By Jerad Jaborek, Michigan State University
Bunk management refers to matching the amount of feed delivered to the amount of feed cattle can consume without causing digestive upsets. The simplest form of bunk management is to provide cattle with ad libitum feed, which means to ensure feed is always available. More refined bunk management strategies such as slick bunk management closely matches the amount of feed offered with maximal feed intake of the cattle resulting in a ‘slick’ or empty feed bunk just before the next feeding time. Programming feed intakes uses a bunk management strategy known as limit-feeding or restricted-feeding. The amount of feed offered with limit-feeding is less than what cattle could eat ad libitum or if feed is supplied free choice.
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