Creep feeding is a method of supplementing the diet of young

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

, primarily in beef calves, by offering feed to animals who are still

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. Creep feed is sometimes offered to

swine Suina (also known as Suiformes) is a suborder of omnivorous, non-ruminant artiodactyl mammals that includes the domestic pig and peccaries. A member of this clade is known as a suine. Suina includes the family Suidae, termed suids, known in ...

, and it is possible with companion grazing animals such as

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s. Creep feeding is used almost exclusively in situations where animal prices are high, feed costs are low, offspring are born in the spring, and the animals are purebred. Studies show that the use of creep feed consistently causes more rapid growth and a higher weaning weight. However, data also suggests that beef calves that do not receive creep feed may catch up with creep-fed calves' weight post-weaning, so the greatest increase in profits is realized in stocker operations where animals are sold soon after weaning. The composition of creep feed can vary with the price of the various components, but it is usually has a base of cracked corn,

rolled oats Rolled oats are a type of lightly processed whole-grain food. They are made from oat groats that have been dehusked and steamed, before being rolled into flat flakes under heavy rollers and then stabilized by being lightly toasted. Thi ...

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

brewer's grain Brewer's spent grain (BSG) or draff is a food waste that is a byproduct of the brewing industry that makes up 85 percent of brewing waste. BSG is obtained as a mostly solid residue after wort production in the brewing process. The product is ...

or any combination of these four. Other ingredients can include rolled barley,

soybean meal Soybean meal is used in food and animal feeds, principally as a protein supplement, but also as a source of metabolizable energy. Typically 1 bushel (i.e. 60 lbs. or 27.2 kg) of soybeans yields 48 lbs. (21.8 kg) of soybean meal. Mos ...

, soybean hulls,

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

Dicalcium phosphate Dicalcium phosphate is the calcium phosphate with the formula CaHPO4 and its dihydrate. The "di" prefix in the common name arises because the formation of the HPO42– anion involves the removal of two protons from phosphoric acid, H3PO4. It is al ...

and

mineral salt Halite ( ), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...

Beef calves

In beef cattle production, profits are derived almost entirely from the

weaning Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or other mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. In the United Kingdom, UK, weaning primarily refers to the introduction of solid ...

weight of the calf. Milk from the mother supplies only half of the nutrients the calf needs to achieve its maximum growth rate and weaning weight. By offering creep feed, both the rate of weight gain and the weaning weight of the calf can be significantly improved. It is used primarily with spring-born calves, as

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

quality at this time is declining, preventing the calf from finding the other 50% of its nutritive needs by grazing. A calf requires approximately 10% of its body weight in milk daily; for a calf, this means of milk. As the calf grows, the amount of milk it requires begins to exceed the capacity of its mother to produce the milk. A calf requires of milk, but a beef cow only produces approximately of milk a day. The 500-lb calf is therefore shorted nearly of milk. This difference is made up for by offering creep feed. However, a calf's

rumen The rumen, also known as a paunch, is the largest stomach compartment in ruminants. The rumen and the reticulum make up the reticulorumen in ruminant animals. The diverse microbial communities in the rumen allows it to serve as the primary si ...

is still small and poorly developed - for this reason, creep feed offered to beef calves must be very energy-dense. Creep feeding calves may not always be economically desirable; farmers must be cautious not to over-invest in creep feed for calves, as an overfed, "fleshy" calf fetches a very low price at market. Creep-feeding is also not recommended for heifers, as excessive weight gain early in life can cause fatty deposits in the calf's udder, resulting in poor milk production in the adult animal. Creep-fed calves show a very high percentage of marbling at slaughter. Creep feed in calves is usually offered in a way that allows for calves to free-feed.

Pigs

Creep feeding piglets rarely actually increases their weaning weight, but it does produce pigs who eat more later in life. The younger the age at which creep feed is offered, the stronger the effect is.

Other animals

Creep feeding is commonly used in

foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt (horse), colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. Whe ...

s to supplement the mare's milk and reduce stress on both the mare and the foal.

References

{{reflist Cattle Agriculture