Feeding a steer

[mulford_11]

We will be doing our first of of big cows with my son. He has his bucket calf steer from this year he’s determined to show next year. Overall it’s not a bad steer and comes from good (commercial) angus based genetics. He was an April calf and probably weighs close to 550lbs. There’s no minimum weight for fair and our initial weigh in is in December.  I’d like to keep him growing good but not get him too fat as rate of gain is a factor in their placings. I want to develop frame without too much fat. (If that makes sense ) Currently he gets approx 6lbs of a 1/4corn/3/4oat/balancer pellet creep feed and 3lbs precon twice a day and a box of surechamp cattle twice a day. He also gets all the grass hay he can eat at night. He’s a good eater no issues there. I just don’t feel I’m getting the growth I want. I understand being a bucket calf he’s probably a little behind the 8 ball but he doesn’t have the bucket calf/stunted look. Just seeing what people would suggest or just keep feeding. I’ll try to attach a photo.

 

[Tallcool1]

IN MY OPINION

Don't get too caught up in the rate of gain thing with a calf that isn't really designed to be holding an pushing and holding and pushing.  Club calf genetics lend themselves to that type of treatment.  Commercial cattle genetics really don't.

Feed him 3% of his body weight of a balanced ration.  What you are feeding is probably just fine for now.  You are pretty much at the 3%!  You can feed more of it if he will eat it. 

You didn't specify what his end date is.  I assume summer of 2020?

550 is pretty darn good for a 5 month old bucket calf!

 

[mulford_11]

Thanks for the tips. He did really well with him this summer. We aren’t disappointed in him at all but I don’t know a whole lot about feeding steers or market animals in general. I know you don't want them too fat too early and I also realize there’s only so much you can do with the genetics you have but we did buy it from a good angus breeder who has good genetics. This guy is from their commercial herd but they’re nice cows. End date is mid July. It’ll be the only show the calf attends. I guess I’d rather get him on the right track now instead of two weeks before fair trying to fix his problems. Also when do I switch him to more of a finishing ration?

 

[I hate heifers]

Don't get too caught up in the fact that he is a bucket calf.  My daughters first bucket calf weighs about 1700 lbs and is one of our best cows.  Her second one finished at 1425 and won the carcass contest at our County Fair.  You need to get a good idea of what his finish weight should be and then you will know how much he needs to gain daily.  We have found that Angus based calves convert feed much better than some of the clubby cross calves so weigh him every 4-6 weeks and adjust his feed accordingly. 

 

[CAB]

You need to have him eat as much as possible every day. An April 2019 born calf can make it easily enough by July 2020 but it needs to do all he can do every day.

 

[mulford_11]

He is a good eater so he has that going for him. What do I feed him to get him there. When do I switch him to a finishing ration. What would be a realistic target weight for him? I prefer ideas on a custom ration I can have the coop make vs. premade bagged feed. Helps to keep costs manageable plus I feel I can adjust it as needed.

 

[GoWyo]

Read these threads and any related ones.  It has worked for us with various tweaks depending on age and sex of cattle for years.

http://www.steerplanet.com/asklund-acres-aaok-feeding-program/

https://www.steerplanet.com/bb/the-big-show/do-you-use-aaok-feed-ration-i%27d-so-please-read/

 

[mulford_11]

This AAOK ration will work for breeding heifers too and you feed it start to finish?? AlsoI get the importance of the mineral but does it have to be medicated?? It seems like a lot of corn but there again it’s worked well for a lot of people and well corn is cheap and I can always tweak/add stuff as needed. And really this is what I was hoping to find here a custom blend I could have my coop make that didn’t cost an arm and a leg that works well. Something that my son can do more independently vs. me helping him weigh and mix each ingredient separately for different cows.

 

[GoWyo]

I feed it to show heifers, just not as much of it, but I don't like breeding heifers sloppy fat.  All cattle are on free choice grass hay.  I wouldn't worry about the medicated part of the mineral -- this was before the federal veterinary feed directive (VFD) came out.  It is a good basic mix that is about as cheap as you can run.