Show Cattle Nutrition 101 —Proper nutrition is a building block of any successful show program.

by Lisa Bryant

You’ve found the beast of all show calf prospects — truly a LeBron James on four legs. You’re visualizing yourself with a banner at the backdrop, but wait ... how do you feed it to get to the championship?

Exhibitors need to start with crude protein and energy content, according to Mark Johnson, Ph.D., and extension beef cattle breeding specialist for the Oklahoma State University Department of Animal and Food Science. In addition to feeding and showing his own youth projects, Johnson has overseen the feeding of cattle at the OSU Purebred Beef Cattle Center and has helped his daughters successfully show multiple breeds in youth programs.

“If we think about when crude protein needs to be the highest, typically that’s when we’re feeding young calves or as creep feed for a set of young growing calves at the side of their mother,” Johnson said. “That creep feed needs to be 14% crude protein.

“As they get older, we can back off that level of crude protein, and it becomes less significant.” As cattle reach the point of yearling age or bred heifers, Johnson added that a 10 to 12% crude protein level might be satisfactory at that point.

“The big thing about cattle creep feed and show feed is the crude protein needs to be appropriate, and then the energy content needs to be appropriate relative to our feeding goal,” he added. “We need to keep fat below 5% because they are a ruminant animal, plus maintain a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1 as a general rule of thumb for a growing or developing ration for beef cattle.”

Johnson said we need to remember that beef cattle are ruminant animals, so they need fiber. “Cattle need to eat things like dry hay and grass as they get older. Feeding them a good quality hay free choice is fundamental to feeding show cattle.”

Although hay choice varies by region, Johnson recommends a good quality native grass or prairie hay, if available. If you can’t find a good quality grass hay, Johnson said to look for something that is a midpoint between alfalfa and straw. “The whole point of feeding hay to a ruminant is to keep their digestive system, and in particular the rumen, healthy and functioning like it should to break down fiber.

“A good quality grass hay has a rate of passage that we are looking for to keep them full and happy,” he added. “When we avoid things like alfalfa or straw and get to that happy medium, then we are giving them what they need to suit the digestive system that nature gave them.”

A good quality hay could be the key for exhibitors who are trying to reduce costs due to rising feed prices. “Feeding grass and hay, almost always without exception, is more cost effective than a feed that has cereal grains. As cattle get old enough, it takes a lot less feeding and you can become more dependent on

a good quality grass hay to meet their requirements and stay in the desired degree of condition.”

Exhibitors should also consider minerals in their feeding program. Some feeds will contain the minerals your show calf needs, but if in doubt, Johnson said you can either offer a free choice mineral or to ensure consumption, throw a little into either their morning or evening feed to make sure they are getting the content they need.

The proper plane of nutrition helps the animal to develop in many ways. “Proper nutrition and the right plane of nutrition, with the appropriate amount of crude protein and energy relative to the end point you are trying to get cattle to is all going to be conducive to good hair, good skin and good hoof walls, and is going to coincide with reproductive growth and performance.

“Good nutrition gets back to the whole ‘phenotype = genotype + environment,’” Johnson said. “The environment part would be influenced by nutrition. It would also be largely influenced by proper daily care so that skin and hair is in the proper shape that you want it in for show animals.”

FEEDING MANAGEMENT TIPS

Getting new prospects started right also centers around a properly balanced ration. “If we are talking about a young, weaned calf, they need approximately 14% crude protein. That’s going to result in the building blocks that the body needs to continue to grow frame and muscle at that young age. If we have crude protein, energy and fat content where it needs to be, and we’ve added something like molasses to cut down the dust and make it more palatable, I think that young growing calves will respond to that with sure enough an adequate level of consumption.”

Johnson also recommends feeding twice per day. “You keep the rumen’s pH level more consistent though the day if you break up daily feedings in two half feedings.” He also says you should try to feed at the same time each day to keep an animal’s digestive system more consistent.

Because show cattle often are kept in smaller traps where they graze close to the ground, another nutrition-related step exhibitors should take is to worm their animals, Johnson said. He recommends an oral drench every six to eight weeks.

When taking animals on the road, Johnson said it’s normal for some animals to get nervous as they experience a new environment and are looking around and finding new stressors or stimulation they are not accustomed to. To combat this, Johnson recommends training animals to drink from a bucket a few days before you leave.

“If you plan to use some of these commercially available water additives that are used to get them to drink, you should start them on those drinking out of a bucket a few days before you take them to the show,” he said. “We always tend to think that the water in a new place is going to taste a little different, and it will, but if we wait to get to the show before we add in one of those additives, that’s going to taste a little different too.”

Johnson also carries a little trace mineral block or salt block to place in front of calves at the show.

EVALUATE AS YOU GO

Johnson said exhibitors need to monitor their animals throughout the feeding and showing process. “It’s important to look at your animal objectively as you go day to day, week to week and month to month. Critically evaluate them and assess where you think they are in terms of bloom and condition. Are they growing at the rate and appropriate size they need to be?

“Proper nutrition and the right plane of nutrition, with the appropriate amount of crude protein and energy relative to the end point you are trying to get cattle to is all going to be conducive to good hair, good skin and good hoof walls, and is going to coincide with reproductive growth and performance.”

— Mark Johnson, Ph.D., and extension beef cattle breeding specialist for the Oklahoma State University Department of Animal and Food Science

Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State University

“Then, if you are going to adjust your feeding program, you want to do it in a subtle fashion. For example, if you think your animal is behind — they’re too thin or too small —if we’ve been giving them 15 lb. of feed a day, we don’t just want to make that decision one day and decide we’re going to give them 30 lb. tomorrow. We need to work them up a pound a day over a week or two to get up to the amount we want to feed them.”

Johnson observed that the most common feeding mistake cattle exhibitors make is to overfeed their animals. This critical error can negatively affect reproduction, feet and structural soundness and mobility. He said it also can prevent animals from staying cool and able to regulate their body temperature effectively to grow hair.

Obese animals show external signs of slop down their brisket and between their front legs, he said. Excessive pone will appear around the tail head and their underline will become wasty and jiggly.

If you’re still unsure about the nutrition needed for your show animal, Johnson recommends talking to a county extension specialist or someone that works in ruminant nutrition at your state university. “If you can’t find anyone else, put a flake of good quality prairie hay in front of your animal regardless of their age,” he concluded. B&B