Mornings at the Feedlot | Feeding Calves

Hey everyone, My name is Carson Sleep and I am a 6th generation rancher on the Sleep Ranch.
Our ranch is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota where my family settled and started ranching in 1883. I started this channel to show how a working ranch operates and to document our everyday activities. My goal is to have fun and to bridge part of the ever growing gap between American Beef producers and consumers.
Join me as I learn more about raising cattle, caring for the land and working/operating equipment!
#ranching #farming #cows #cattle #americanagriculture #agriculture #america #conservation #sustainability #diy #homesteading #livestock #west #wildwest #southdakota #blackhills #wyoming #wildlife #hunting #construction #trucks #tractors #horses #homesteading

[@nitaleach6816]

I have missed you and having my morning coffee together. Seeing the cows is good medicine.

[@stanbartow9228]

Great video Carson. This was a great lesson in economics. Keep up the good work.

[@toddunruh3998]

That is an amazing backdrop to the feedlot.

[@deborahlewis5964]

I always liked the smell of our corn silage especially in the winter….The hot steam….Those bale busters are a great machine on the farm..So versatile…

[@robert12345678912312]

Lovely watching each episode. Beautiful presentations, #Carson. Thank you. Will keep on watching.😊🌟🌟🌟

[@VsdaliaspSangzw]

Why didn't I know about this video sooner? It's amazing, isn't it?

[@sunsetfarm8517]

Great content and explanation of what you’re doing. Keep the videos coming.

[@sleepranch]

Thank you, that means a lot!

[@brianbaxter9279]

hey Carson, I just stumbled across your video. And know i am caught up with all videos. you are doing a great job. Also I did subscribe and love your content. May God bless you and your family and stay safe...... Awesome Job....

[@sleepranch]

Thank you Brian, I really appreciate it! God bless you and your family!

[@johnmccaughan4195]

You did a good job on this video. Stay after it, good things will come.

[@sleepranch]

Thanks John!

[@mikecinohio8541]

Great job on the channel Carson.. You're a natural in front of the camera.. I'm sure your channel will be a huge success over time. Stick with it, you really got it going on! best of luck!!

[@sleepranch]

Thank you Mike! That means a lot!

[@stanadams6670]

Carson, Sure do appreciate your explanation of how and what you feed your cattle, especially for those who've never been on a ranch or in a feed lot. I remember shoveling corn silage with a silage fork from the bed of an old International pickup when I was growing up. Much easier now with your feed wagon. I also liked the "trouble-maker" pen for the calves that always crawl through the cables. That's hilarious. I love your channel and how down-to-earth you are. Makes for a great escape from the crap going on in the media and country.

[@sleepranch]

Thanks Stan, That means a lot! Sounds like a fun memory! You guys sure worked hard in those days!

[@August84118]

Like someone else said, I would much rather watch your videos than all the other garbage going on these days. Appreciate the knowledge and thorough explanations! Great video!

[@sleepranch]

Thank you Lucy! That really means a lot!

[@caseyhowell8770]

That explains a lot ! Looks like a good operation to me ..

[@sleepranch]

Thank you Casey, Happy New Year!

[@badgerpa9]

Brett Favre on the farm, nice throws. Thanks for the explanation on what yo are doing.

[@HomerEscobar1]

I love the content bud! Thank you for putting the effort into making these videos

[@sleepranch]

I appreciate that Homer!

[@tellybriggs6019]

Most people have no idea where their food comes from GOOD INFO

[@markducote2529]

Y'all have a great time on the farm I'm from the south so I don't get to see All the mountains y'all have up there I like the cattle ranch alot of work

[@sleepranch]

Thank you! Hope things are well down south!

[@bobroberson9286]

Liked this, very informative 👍

[@sleepranch]

Thanks Bob!

[@yli8888]

Great contents. You might want to consider conveyor extension to dispatch the feed more precisely. Feed is so expensive these days.

[@davidrobertson996]

great job of explaining your plan for the young steers and heifers!!!

[@sleepranch]

Thanks David!

[@johnjablonski2155]

Great Videos with Great background shots, I follow another Farmer in South Dakota Sonne Farms And one Cowboy down here in AZ, Apache Cowboy Apache Cowboy rides a horse named Eagle Keep up with the good videos

[@sleepranch]

Thank you John, great to have you!

[@caydensmith6615]

Gotta love Sonne Farms

[@CowpokeKev]

thanks so much Carson, great content and info, nice to see other operations! looks great

[@sleepranch]

Thank you very much!

[@greenthumb6875]

Pre grind your hay and those mixers really shine, better than any mixer on the market. Cost about the same paying to grind since your using a lot of fuel using mixer as a grinder. Your program but it’s what I noticed eastern South Dakota.

[@pholl777]

I enjoy your videos a lot! What brand of livestock waterer do you use?

[@sleepranch]

Thanks Pam! Ya you guys had some crazy weather down there! We use Cobett waterers and recommend them

[@tellybriggs6019]

GOOD INFO keep it up

[@sleepranch]

Thank you Telly!

[@marlenesimms1804]

Its beautiful country! And no better way to make a living and raise a family! Merry Christmas!

[@sleepranch]

Thank you Marlene, Merry Christmas!

[@cadenlear4644]

How was your hay situation? We’re you able to find enough at a reasonable price? It was a tough year in CA. Great video again keep it up!

[@sleepranch]

Thanks Caden, it was a tough year for hay. We were able to produce only about 2/3 of what we need. We are ver grateful to have some irrigated hay grounds, otherwise it would have been tragic. Prices are very high too! How bad was it out there?

[@jonathansullivan3089]

that's an awesome name :)

[@fabriceenjalbert4538]

Really impressive .. how many cattle do you have on the ranch cows and heifers ? Regards

[@anchorbrandranch]

How many calves are you feeding? Are they all calves raised by y’all or do you buy cattle to feed?

[@SnSBath]

I have spent a lot of time in your area looking for the next great show calf. Do you AI to any clubby bulls?

[@sleepranch]

No we don’t:/ we have in the past for a few cows just to get some show calves for ourselves but that’s been a couple years ago!

[@williecosgrove]

Not gone on the wire over the cattles necks , i see it has taken the hair completely from the bigger ones necks?

[@sleepranch]

Yes unfortunately it does rub on them a bit. I’ve been trying to think of a solution to that problem

[@williecosgrove]

@@sleepranch put some plastic water pipe over it ,works for me

[@ИсламНабиев-ы4к]

Really great content. Do you need a hired worker?)

[@sleepranch]

Thank you very much! And at the moment we don’t, but we do occasionally!

[@cowboytrenten2376]

Are feeding goes so much faster, we have a jaylor and a cat front loader to feed

[@marcopolo5365]

Hey Dakota Cowboy, don't pick ya nose when videoing HaHa

[@sleepranch]

😂😂

[@anchorbrandranch]

How deep do those water troughs go?

[@sleepranch]

I believe they are 7 feet deep!

[@pholl777]

What brand of livestock waterers do you prefer? We are in NE Texas and are shopping for something easy to install, dependable, and won’t freeze when we have severe winter weather that we aren’t typically equipped for. (Like last Feb snowmageddon when temps were -4. I realize that’s not extreme for you, but caused real problems here.)

[@marcopolo5365]

Do u know The Sonnes Ranch family in Mount Vernon S.D.?

[@marcopolo5365]

Son Cole & Dad Brian & Uncle Jeff

[@Mauka_to_Makai]

I have seen other channels might have a mailing address listed so fans can send cards and other things. Are you close to the Sonne Farm? I do belive he is in S Dakota.

[@sleepranch]

I’ve been thinking of adding that Linda, it’s a good idea! And I believe Sonne Farms is out of Mount Vernon, SD so that’s about 300 miles from us!

[@Mauka_to_Makai]

@@sleepranch it can be just a PO Box. Wouldn't want your ranch overwhelmed by city slicker tourist. LOL!! Looks like Hawaii and part of Alaska are under blizzard warnings while you all on the mainland bask in 60+ degrees!!

[@AcesUpOffroad]

What percentage of the ration is the ear corn?

[@vanross831]

How big is each feedlot pen ?

[@sleepranch]

Hey Van, we follow the feedlot guidelines for square footage/animal and are on the more liberal side of having extra space for each animal. Each pen provides a calf with about 320 square feet of space which is on the larger end of the spectrum.

[@sheeepguy7311]

Some amount of feed wasted in to the pen and outside the concrete trough

[@rebelgaming7718]

Cows can be the shits at times when it comes to you working or with a camera

[@danmiller2193]

Why don't you get someone in to grind corn?

[@sleepranch]

Hey Dan, great question! Since we are only feeding a small amount of corn per head while we are backgrounding our calves, we feel it’s cost prohibitive to spend the money to grind the corn compared to the benefits of increased digestibility. Since feed costs are so high with the drought this year we are minimizing our costs wherever we can since overheads are so high. If we were feeding higher amounts of corn and pushing more gain, then grinding would be a great idea!

[@rileygarrett3551]

Do you make your own hay

[@sleepranch]

Yep, we do!

[@DaMouseKid]

Why don’t y’all grind all of the bales for feeding there and just have a stack of ground hay instead of waiting 10 minutes a bale before u can feed?

[@sleepranch]

We do that sometimes!