How to make protein tubs for cows. 3000% cheaper than buying them easy

How to make protein tubs for cows. This is a great way to lower your feed cost drought or over wintering cattle.

[@33livestock11]

I learned something today seeing you use Vice Grips to load lick tubs with a bale bed. Thanks for sharing

[@farmdude]

Glad to help out. We have welded em to short chains and just leave em in the pickup. You never know when you need em.

[@tonyfarr3277]

Thanks for the video. Great idea!!

[@j.j.nelson6980]

Good clip on how to get innovative and what works for you and your ranch

[@farmdude]

Thanks. I have a much easier version of protein tub only takes 2 ingredients. I’ll try to get a video up soon.

[@321dirtrider]

Great information...Thanks

[@baileyblairthequeen5966]

This is dang near the ONLY video i can find on making protein tubs! Everything else is ads or a bucket of dry power! So if anyone has an issue with the ingredients then please post your own videos until then THANK YOU for giving me a direction to get started!!

[@farmdude]

Thanks for having my back.

[@edwardbrown5389]

Thanks, I buy tubs from time to time.

[@farmdude]

They sure are handy to have

[@RASDB7]

Could you type out your recipe list?

[@teresalish5187]

I was wondering where you purchased your mix 30!

[@busyb8459]

Thank you for sharing

[@farmdude]

No problem. I have another formula coming soon only 2 ingredients that are pretty easy to get. Just testing it out before I make a video on it.

[@finallyfriday.]

100% cheaper is free. 3000% means they're paying you.

[@farmdude]

Materials to make the tub cost $40 a ton.. if you want to buy crystallix tubs it will cost 1200 a ton. Just figured $40 *3000%= your saving a ton of money.

[@finallyfriday.]

@@farmdude One is 3,000% more expensive than the other. The other is 98.7% cheaper than the first. Math.

[@finallyfriday.]

Also it's "You're" as in 'you are'. "Your" means 'it's yours, you have ownership. We farmers have it bad enough with colege types thinking they're, their, there (pick one) smarter than us.

[@nogodsnokingsonlymen8538]

@@finallyfriday. your not getting the point, the cows be payin him in milk. That covers the rest of the % and brings it to a cool 3000.

[@finallyfriday.]

@@nogodsnokingsonlymen8538 Wouldn't they be paying him in milk regardless of which method?....

[@martinbonner8626]

Have you considered adding biochar to the feed ration ? Easy to add to the mix and has a great impact on animal health by changing the gut flora (making it inhospitable to worms) and the changes also alter the methane in the gut (no burps) . Once the digestion process is finished and has been deposited on the ground , soil biota , (dung beetles etc) bury it and is further processed underground

[@farmdude]

Yes that’s a good idea and I have done it before however I didn’t notice much difference in the cattle. And that stuff is expensive

[@martinbonner8626]

@@farmdude , it’s easy enough to make it yourself .

[@martinbonner8626]

@@farmdude the results aren’t going to happen overnight , even over 4months , if done correctly you’ll notice a change in the cattle and pasture

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

He is making cow feed not fertilizer

[@martinbonner8626]

@@melvinrexwinkle1510 , the biochar being fed to the animal alters the methane produced in the gut to produce a supplement that the animal can use to for weight gain , by changing the gut flora also the intestinal worm burden isn’t a limiting factor either . Biochar being fed to livestock works in a similar way to them being fed kelp/seaweed .

[@GosselinFarmsEdGosselin]

Nice, but you'd be filling and cranking that thing all day, just to get enough mixed to last a week.. Nice lifting setup, vice grips do a lot of things!

[@SewQuickly]

Thank you for this information!! How did you determine the ratio of everything? Is it trial and error?

[@farmdude]

Yes with the salt and years of feeding cattle with the other. Remember this is a supplement not a full feed

[@dantheman9135]

Seems like extra inputs and extra work. Totally agree with keeping your animals fed and well. But you can eat them too. Or find cheaper management cost like Greg Judy. Or someone similar... Permaculture is pretty bad ass too. But you are doing better than me and actually doing it. Best wishes

[@farmdude]

Yes you are correct any input is an expense one way or another. Greg Judy is good but I’m not him. Sometimes a little extra input at the right time can 10x your investment. I think a lot of those other channels forget to mention that.

[@jaimesalgado6246]

I want to do this. Do you have any ideas where to find the 25 gallon tubs?

[@farmdude]

They are everywhere here in eastern colorado. A local FFA chapter may save them and sell them to donate money.

[@ffxstc]

I can't read ingredients on your video screen

[@noforko2]

Wheat Bran: 20% Corn: 40% Soybean Meal: 20% Canola Meal: 10% Corn Gluten Meal 60: 10% What do you say ?

[@mikelinker4575]

For someone just starting out where would be a good place to get these ingredients.

[@farmdude]

Go to a coop and ask for damaged grain or if they know of where any might be. The liquid would be at a feed store or possibly a coop also

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

have you done a lab analysis? on your final product that the cows are consuming?

[@farmdude]

Yes it came back in the upper20% for available protein. I’m going to make another one with fewer ingredients and try to target a low 20% protein but higher energy for cold snaps.

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

@@farmdude if you look at university of Nebraska research, it shows that 3 lbs of corn and all the grass hay a cow could eat was no better than all the same hay that a cow could eat, as measured by the amount of weight that cows lost over winter. There's a lot of research that backs that research up that shows the starch or carbohydrates in grains or a high energy feedstock reduces the breakdown (or digestibility) of the roughage(fiber) from the low quality hay and grass. So if one has plenty of hay and or grass, or like you mentioned corn, milo stalks, then feeding 3 lbs. Of corn per day did nothing for the cow. Plenty of research showing that if the total diet intake per day averages less than 6% protein, then additional protein will improve forage digestibility. The rumen microbes will breakdown mist all natural proteins down into ammonia, so therefore you can use urea in your formulation for the tub. Basically what happens when a cow has a nitrogen rich content the the microbes do a much more thorough breakdown of the fiber in the roughage. Another point I would like to make, and I'm saying do some research on Google, or call your states extension beef cattle specialist and discuss with him or her and they will confirm what I'm saying. In addition, cattle have been grazing animals forever, if what they need is in their pasture they will find it and consume it. I used to sell liquid feed and dry feed too, in southeast ks and northeast Oklahoma.I saw over and over when our pastures there got real good about may 1 through June 30, their consumption went to zero, well research shows that our grasses were 6% crude protein those two months, thus aligning with the research I mentioned earlier. Where therein seks and neok the bluestem grasses put out a seed head on or about 4th of July, and research shows a drastic reduction in protein and digestibility in just 10 days, therefore by July 15 we would see cows beginning to lock the wheels on the lick tanks. I said that to say that a cow will balance her protein needs by herself if one allows them to. A little bit of a side note: I had a customer, a friend of mine, who we put out a lick tank for 40 cows and a bull about dec 1, in a couple of weeks he came in the feedstore and said "looks like those cows are eating a lot of that liquid feed" I immediately asked him what he was feeding for mineral? He wasn't feeding anything, he said and I said our soils were limestone based and that our grass is naturally deficient in phosphorus, and that he needed to put out some dicalcium phosphate and that the liquid feed was 1% phosphorus and the cows were overeating in order to get to their phosphorus needs. So I sold him a 50 bag of dualism phosphate and told him to get an old wire out semi truck brake drum and put it on the ground and pour the dicalcium phosphate in it. And he did. About a week later he said the cows seem to be still overconsuming the liquid feed (i say overconsuming, in comparison to everyone's cows that we were selling the liquid feed to, at that time of year) when I asked what happened when he put out the dicalcium phosphate? He said "hell. I can't afford that stuff, they ate it all overnight" and I told him the fact that they ate 50 lbs overnight, is proof that they were deficient and that he needed to put out more, and with some "arm twisting" he did buy another 50 pounds and put it out, but in a month later he says "them cows ain't hardly eaten any of that second bag of dicalcium phosphate, its been rained on and hard, I might as well throw it in the creek" to which said "do not throw it in the creek, its a mineral, it won't rot, when those cows want some more of it, they'll do what it takes to get it" Of course the consumption of the lick tank on the bottom half was half as much as the top half, which was about 2 pounds per cow per day and was in line with other people were seeing at that time of year. One time I was talking with the state if Oklahoma extension beef cattle specialist (the man who was telling all of the county agents what to tell cattlemen all over the state) and he remarked that we have to mix the minerals into a feed or the cattle won't consume them. After I told him the story about 40 cows and a bull eating 50 lbs of dicalcium phosphate overnight he just said "well, sometimes we later find out that we really didn't know much to start with" Now 1 more paragraph, I saw, and customers, old ranchers, agreed that you should not mix minerals together in any kind of feed, I had many customers who put dicalcium phosphate in a small pile to one side of a round rubber, or plastic tub and calcium carbonate, in anther pile and loose trace mineralized salt in another pile, thus allowing cattle to consume calcium and phosphorus and trace minerals in the salt, that way you're not forcing the cattle to eat salt just to get calcium, for example. In closing, I do like what you're trying to do, most of the lick tubs are mixed as a liquid and then cooked or maybe you would call it dehydrated to make it a solid, requiring the cow's saliva to liquefy it. I'm just saying to do a little research about the ingredients so it will wok the best for the cattle. As far as the energy for the cows, I agree that their energy needs go up in the winter, Kansas state has done a lot of research on the increased energy requirements if the cow is wet, which you ought to read about. I always recommended to my customers to just feed additional grain corn or rolled milo but don't just feed 2 or 3 or 4 pounds per but feed 5 or 6 pounds and then in a week( if its still like 5 or lower degrees Fahrenheit or if it 34 and misty or rainy for 2 weeks at a time) or two feed 10 pounds per cow per day, but when the colder weather is over then stop the grain feeding and go back to what you're doing before the coldest weather. Good luck young man! I'll try to help you if I can

[@T1up4me12385]

@@melvinrexwinkle1510 Exactly.

[@dwilliamslamb5417]

Excellent!

[@EthanPDobbins]

@@melvinrexwinkle1510 that's a good story to learn from. Shows that not only will animals take care of their deficiencies if they have the nutrients available to do so but also shows a flaw in thinking and education. Ol farmer thought it was bad that they ate it all then thought it was bad they wouldn't touch it but to me it seems quite clear that they overcame their deficiency and now just do a lick once in awhile to maintain

[@chicagoboy2k2]

Hello Farm Dude, can you tell me what liquid protein are you using ?

[@farmdude]

No problem. The coop calls it lick 30. It’s a very common feed in eastern colorado

[@Bojangles6]

Im about to try making some with 46% soy meal, 27% dgs and 37% dry mollasses.

[@farmdude]

That will be really high protein. Be sure to use something to slow them down or they will eat it way too fast. Could hurt them if they get too much

[@Bojangles6]

@@farmdude the mollasses isnt 37%, its 37% sugar. I thought i could make kind of a caramel out of it to bind the dry stuff but it doesnt work well. I need to find some liquid mollasses. If its thick enough and in a tub, they wont get too much. My grass hay is really poor this year so they need protein badly. I just got ahold of some alfalfa, that will help, but its good to have something available to balance that roughage out.

[@shirleymorales3161]

Could you add dry molasses as well

[@farmdude]

Yes you can

[@Card-ni4fk]

What are the prozo screenings and what could be a replacement for them?

[@farmdude]

Really any grain

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

Liquid protein? You mean urea?

[@Card-ni4fk]

By chance do you have a protein and energy% for each ingredient?

[@farmdude]

I shoot for 20% protein. And the energy with damaged grain is on average 60% that of good corn. You can founder cattle on damaged grain so be sure to use a limiter like salt. And remember this is a supplement not a feed.

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

Price of wheat in jan 2023 is about 9 bucks a bushel( 60 poinds).

[@farmdude]

Yes it’s low $8 in colorado. I only use damaged grain usually less than $30 a ton

[@jasonbusch3624]

You need a electric motor on there. I would never put a gas engine on a cement mixer because it doesn't get used enough. I bought one that was electric and the guy gave me a gas engine to put on it. I have used it for about 5 big projects in the last 10 years. Never had to clean a carburetor. I plug it in and flip the switch it starts and runs every time.

[@farmdude]

100% agree with ya on that one.

[@EthanPDobbins]

Me and my uncle had that issue while we were pouring his garage. He borrowed a big high-quality high-dollar gas cement mixer and the thing wouldn't even start. But the ancient electric motor on his little 1 wheelbarrow size mixer did the whole job just fine. Took a little longer but we didn't have to clean the ethanol bird poop out of carburetors or throw our shoulders out pulling a cord

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

Shorts on when you're having 20 and 30 below mornings? Huh, amazing

[@farmdude]

I made that video earlier in the year. From the introduction that was currently made during winter.

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

Why force your cattle to eat salt, and other minerals just to get some protein?

[@farmdude]

Salt is what I use to keep the cows from eating too much it’s what is refers to as a limiter it limits the consumption of protein. With this mis I was shooting for the herd to eat about a pound a day.

[@spacefanboy]

How many animals are you feeding?

[@farmdude]

It depends on the year. My cow heard ranges from 100 head to 60 head depending on how bad the droughts are. The yearling operations are a different story.

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

What feed costs 1000 dollars per ton

[@farmdude]

It’s a crystallix tub. 30% protein. A very common feed supplement in the cattle industry. This is more common in a grass based system during the winter. To help maximize the forage out in the pasture or field.

[@BowenOrg]

TIME FOR A NEW T-SHIRT: "FARM FIT!" WITH ART OF YOU FLEXING YOUR BICEPS! HA! HA! HA! HA! Amen Retired, Veteran

[@farmdude]

I’m still trying to work off the holiday poofieness that come from all those cookies. Hahah. Thanks for watching.

[@BowenOrg]

@@farmdude Now THAT'S funny.... since my wife just got back from the store with TWO HUGE boxes of cookies! : ) PARTY ON BROTHER!!! Amen Retired, Veteran

[@user-ub7wg4hz4q]

interesting, but you get such a mixture of wheat + soybean meal + corn gluten🤔Sorry, I am writing from another country through a translator

[@farmdude]

What country. Yes it’s just a mixture of junk grain based off damage soybeans

[@user-ub7wg4hz4q]

@@farmdude Uzbekistan 😅

[@nandisaand5287]

I think Harbor Freight has cheapo electric cement mixers which would be sufficient for that if you get tired of hand-cranking.

[@farmdude]

Yes this is a lot of work I have been thinking of getting an actual feed mixer and make a bigger batch of 10-20 tubs at a time.

[@californiabrad]

3000% cheaper? Someone does not understand nor know math.

[@farmdude]

Thank you for the comment.

[@timmys778]

So I think you must mean that you are making each TUB for $30. There is no way to make a ton of protein tubs for $30. A bushel of soybeans is around $13-14 dollars. A ton of soymeal (48% protein) is just north of $400/ton which is 0.20/pound. Let's just say you are making a 200 pound 20% protein tub. You would need 40 pounds of protein total. That would be 83.3 pounds of soymeal (83.3 x 48% = 40 pounds of protein). So, 83.3 pounds of protein would cost $16.6 (83.3 x $0.2/pound=$16.6) . So you would spend $16.60 just for the protein content. I will admit, that corn, wheat, etc would add a little bit of protein into the mix but not very much (~8% by weight). Now remember, we have to add something to the 83.3 # of soymeal to make a 200pound tub. Corn or wheat at even $0.10 per pound would add another $11.67 to the cost and we havent even added the salt ($0.1/#) and mineral ($0/2/#). So the absolute cheapest you could make a tub (#200) would be in the $30-35 range. Therefore, per ton you are looking at $300-350 range. Notice that I am using very low prices for all commodities mentioned. If you are getting all these ingredients for free from an elevator, for example, then yes you can make them cheaper but where are you going to get free soymeal and other meals for free?

[@timmys778]

Straight corn is over $200/ton and has about 8% protein. That makes an 8% "tub" of straight corn about $21.50.

[@farmdude]

First thanks for the detailed description and yes you are right with your numbers. However my soy isn’t exactly soybean meal. It’s soy that got over roasted and damaged. It’s pretty much a total mix of junk being thrown away I’m showing how I do it and encourage others to get creative when it comes to saving money. I have a new mix I’m testing that’s way easier to make and even cheaper.

[@shirleymorales3161]

Is there a video for your new mix yet Thanks

[@japanesetranslator1122]

That's molasses isnt it?

[@farmdude]

We call it mix 30 it has some vitamins in it. But basically yes it’s a feed grade molasses.

[@jerrid7182]

@@farmdude what co-op do you get that at? No one knows what Im asking for?

[@melvinrexwinkle1510]

if they're giving away junk grain away, it's because it ain't any good

[@jerrid7182]

@@farmdude where do you get it?

[@iztherelife1340]

You paid less than $30 for just the protein? We can’t buy anything remotely that cheap.

[@farmdude]

This video was not from this year but I did just buy a couple crystal lix tubs and it blew my mind. I need to make some more protein I have another ration that I make some times with only 2 ingredients looking at todays prices it should be around 100 a ton.

[@spacefanboy]

It's OK if some feeds will be unavailable. Just use something else? 👎 I disagree, there's nothing ok about that!

[@farmdude]

I must ask what’s wrong with looking for alternatives.

[@spacefanboy]

@@farmdude Nothing is wrong with looking for alternatives, IF you want to. It is the part that you are being forced into looking into alternatives!