a safe way to do it if you are new or keeping it simple. If you have never fed an animal before, buy bagged feed, follow the directions on the bag, and get basic advice from a trusted friend, ag teacher or extension agent if you want to do anything different from the bag directions. This is not a bad way too feed.
The trap gets set when you start playing with supplements and additives. Supplements are products that contain usually vitamins, minerals or other nutrients to supplement the bag feed. Additives are products added to feed to perform a specific job.
Two quick examples: amino acids are a supplement, a parasite control is an additive.
The trap is this, you use a supplement because one animal needs more of a vitamin or mineral, but you also feed it to all your other animals. I have seen this several times.
- Pig A needs supplement X, so all pigs get X
- Pig B needs supplement Y, so all pigs get Y
- Pig C needs additive Z, so all pigs get Z
- Now pigs A,B and C are getting all X,Y and Z even if they do not need them.
TRAP 2
This trap is created by over doing it on supplements and additives. The cause is usually two different thoughts; follow the leader, or if a little is good, more is even better.
Follow the leader people go to a show or to a successful family's home and make a list of all the supplements and additives they are using. They then go home, buy and feed all the same supplements with no idea if their animals will really benefit from it or not. Worse they may not know when or how to use the products.
This also is true of those who think if a little is good, more is better. Instead of following the directions of the supplement or additive they feed more than is directed.
The result is usually an animal with a bad digestive system. They have been overdosed on proteins, vitamins, or additives and it makes the animal sick. And a sick animal does not perform, they go backwards, loose weight and look terrible.
In summary, feeding supplements or additives can be beneficial to your livestock projects. They can provide additional nutrition to help a specific animal. But understand, there is no magic in these bags. They cannot improve animals beyond their genetic potential, cannot fix problems overnight, or replace good management and hard work.
Here are some additional resources:
Feeding the Show Steer - Stephen Boyles, Ohio State University Extension Beef Specialist
Show Lamb Nutrition - Dr. Kevin Burgoon, Ohio State University
Feed them right, be patient and wait for the results to show.
Scott Stinnett
Extension Associate
Kit Carson County
Golden Plains Area
Colorado State University Extension
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