Simplifying rations and using home grown ingredients can reduce costs of production and, provided productivity is maintained, increase profit. The objective of this experiment was to determine the performance of weaned suckled bull calves on a ration containing field beans (vicia faba), rolled barley, molasses and vitamins and minerals; the ad libitum straw intake was also examined.

Twelve Limousin x (Hereford x Friesian) bull calves, 9 months old, were individually fed through two Callan-Broadbent doors, one for the concentrate ration and the other for chopped straw. Wood shavings were used for bedding. The two treatments, fed ad libitumfor 63 days were, barley/ rapeseed meal (B/RSM) and barley/ beans (B/E) and contained 153 ± 5.0 and 166 ± 8.4 g/kg DM CP and 12.6 ± 0.16 and 12.9 ± 0.17 MJ ME/ kg DM respectively.