Hay intake

[seaj]

I currently have a steer weighing 1130 pounds and will be showing him the first week of august at the county fair. I have been giving him 28 pounds of show rite throttle up feed a day and about one flake of hay per day as well. I have read on past topics some say to decrease the hay to increase grain consumption and some say free choice. What should I really do? I am looking to gain as much weight as possible in the next 6.5 weeks. Is there anything else I can or should be doing? He is also getting 2 pounds of rice bran a day as well. Thanks!

 

[frostback]

In all of the show barns I have worked in, not one of them ever limited the amount of hay. Not all of them were free choice but all of them gave hay am and pm to where there was left overs the next feeding. Decreased hay does not amount intake of grain.
I have just started raising goats and have asked numerous experts about feeding hay to show wethers and have not got the same answer twice. So you will probable get the same results asking on here and just need to try and see what works for you and your critters. Not all animals will do the same, so take that into account too, but basics are basics.

 

[RyanChandler]

If you're trying to put weight on an animal, you need to be feeding the most nutrient dense feedstuff you can.  In terms of density, hay is towards the very bottom.  Get him up around 3% grain intake and then allow him some hay.  A flake a day is more than enough.

 

[vc]

If you are going to get him to 3% that would be around 33 pounds of grain a day, you have him eating around 30 pounds with the feed and the rice bran, so your looking at adding 3 pounds a day to his feed. What is his ADG? I do not think adding more feed is going to really help him gain that much more a day and depending on the steer he may be finished at 1200 pounds, pushing him to gain weight when he may be right on track to reach his genetic potential, you may be a waste your money.

A picture of the steer and his ADG for the last 2 months might help.

 

[JAGUR01]

Agree with the above post. If he  is eating well but not converting well you may try 1. worming him, 2. add some fastrac to get his gut working and 3. implant him

 

[ejoe326]

What have you used to worm him?

 

[seaj]

Thanks for all the info so far. As far as worming goes I rotate between ivomec and the safeguard pellets that go in his feed. Is there one that's better than the other? His adg was 2.86 from December to april and since then has been 3.13. Maybe I am just hoping for too much. I would just like to get the most out of him I can in the next six weeks.

 

[AAOK]

Sounds to me like you are right on track for your County Show. If your Steer is cleaning up his feed in less than 15 minutes, you might try adding about 2 - 3lbs more per feeding.

Even minor changes this close to Show Day can trigger a disaster.

 

[KSanburg]

What type of hay are you feeding? We feed a pretty course grass hay that really has little nutritional value as far as the overall ration is concerned. We feed around 20 lbs.. The thought behind feeding this type of hay is #1 the stem scratches the wall of the stomach which help/aids in the digestion and absorption of the grain products and #2 while 30 lbs. of grain sounds like a lot but by the time the steer consumes that amount of feed it's condensed down pretty well so the hay acts as a filler.

If you have the opportunity to visit with a commercial feeder and ask them their feed ration and what roll hay and/or even straw plays in there operation I think you will find that their rule of thumb is roughage will consist of around 50% of the total diet. While I understand we are not feeding for the same purpose as a commercial feeder our goal for the end product is the same when the carcass ends up on the rail.

 

[vc]

Based off his most recent ADG he should weigh around 1270 by your fair, what is the weight you are shooting for? He is converting close to 1/10 so by adding 3 pounds a day if,he converted the same he would gain 13+ more pounds in the 6.5 weeks so basically it will take an additional 130+ pounds or around 45 dollars for that 13+ pounds.
Is the 1130 full or empty?

 

[seaj]

Thanks again for all the replies. My target weight is 1250 and he was right on track but the recent hot weather has slowed him down. This is only my second year with a steer so I am still new to all this. We do have a fan on him and rinse him twice a day with cool water. But he still has slowed down on his grain intake but not his hay, that's why I wasn't sure how much he should get. I did get some fastrack for him as was recommended so I will start giving that to him. What are the best probiotics? Seem to be quite a few out there. Is it something that I should feed all the time, or just every now and then?