A:   Calves are picky eaters and like to sort through a diet and that's exactly what we don't what to have happen. Partical size needs to be uniform so that there is less chance of sorting, dust-free, and ingredients of high quality need to be used. The risk of using corn screening is that they are very dry and very fine in texture. So they don't add a lot of moisture to the diet. They are higher in protein than corn and are a digestible energy source.

From a feeding standpoint, because they are fine in texture, screenings can be used only in limited amounts. Screening will be digested rapidly in the rumen. Feeds that are digested rapidly in the rumen can lead to feedlot bloat. Because screenings are fine, they will need to be fed with feeds that add moisture to the diet. Finally, when using screenings the diet will need to be thourghly mixed so that they are uniformly distributed in the diet.

The diet you proposed would appear to me to be really dry and adding screening will only make it drier. Also, the screenings in the proposed diet will make a pretty dusty diet. Some how you need to get some moisture in the diet and only then would I take the chance on a small amount of screenings in a starter diet. Bottomline, I'm not comfortable with using screenings in this situation, but have seen them used in small amounts in diets when cattle are heavier and older.