Livestock nutrition
Points to consider before beginning a supplementary feeding program

Nicole Sallur, DPI&F
Michael Jeffery and Tony Mills, formerly DPI&F

Key points

• Supplementary feeding is a management tool used by producers to overcome nutritional deficiencies affecting production.

• Before starting feeding a number of important factors need to be considered.

• This DPI&F Note provides a checklist to assist producers in making sound decisions that are based on financial and production outcomes.

Principles of nutrition

The principles of cattle and sheep production from pastures are fairly simple - the cattle and sheep eat the pastures which usually provide nutrients, such as energy and protein, major minerals including phosphorus, sulphur, calcium, vitamins and trace elements such as zinc, selenium and many others.

When these nutrients are supplied in balance and above the amount needed for body maintenance, animals are able to grow, reproduce, rear progeny and in addition for sheep grow wool. Where nutrients are limited or provided out of balance, the animals are often not able to perform as required. Weight loss, low reproductive levels or poor wool growth may occur and supplements may be required to overcome the problem.

The amount of nutrients required by the animal depends on a number of factors. The main factors are the size and age of the animal and the physiological status of the animal. Larger and older animals need more nutrients than younger and smaller animals, while lactating or heavily pregnant ewes and cows need much more nutrients than dry and non-pregnant animals.

Age, weight and physiological status also change the balance of nutrients needed. Young, growing animals and pregnant or lactating animals require diets with higher levels of protein than older, empty or dry animals. Lactating cows and ewes need more phosphorus than non-lactating animals.

The two nutrients that have the most impact on animal performance are the protein and energy components of the feed. In most cases - unless a localised mineral deficiency such as Phosphorus exists - poor or lower-than-required production is the result of insufficient protein and/or energy. Unless these primary deficiencies are fixed, supplementing with other nutrients, such as minerals, may have no impact or even make the situation worse.

Considerations of supplementary feeding

Supplementary feeding provides animals with nutrients in amounts and combinations that the pasture is not providing at the time. It is important to ensure the whole diet of the animal, including both supplement and normal diet, is balanced.

There are three main types of supplementary feeding:

• survival feeding - where there is little pasture available and death is probable
• supplementary feeding - where specific nutrients are supplied to overcome a deficiency in the pasture and decreased production is likely

• production feeding - where the level of supplements fed is such that the supplement substitutes for the pasture being consumed.

Supplementation programs can be expensive, time consuming and often unrewarding if done without considering a number of factors.

The factors that should be considered and questions that should be asked, include:

Pasture situation - quality and quantity assessment

• Green feed is better than dry or dead feed.
• Leaf is better than stem.
• How much pasture is available?

• What is the mixture of palatable and unpalatable species?

Current animal pasture intake - quality and quantity

• This is critical in determining what nutrients and level of feeding is required to meet the production targets.
• Which animals are involved?
• Numbers, classes and species of animals (ie young, old, wet, dry, pregnant, cattle, sheep, goats or a combination).

Current and target production levels required

• Current and desired growth rates
• Pregnancy and weaning rates
• Wool production

Likely climatic conditions in short and long term

• Time of year
• Expected rainfall and temperatures
• Expected pasture production
• Ability of animals to access pastures

Current nutrient deficiency (to meet production levels required)

• Protein
• Energy
• Total amount of feed
• Minerals

Which feed stuffs overcome identified deficiency?

• What is the availability, both short and long term, of various, appropriate feed stuffs?
• How much does price vary throughout the year?
• What are the problems involved in feeding different types of feed?

Equipment on hand and required

• If starting from scratch, it can be very expensive buying mixing and delivery machinery and storage space.
• Resources available or required (ie time, money, labour)
• Realistic budgets for each of these needs to be developed. Mixing and delivery activities need to be included in each of these budgets.

Paddock situation (eg water points, distance from mixing sites, topography and size)

• The larger and rougher the paddock and the greater the number of water points, the more feeding sites are required.
• Transporting supplements to feeding points can be expensive in both time and fuel, especially when there are numerous, scattered sites, which are significant distances from the mixing sites.

Other management options

Maximum returns are made when the most appropriate animals are fed the correct supplements. Decisions including selling, agisting, profit sharing, custom feeding, drafting stock into smaller uniform groups (eg cows with small calves, weaners of the same weight range) and weaning can all significantly reduce the costs and increase the effectiveness of supplementation programs.

What happens if nothing is done (market and productivity implications)?

For example:

• What are the implications of not supplementing weaner steers for a short time on lifetime growth rates and market suitability?
• What happens to reproductive rates if cows are allowed to lose some body condition?

Impact on future production

For example:

• Some supplements cause increases in appetite, placing greater stress on pastures.
• Feeding areas with heavy traffic often become completely denuded, increasing the potential of erosion and hence lower pasture production, when the season breaks.

Conclusion

The above points should all be considered before any supplementation program begins. As well, an evaluation of the program, its progress and performance should be done regularly to ensure budgets of time, money and performance are being met and decisions are still relevant to the situation.

Further information

For further information please contact DPI&F on Telephone 132523 or (07) 3404 6999 (non-Queensland residents) between 8 am and 6 pm weekdays, or e-mail callweb@dpi.qld.gov.au

This DPI&F Note is also published on the PrimeNotes CD-ROM.

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Information contained in this publication is provided as general advice only. For application to specific circumstances, professional advice should be sought. The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Queensland has taken all reasonable steps to ensure the information in this publication is accurate at the time of publication. Readers should ensure that they make appropriate inquiries to determine whether new information is available on the particular subject matter.

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Revised November 2005