Why the Tend-R-Leen Program Works
Dr. Herb Rebhan
Energy is first used for maintenance in an animal and once this requirement is met, any excess energy is used for gain. Every day a producer keeps an animal, the maintenance requirement must be met. A 200-day feeding period versus a 120 to 140-day feeding period has 60 to 80 days more in expenses for maintenance. This involves more yardage and/or depreciation, interest which affects return on investment, taxes and of course, income.
Feed required for one steer gaining from 600 to 1,000 pounds for one day is shown below. The average weight maintained is 800 pounds.
| Feed | Maintenance | For Each 1 lb. Gain |
| Hay | 11.8 lbs. | 11.8 lbs. |
| Corn Silage | 27.0 lbs. | 26.5 lbs. |
| Grass Silage | 32.0 lbs. | 36.0 lbs. |
| Corn | 6.8 lbs. | 5.0 lbs. |
| Barley | 7.7 lbs. | 5.0 lbs. |
| Oats | 8.1 lbs. | 8.1 lbs. |
None of the above alone are total balanced rations, but these figures illustrate that roughages are like lettuce salads and grains are the mashed potatoes.
To gain one pound on an all hay diet, this steer has to eat over 25 pounds a day. This same steer eating 25 pounds of corn and Tend-R-Leen mix would gain nearly four pounds.
Consumption is the key to average daily gain as shown below:
| Amount Consumed | Average Daily Gain | Feed per Pound Gain |
| 6.8 lbs. | 0 | — |
| 11.7 lbs. | 1 lb. | 11.7 lbs. |
| 16.6 lbs. | 2 lbs. | 8.30 lbs. |
| 21.5 lbs. | 3 lbs. | 7.16 lbs. |
| 26.4 lbs. | 4 lbs. | 6.60 lbs. |
Energy Comparison of Feedstuffs
Energy comparison of various feedstuffs (DM basis Mcal/cwt)
| Feedstuff | NEM | % of corn | NEG | % of corn | NEL | % of corn |
| Whole corn | 96 | 100% | 64 | 100% | 90 | 100% |
| Barley | 92 | 96% | 61 | 95% | 87 | 97% |
| Oats | 81 | 84% | 52 | 81% | 78 | 87% |
| Corn silage (well eared) | 75 | 78% | 47 | 73% | 74 | 82% |
| Alf haylage (mid bloom) | 55 | 57% | 21 | 33% | 55 | 61% |
| Timothy hay (early bloom) | 59 | 61% | 28 | 44% | 59 | 65% |
Oats has 81% of the NEG that corn has.
Effects of using oats instead of whole corn on ADG in steers from 1,000 – 1,400 lbs.
| Amount of oats in mix | ADG | Difference in ADG |
| No oats | 2.5 lbs. | – |
| 10% | 2.39 lbs. | .11 lb. less |
| 15% | 2.33 lbs. | .17 lb. less |
| 20% | 2.28 lbs. | .22 lb. less |
THE EFFECT OF DIETS WITH VARYING ENERGY DENSITY ON FINISHING HOLSTEIN STEERS, Minnesota
| Item | 90 | 60 | 25 | 5 | |
| Percentage of corn silage in diet | |||||
| ADG, lb. | 2.47 | 2.91 | 3.26 | 3.5 | |
| Days on feed | 244 | 206 | 184 | 171 | |
| Feed/gain | 7.96 | 6.68 | 5.8 | 5.17 | |
| Feed | 35.98 | 32.56 | 32.87 | 30.66 | |
| Nonfeed | 16.27 | 13.73 | 12.27 | 11.33 | |
| Total | 52.25 | 46.29 | 45.14 | 41.99 | |
| Steers fed from 500 lbs. to 1100 lbs. | |||||
EXPECTED PERFORMACE OF HOLSTEIN STEERS AT VARIOUS WEIGHTS, Minnesota
| Tend-R-Leen® Projection | ||||||
| Weight, lb. | ADG, lb. | ADFI, lb. | Feed/gain | ADG, lb. | ADFI, lb. | Feed/gain |
| 400-500 | 3.16 | 14.20 | 4.48 | 3.23 | 13.09 | 4.06 |
| 500-600 | 3.14 | 15.10 | 4.82 | 3.57 | 15.24 | 4.27 |
| 600-700 | 3.08 | 16.50 | 5.37 | 3.70 | 16.70 | 4.53 |
| 700-800 | 2.99 | 18.40 | 6.14 | 3.57 | 17.26 | 4.97 |
| 800-900 | 2.87 | 20.50 | 7.13 | 3.45 | 18.48 | 5.36 |
| 900-1000 | 2.72 | 22.60 | 8.32 | 3.33 | 19.46 | 5.84 |
| 1000-1100 | 2.53 | 24.60 | 9.73 | 3.03 | 20.20 | 6.70 |
| 1100-1200 | 2.31 | 26.20 | 11.36 | 2.56 | 20.36 | 7.94 |
| 400-1200 | 2.85 | 19.70 | 7.17 | 3.30 | 17.60 | 5.50 |
Source: “Now There’s Dairy Steers on the Farm: What Do You Feed Them?”
Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference, April 1998
