holding a 1300 pound steer for march

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I need advice.  I have a 1300 lb steer, that I need to hold until March.  His frame size can handle to be 1450. He is still gaining on the feed I am giving him now.  1 scoop 4 scoop beet pulp twice a day. and free range hay at night.  I am concerned about his gain and I have notice his flank is trying to draw up.  He is not finished by how he feels, so I  don't know how I should be adjusting his feed.  I was hoping to hold him till mid December then start feeding again since we have a few show that we will drag him to.  But since he is still gaining, I am not sure what I need to change.

Goal - hold weight, but add fat, and drop flank...... what do I change in his feeding>

 

[Tallcool1]

What is the format of the Fat show he is going to in March?

Is there a weigh back?

Do you weigh them in or do you just turn in a weight card and then have to weigh back within 5% of that?

Hair or Slick show?

I have seen steers show at 1360-1375.  With a 5% weigh back, that puts you at a weigh back goal of about 1445.  You can let this steer get pretty close to 1500 pounds and have no problems shrinking him back if you are on a weight card system.  Now, if you actually have to weigh them in...whole different story.  Now you have to shrink back to 1375 and then back up to 1445. Depending on how much time you have this can be tough.

I know that you want to hold the steer and show him at his optimal weight, however how the steer looks is way more important than what he weighs.  Our county fair last year was won by a steer that showed at 1410, and was probably pulled back 100 pounds.  The steer was absolutely the best one there, and if they had showed him at 1350 he probably would have gotten beat.

 

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Yes we have a weigh back of 5%.  our judge likes the weight range of 1280-1340.  He looks good as far as looking full, but I'm doing something wrong since his flank is drawing up.  I'm OK with him gaining a little, just not sure if I want to put him on a full feed, or if I should do that yet.  Full feed for me would be 5gal morning and night. feed is a 5% fat ration.

Some say to just feed as normal and hold him at the end, but I don't want him to look stale.  So if I do this, how do I keep him looking fresh

 

[DSC]

This is what we do. We pull them almost completely off of the grain (1 lb or so) and give beet pulp and cotton seed hulls. They will still gain a little bit of weight on this which is fine. Then depending on the steer 30-60 days out we start putting them back on full feed. This will help get a fresh finish on him so he is not stale. Also depending on the calf we will add barely to the feed to get a nice smooth finish. This is what we have done when holding one and has worked well for us.

 

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DSC--- this is kind of what we are doing now.  Should there be any concern about him drawing up in the flank area?  Is this normal, and will his flank drop in enough time when we start feeding him again? planning to start feeding around Jan. This should give me 3 months to get him back . This is the first time for me to hold one this far out, so I just want to make sure we are doing the right thing.

I guess I need to know, why his is doing it? do I need to feed more beet pulp to fill him up, or is it normal. I welcome any advice.

 

[DSC]

I am not real sure why he would be drawing up in his flank. I would try adding some more beet pulp but I would guess once you get him back on full feed it will drop back down.

 

[IDM Farms]

I would say the steer is drawing up in his flank because he's losing fat should come back when you start full feed. Just my opinion

 

[vc]

Not sure what a scoop weighs, but I would feed him 2 pounds oats (or feed), 8 pounds loose beet pulp,  one pound Stabilized Rice bran, and one pound Calf manna twice a day, plus free choice hay.
Whenever we cut back on calories we add the protein  and fat to help maintain their condition a little.