advice needed on what's best for conditioning...

[timefactor]

My daughter has a hereford heifer she just took on....7ish months old. She's currently on Purina show feed. We're looking to condition her asap.
She just needs a lot of fat I guess...muscle as well ofcourse. She wasn't feed out before we got her. I was wondering what might work faster. Also most economically. Luckily she LOVES to eat!!

 

[shortybreeder]

How much time do you have? And I would caution against too much fat if you plan to breed her.

 

[obie105]

Pictures would help but I would not push since its a heifer and you don't want her to put on fat you want her to grow and develop. You will be surprised on how much condition one will put on with correct feeding especially if she hasn't had much. I really like AAOKs ration that is on here. We use our own version of it. It is very economical much cheaper than any bagged feed. Also what kind of timeline to the first show? If she is only 7 months old she is still young cant expect nor do you want those summer born calves to look like a January.

 

[timefactor]

My daughter is already showing her...in small shows. She went to her first one last weekend.  Of course she got dinged for her condition or lack of but the judge had a lot of good things to say about her....  And she pretty much had no feed before 6 weeks ago when we got her. I was thinking maybe adding beet pulp or something might help. I've been trying to upload a pic but it won't allow me to  :-\

 

[shortybreeder]

Try editing the photo to a smaller size, and/or a lower quality resolution. The beet pulp will add capacity, but I don't know about condition.

 

[timefactor]

Here she is fluffed out

 

[SimFarmer]

She is very green but that would be expected if she was just put on feed. I think time and consistent good quality feed is all she needs.

 

[shortybreeder]

I agree with Simfarmers comment. I have a friend who shows hereford so I've watched some of their shows, and I've noticed that they tend to be dinged for condition until they are too fat to breed. But I guess that's just the nature of the beast.

 

[Chuck Wagon]

My advise is to slow down and not rush it, have a good family time showing and don't worry about winning and pushing for extra fat for the show ring.  Instead just focus on her health and condition for breeding, if that's is what you plan to do.  She's only seven months, so just be patient and not rush the over feeding.

Use this time as experience so when you get the next animal, you'll be better prepared on selection for moving higher up in placement.

 

[CAB]

  If you're wanting condition, beet pulp is not the choice. Beet pulp is more of a roughage filler type of feedstuff. If you can find an ingredient, ( feedstuff) chart online to compare net energy availabilities in different feedstuffs and then look at what is readily available in your area that would be a good place to start. Think of it in human terms, the more calories we eat the more we gain, in cattle feeds the more net energy per unit the more the cattle gain. Be careful when working her up on feed, you are going to have the tendency to want to push her too hard and fast to try to catch her up in her conditioning. A good rule of thumb to start a calf at when starting to feed is 1% of their body weight with a goal of getting them worked up to 2 1/2% of their body weight. Some PPL get them up to 3%, but those numbers are a pretty good protocol. AAOK's ration is a great, very economical mix and you can adjust it to feedstuffs available in your area. It has enough roughage built into it that you can feed it without having to have another roughage source available for the calves if you want to feed it that way or you can feed some roughage if you are more comfortable doing it that way. Hope this helps you to understand your feeding goals.

 

[vc]

I might be wrong but I think heifers need to be feed large amounts of roughage during their development stage to become efficient cows later. We never fed out a heifer for show but the few heifers I have retained have done well as far as growing and adding condition on basic free choice quality hay (kept feeder full) and 1.5 to 2 percent of their weight of show feed, with a pound of Stabilized Rice Bran a day. I will add that all but one came from one cow family and were very easy keepers, the one heifer I fed out to eat was fed the same way and turned out just right as far as  cover and marbling (commercial Hereford purchased to feed out)

This was the feed 12.5 protein  3.0 fat:
Cracked Corn, Cane Molasses, Cottonseed Hulls (Not More Than 9.5%), Soybean Meal, Rolled Barley, Whole Oats, Plain Dried Beet Pulp, Ground Corn, Ground Wheat, Wheat Millrun, Suncured Alfalfa Pellets, Distillers dried grains, Calcium Carbonate, Corn Germ Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Chloride, Vegetable Oil & Animal Fat Blend, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Bentonite, Cobalt Glucoheptonate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Potassium Sulfate, Tallow, Magnesium Sulfate, Condensed Lignin Sulfonate, Ferrous Sulfate, Dried Yeast, Sodium Selenite, Magnesium Oxide, Copper Chloride, Copper Sulfate, Ethoxyquin (Preservative), Natural and Artificial Flavor Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Carbonate, Selenium yeast, Brewers dried yeast, Niacin Supplement, Propionic Acid, Ammonium Hydroxide, Sorbic Acid, Benzoic Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Propylparaben, Methylparaben, Butylated Hydroxyanisole, (Preservatives)

Heifer at 13 months fed as mentioned above.

 

[timefactor]

Thanks for all the input!...nice black heifer VC....I've noticed the herefords that are just about right on condition don't place high. It's funny how some breeds place high when over - conditioned and others place low for being over conditioned. Ultimately we are in it for my daughter's enjoyment and our success is measured by her happiness..she's just out there enjoying herself right now. I figure by a few months we will begin to see a significant difference in this heifer. The first big show is in 2 1/2 months so we might have enough time to have her improved a bit.