Heifer needs fill behind shoulders

[paj315]

I have a January hereford heifer we are taking to Louisville and she is need some more fill behind her shoulders . She has plenty of depth and width but breaks behind her shoulders in her heart girth area. Any suggestions on what I could use to try and fill that area in and maybe a little over her ribs ? Any help would be great .

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Fat and hair are really the only way to fix that.  Increase the fat content of her ration. Just be cautious of getting her too fat if you intend to breed her.

 

[paj315]

Thanks . She is only 9 months old now so we won't be breeding her till next year . I was thinking of getting some Golden Flo , Power Fuel , or stabilized rice bran . Any suggestions or experience with any of those ?

 

[cowboy_nyk]

I'm from up in Canada so I have no experience with those products, but assuming that they are intended to up the fat/energy of the ration, they should do the job.  Personally, I'd just increase the %corn (or barley) in her ration.  I don't mess with additives and supplements.  If a heifer calf can't get fat enough on corn, you don't want her anyway!

Just be careful not to:
a)get her ration too "hot" - obvious signs are loose/acidic stool, sweating, hair shedding, stiffness
B) get her too fat.  If she build too much fat in around her udder she'll damage her mammary glands

 

[paj315]

Thanks for the advise . I'm not worried too much about getting her too fat . We just clipped her out the other day and after we got done we noticed she needed a little more cover and filled in a little behind her shoulders . We clipped her shoulders down pretty tight to blend it in . After Louisville we will back her down to her normal ration. Right now she's eating 25 lbs per day and she cleans it up and is looking for more .

 

[buckeye]

25 pounds seems a bit much unless she us weighing around 1250 pounds.

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Really depends on the ration.  If it's a higher fiber, lower energy ration and she's not consuming a lot of hay, then 25lbs is fine.  If that's a finisher ration it's too much in the long term but as he said, he's trying to push her a little till the next show.

 

[hevmando]

"Just be careful not to:
a)get her ration too "hot" - obvious signs are loose/acidic stool, sweating, hair shedding, stiffness
B) get her too fat.  If she build too much fat in around her udder she'll damage her mammary glands"

Cowboy, AAOK, others,

The sweating comment hit me.  We feed AAOK's ration and our cattle come in quite often with sweat on their upper ribs.  They have free choice grass hay and mineral.  Even this am when it was 27 degrees F, our red angus heifer was sweating.  She also gets extra beet pulp and depth charge at night.  What's going on here?  Is it something I should be concerned about?

 

[cowboy_nyk]

As long as you aren't seeing other signs like loose (acidic smelling) stool, hair thinning, stiffness, etc she's probably fine. 

A fat animal is going to sweat. If you want to see the difference, just look at a steer in the feedlot on hard feed.  It can be -40 below and they have slick hair and are steaming with sweat.  Good for making tender beef, not good for a replacement heifer.

Assuming your heifer is getting enough roughage, she's probably just fine.

 

[hevmando]

she looks great otherwise, been progressing nicely.  Thanks for the reply!

 

[Mountain Laurel Farm]

We use purina precon,winning fill, and beet pulp with our heifers. You could also check out Purina's high octane products we use them as top dress and have had multiple champions in all species using them and know many people who have had good results.

 

[blackdirt cowboy]

I undrerstand that you will put her back on her normal ration after the show. Please understand, though, that if you ever get a breeding heifer too fat, it does irreversible damage. Fat will be deposited around the ovaries and in the udder. From then on you will have a hard breeder and poor milker. No diet will ever reverse those effects. It's just not worth it, in my opinion to get a heifer fat enough for the show ring if you ever expect her to be productive the rest of her life. My suggestion to you is to show your heifer as she is and focus on the genetics you use in the future to correct your problem.

 

[paj315]

Here is a picture of her

 

[GoWyo]

She is a nice heifer.  You are picking on little things.  She could use a tad more condition, but I would just put her on free choice grass hay and feed maybe 1.5% of her weight in grain plus the other 1.0% or so in cottonseed hulls or beet pulp or Rumafill or similar high fiber to help expand her rib as much as you can.

 

[OLD WORLD SHORTIE]

I agree she is a nice heifer. Just up her feed, get her on beet pulp and all the hay she wants.

 

[paj315]

Thanks guys. I know I'm kind of picking on little things just trying to get her to look her best for Louisville . This is our first time at a big show like that so we want to do the best we can .