feeding a show bull
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dcbehle
Well-known member
I'm resurrecting this thread as I've been looking for the same answers to this previous post. It has not garnered any replies, but has been read 1,352 times, so there must be interest.
We have a small Angus herd, a very small herd. We've marketed 3 bulls in 8 years, but have sold a dozen heifers over that same period. We have generated modest, but solid interest in our heifers. However, we have a very limited track record for our bulls. Hence, we use the Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic in mid-February to get people to look at our bulls. This year we believe we have our best bull calf that we've ever raised. Unfortunately, with the market down, we need to do well at the Classic to get people to look at our bull. Recent history has shown that if you don't have a couple of interested buyers prior to the show/sale, you won't do well in the sale if you don't do well in the ring. So our goal is to get this bull in prime condition for the show ring without getting him fat for his ultimate goal, breeding cows in the spring.
Looking for ideas to get him ready, specifically a nutrition plan. Please share any ideas you have.
We've used our heifer developer in the past with a modest twist. We've backed off on how much cottonseed hulls so as to avoid any concerns with potential customers with gossypol toxicity. We replaced some of it with beet pulp and Purina Ultra Full.
On a per/ton basis, here is the recipe that our cooperative mixes for us:
674 lbs. corn
606 lbs. oats
200 lbs. Purina SteakMaker pellets
180 lbs. cottonseed hulls
Vitaferm Sure Champ pellets
Purina Ultra Full
beet pulp
soy oil
liquid molasses
The mix is at 13% crude protein. We started the calves on this with some Precon a month ago in a creep feeder and they've been eating the mix straight up for a couple of weeks. Preconditioning shots were done three weeks ago and nose clips were put on last weekend. We will be weaning early next week. Starting next week, they will be fed about 2% of their body weight of the feed with free choice prairie grass hay. We also use Vitaferm stress tubs during the first month after weaning.
Our input costs are higher than most, but our marketing plan has been to sell our animals at a premium. We've been able to generate more dollars on a per calf sold basis each year for the last four years. Last year, we sold two of our five calves as yearlings and averaged $4,600. One of the five is our only September calf and we'd like to sell him private treaty as a coming two-year old virgin bull. He's not as pretty up front as the January Soo Line Motive bull that we will market at this year's Classic.
We have a small Angus herd, a very small herd. We've marketed 3 bulls in 8 years, but have sold a dozen heifers over that same period. We have generated modest, but solid interest in our heifers. However, we have a very limited track record for our bulls. Hence, we use the Nebraska Cattlemen's Classic in mid-February to get people to look at our bulls. This year we believe we have our best bull calf that we've ever raised. Unfortunately, with the market down, we need to do well at the Classic to get people to look at our bull. Recent history has shown that if you don't have a couple of interested buyers prior to the show/sale, you won't do well in the sale if you don't do well in the ring. So our goal is to get this bull in prime condition for the show ring without getting him fat for his ultimate goal, breeding cows in the spring.
Looking for ideas to get him ready, specifically a nutrition plan. Please share any ideas you have.
We've used our heifer developer in the past with a modest twist. We've backed off on how much cottonseed hulls so as to avoid any concerns with potential customers with gossypol toxicity. We replaced some of it with beet pulp and Purina Ultra Full.
On a per/ton basis, here is the recipe that our cooperative mixes for us:
674 lbs. corn
606 lbs. oats
200 lbs. Purina SteakMaker pellets
180 lbs. cottonseed hulls
Vitaferm Sure Champ pellets
Purina Ultra Full
beet pulp
soy oil
liquid molasses
The mix is at 13% crude protein. We started the calves on this with some Precon a month ago in a creep feeder and they've been eating the mix straight up for a couple of weeks. Preconditioning shots were done three weeks ago and nose clips were put on last weekend. We will be weaning early next week. Starting next week, they will be fed about 2% of their body weight of the feed with free choice prairie grass hay. We also use Vitaferm stress tubs during the first month after weaning.
Our input costs are higher than most, but our marketing plan has been to sell our animals at a premium. We've been able to generate more dollars on a per calf sold basis each year for the last four years. Last year, we sold two of our five calves as yearlings and averaged $4,600. One of the five is our only September calf and we'd like to sell him private treaty as a coming two-year old virgin bull. He's not as pretty up front as the January Soo Line Motive bull that we will market at this year's Classic.
Never fed a show bull but from all I've read you pretty much feed them the same way you would feed a steer or heifer calf at this time, get them started and work them up to 2-3 percent of their weight a day.
I did a search on here and AAOK, feed all his calves bulls, heifers, and steers the same ration the same way, and stated they did well.
As they develope you can add protein or fat to their diet depending on their needs.
I did a search on here and AAOK, feed all his calves bulls, heifers, and steers the same ration the same way, and stated they did well.
As they develope you can add protein or fat to their diet depending on their needs.
Bulldaddy
Well-known member
It depends on whether you want to use him as a breeding bull after you show him. If you feed him like a steer he may have problems when you turn him out to breed cows.
cowboy_nyk
Well-known member
In my experience you'd want more than 13% protein for bull calves. Could be supplemented with a lick tub or the like. The original questions was about feeding yearling bulls, which is a whole different animal. Presumably a yearling had been breeding and would need to recover lost muscle mass, continue to grow, and put on some fat for showing. That takes an experienced feeder to accomplish without harming the bull.
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