YEAR 1.  Broiler litter has been used quite successfully as a feedstuff for both brood cows and stocker cattle.  Much research has been conducted at this site over the years with regard to stocker cattle systems using broiler litter and other by-product feeds.  The current study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of replacing the litter with rice mill feed.  Rice mill feed is a by-product of the rice milling industry whereby they create a product that contains approximately 1/3 rice bran and 2/3 rice hulls.  In general, rice bran has good nutritional value and contains about 15% fat and the rice hulls have very little nutritional value and can contain between 10 and 15% ash with high concentrations of silica.
     These cattle were received at the station about a week prior to being placed on their respective diets beginning Nov 15, 2001.  The trial ended on March 7, 2002 after 112 days.  Results are summarized below:
 

                                           Litter/corn             ---------Rice Mill Feed/Corn---------     RMF/Soyhulls
                                             50:50                  60:40              50:50                  40:60          50:50
ADG, lb/d                              1.98                    2.25                2.79                    2.87           3.07
Feed Intake, lb/d                     25.6                   24.1                22.4                    25.6           27.4
Hay Intake, lb/d                        6.6                     2.5                  2.4                      2.3             2.8
 

 Using the following costs:         Hay $60/ton
                                                Litter $25/ton
                                                Rice Mill Feed $40/ton

feed costs per pound of gain were as follows:

corn and soyhulls @ $70/ton

                                             $.41                       $.31              $.25                    $.28            $.27

corn and soyhulls @ $90/ton

                                             $.47                       $.35              $.29                    $.34            $.32
 
 
 
 
    YEAR 2.  In year 1 we showed that the broiler litter could be replaced with rice mill feed.  This year’s work was to evaluate a higher level of rice mill feed and to look at the use of soyhulls instead of corn.
    These cattle were received at the station a few days prior to being placed on their respective diets beginning Nov 19, 2002.  The trial was terminated on March 11, 2003 after 112 days.  Results are summarized below:

                                          Litter/soyhulls         -----Rice Mill Feed/Soyhulls----------     RMF/Corn
                                             50:50                  70:30              60:40                  50:50          50:50
ADG, lb/d                               2.42                    2.24                2.68                    2.88           2.46
Feed Intake, lb/d                     26.1                   29.4                29.6                    31.3           26.5
Hay Intake, lb/d                        6.0                     4.2                  3.0                      4.2             3.2

 
Using the following costs:    Hay $60/ton
                                          Litter $25/ton
                                          Rice Mill Feed $40/ton

feed costs per pound of gain were as follows:

corn and soyhulls @ $70/ton

                                            $.32                    $.34                $.32                     $.38           $.34