Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 OK all you math wizards. I'm trying to formulate a feed that will approximate what I'm usually feeding by this stage, an 18% sweet lamb creep feed. I've got 50 lbs of a ewe sweet feed that is 12% - how much 44% soy bean meal to I need to add to bring that up to 18%? I'm in this pickle because my feed store stopped carrying this feed and has even stopped carrying anything BUT the 12%. Hello? I've got lambs here! Apparently I'm lambing a lot earlier than the major producers. Next year I'll have to order a ton and store it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 I believe you will need 1 bag of soymeal to 4 bags of 12 percent. How I figure it out is add up the protien content (12x4 = 48 + 44 = 92) and divide by total number of bags (92 divided by 5 = 18 with a remainder of 2). Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 I get the same value but use a different logic. I set the problem up in a square. Put the desired protein content in the middle of the square. On the left hand side (in each corner), put the percentage protein in each feed. (Try to imagine (or draw) a square with 12 and 44 in the left hand corners and 18 in the middle.) Then subtract diagonally the smaller number from the larger number. This gives you the numbers in the right hand corners of the box (i.e., 26 and 6). Sorry about the visual 12% 26 parts sweet feed 18% 44% 6 parts soy To figure out percentage of each feed (by weight), simply divide the "parts" (i.e., 26 or 6) by the "total parts" (i.e., 26 + 6 =32). So you would mix 26/32 or 81% sweet feed with 6/32 or 19% soy to give you a mixture with a final protein of 18%. Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted March 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Thank you both. I've been using my "wonder feed" so long that I'd forgotten how to do that. I'm math challenged so I used the square method before. So for a fifty pound bag, which I'm mixing up here for my bottle lambs, I'll need, hmmm, 12.5 pounds of SBM? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 If you use the percentages to calculate the mixture, you can actually use a little less: (50 X 19) / 81 = 11.7 pounds soy Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Look up "pearson square" and you'll get lots of diagrams of what Kim described in words if the visual helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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