Fat Steer! Please help

[trksonic]

Hello, i had a question about holding a steer. I have a 1300lb market steer thats medium framed with condition. It is  about 120 days out from fair. He is going into the cold box in two weeks. How do you guys feed steers that need to be held and cant gain more than 1lb a day. I know he is heavy for this time, I honestly don't know how his weight slipped by me. I'm worried about him growing in height and also loosing cover in the cold box becuze hes on a holdingk(beet pulp) ration of only 2 lbs a day(thats what i was told). He still needs more fat yet he cant gain a whole lot of weight. I want to keep him fresh as well...so how do I do that if hes only eating a few lbs of feed?? please help and give opinions. let me know if you need any more info to know more about the situation. This is really stressing me!

 

[Jill]

120 days is a long time to try and hold one.

 

[trksonic]

Yes I know..thats why i am pressing the panic button. I didn't have access to a scale for a long time and i recently weighed him findiing out his real weight. Basically he was gaining 4lbs a day of 20lbs of feed. He just had super good feed effeciency and sky rocketed on weight gain. Its funny cuz he only looks to be 1200lbs. Hes just real heavy muscled. Anyways i'm looking for some good advice.I know the cool room helps to slow their metabolism down. Im just really worried about him keeping condition and freshness on a few lbs of feed aday, while being frozen in the cold box. Uhg. im very stressed. Its my last year and hes a good steer.

 

[R1Livestock]

120 days is a LONG time to try and hold one.  Everybody is going to tell you that, but it happens to everybody once and you're there now.

He needs a little feed, a lot of filler (beet pulp fills and wheat bran keeps him moving) and a good high vitamin/high protein supplement to keep his luster and help hold his shape.

Good luck.

 

[Earthmover]

If you can turn him out to pasture for a few weeks, maybe run him with some cows for a while. This will help him shed out and he will stop gaining weight and will lose about 100 lbs. It won't hurt him abit. Let him be a calf awhile before you put himm in the cooler. We have done this for the last 3 years and it works. We also shave them down before we turn them out .

 

[trksonic]

Okay thank you! Yes i figured its kinda a "one answer" question. I'm really kicking my self for not weighing him more often.Okay heres another question..say i added oil to a holding ration...would that defeat the purpose of holding by adding weight to the steer? just a thought. Boy i love this forum, the fast responses are the best.

 

[trksonic]

Wow..do you see a difference in the way they look a tall? Do they loose muscle like their top or butt? Maybe if i just put him a hay diet? Glad to hear someone does that successfully. Hes shedded out pretty well honestly..I know i cant come on here and expect everyone to make everything okay lol but i work very hard on my steers, even had supreme steer at my show last year. Just adding that to say i do  care about my projects  and im trying hard too make sure i control this steers weight.thanks guys

 

[shortdawg]

I would definitely put him in the pasture for the 2 weeks before you put him in the cooler. Then I would feed him 1/4 to 1/2 his feed ration and hay for about a month then weigh him and feed him based on the rate of gain you need up to the show. If he gained 4 lbs on 20 lbs then prorate that out to the rate of gain you need to reach your target weight. I held one this past year to 5lbs gain in 5 weeks and he won the State Angus show.

 

[Jill]

Kicking him out to pasture will take some quick weight off, if it were me if he has already shed out keep him in the cooler during the daylight hours and kick him out to pasture over night, the last one we held we walked a mile a night till we were ready to put weight back on him.  The biggest challenge you will probably have is getting him fat without gaining any weight.  Beet pulp and oats are great fillers, if you have them avaliable in your area. 

 

[trksonic]

Is there a difference if hes on free-choice hay or pasture? really appreciate the replys.thanks

 

[Jill]

Putting him in a pasture is more for the movement than for the grass.

 

[stangs13]

Full Control by HSC and beet pulp will hold him!

 

[Earthmover]

Keep him on the free choice hay when you turn him out

 

[russfarm]

I was really glad to see this post, because we're dealing with the same thing.  Our fair is the end of July, and one of our son's steers is 1300+ lbs and we put him out to pasture about 3wks ago on the advice of friends.  His hair is a mess, but I"m confident we can turn that around.  We're big washers and rinsers here! I'm really worried too, that he will love the *free* life too much, and be hard to handle once we bring him in.  He's really a nice steer, and has tons of potential, so we're willing to work on him.
We haven't gotten our cooler room ready, but will definately be working on it.
Thanks for posting this problem, you're not alone!

 

[trksonic]

haha yea it is very nice to know i'm not alone!!! I think your steer will be fine and will snap back into the daily routine of being a show steer they might have to adjust a little bit but maybe just give him some melatonin to help take the edge down.. I'm just trying to figure out how I am going to hold my steers weight, grow hair, and get more condition on him. i just don't see that working out with the condition lol.

 

[Nasc]

trksonic you have a pm

 

[STX108]

Honor Show Chow Full Contol

 

[russfarm]

We both should try and take pics now and then later closer towards fair to see how they end up.