Let me know what you think about steer!!

[AHarp]

New to steer planet! Calf weighs about 780 show is beginning of Feb. Picked on a lottery system...Please give your opinion, suggestions... eating 24lbs a day of prause feed stand alone, cotton seed and champion drive

 

[LindseysMaine_Angus]

Slopes from hooks to pins.. Could have a straighter top..would be a better feeding rather than show steer

 

[AHarp]

... Not the best but you get what you get when its a school lottery unfortunately... What would you recommend for his top line... We can seem to get it to feel out

 

[cowboy_nyk]

Whatever you do, keep him off of concrete.  That may be the shallowest hoof (back feet) I've ever seen.  As he gains weight he almost assuredly will go lame on you, especially if he spends any time on concrete floors.

 

[AHarp]

The whole ag barn that the school district built is concrete And unfortunately the child has no where else to keep it... They just trimmed his hooves... Do you think it could be the guy just went to far? He is Very fluid in his gate

 

[Tallcool1]

He has plenty of rear leg set.  Ya, they may have taken plenty of heel off!

I think the biggest thing with cattle like this is to feed the heck out of them.  You have to just get him as fat as you can and see what you end up with.  The quality of the calf and end result is dependent upon how you feed him.

There are lots of good lessons that can be taught with any calf.  I wouldn't let the fact that he isn't a pure show steer get in the way of the lessons.

My only criticism of the calf is the angle that the picture is taken at.  Take the photo from the same level that a judge is going to analyze the calf from...standing straight up.  Take the photo at your eye level not ground level.  Our blow out area is elevated from the center walk in our barn.  Sometimes I get to thinking one of our steers is getting a little leggy or needs more belly.  It is the view point, not the calf.  When you take a ground level photo you in essence turn the calf into a 2D rather than a 3D image.  All we can see is the profile with zero expression.

 

[rackranch]

I like the calf, feed him, worm him, and keep the hoof trimmer away from those back feet until late fall some time.  IMO he will make a good slick shear calve for a school show.  That lottery thing is for the birds...

 

[shortyjock89]

Completely agree. I think selection is maybe the most important and hardest skill to teach and that system takes it almost completely away.

 

[AHarp]

I completely agree with the selection being for the birds as well... when I have kids they will never show animals that are picked in a lottery system... One of the main reasons is they can't get the quality!! also it takes most of the fun and experience out of it, they miss out on the fun of going to find a calf and meeting people in the industry!

 

[RyanChandler]

Completely agree. I think selection is maybe the most important and hardest skill to teach and that system takes it almost completely away.

I'd argue the same about hair shows.  You want to expose selection skills? Then slick shear them all so that they can be evaluated solely on phenotype and conditioning, rather than on who can sculpt the better silhouette. 

I think the biggest thing with cattle like this is to feed the heck out of them.  You have to just get him as fat as you can and see what you end up with. 

Here's the ticket.  Too often people wait (too late) and try to add fat cover towards the end.  This is a huge gamble that most often ends with the animal not ever reaching the level of cover they need.  When the energy level of the ration is too low, a calf's frame will increase at a faster rate relative to the amount of cover.  Alternatively, when the energy level of the ration is too high, a calf's level of conditioning/ cover / finish will increase at a faster rate than which his frame grows.  I would increase the energy level of the ration up till the point where this calf pictured reaches the desired level of cover and then I would maintain this ratio of cover to frame throughout the remainder of his days on feed.  I don't know what prause feed? you're feeding, but if it's not a 'finisher' I would suggest transitioning to one sooner rather than later. 

 

[vc]

He may not be perfect but he does look better than allot of the calves I see hauled to our fair (and the kids pick those calves out). Feeding him to meet his potential is your goal, in the lottery system if all the calves are similar in type, the calves that get fed right, don't fall behind do to injury or sickness should rise to the top. He looks to have enough muscle and frame to make a good fat steer, fed and managed so he hits 12:00 at the right time should put you in a competitive position. 
Things that will help: Feed him a quality feed, keep him on a tight schedule, increase the feed volume as he grows to keep him around 3 percent of his body weight of feed a day, and work with him daily. Clean pen and water.
The things not to do since he is at the school farm: randome feeding times (weekends can be the worst) run out of his feed and use someone else's feed that is different than yours, not work with him a few days because of any host of school and outside activities. Anyone of these things can throw them off track, they get used to a routine, deviate from it and it can cause them to stress.
Consistency and Persistence is what it takes.

Have fun and good luck.

 

[Shorthorns4us]

I am with VC on keeping him on schedule and routine.  It makes a better animal in the end.  We got the routine going with my son's market steers every year about going into the barn in the morning and going to their "spot" for the day-- they were to the point before the fair that if you were  a little late in the morning- they would be waiting at the barn door and the minute you opened- they would waddle over their spot and look at you like "really-- you made me wait".  Then the same at night-- you would come out to let them out for the night and they would just waddle themselves out in order.  They stayed on feed and were calm and easy going the whole time.
EF

 

[Mainevent]

Completely agree. I think selection is maybe the most important and hardest skill to teach and that system takes it almost completely away.

I'd argue the same about hair shows.  You want to expose selection skills? Then slick shear them all so that they can be evaluated solely on phenotype and conditioning, rather than on who can sculpt the better silhouette. 

I've had this argument time and time again. Hair does nothing but enhance some visual features. Any judge worth a lick can tell that the hairy fluff ball on the end is nothing but that, a hairy fluff ball. And if they can't they better be handling them anyways but if they can't visually tell you the narrow structured, yet has gigantic legs, whale assed and huge topped animal magically you dang sure better be handling them.

 

[mikelacourt]

What show is he for? I fed my school steer prause for a while too.

 

[OH Breeder]

I don't think he is that bad at all. After watching facebook the past few days and seeing what people are posting for sale as show steer you got a pretty decent one. Those feet have been trimmed awfully short. I would put him on an 11% ration plenty of hay free choice and feed him. not sure if its a hair show or a slick show- to me it makes no difference. Yes some flaws can be hidden with hair. But if you can't feed one, it doesn't matter if you have 5 inches of hair the judge will see the calf is not finished. Like he has some neck to him and looks like he could have some depth if you feed him. I do not know the feed prause you talking about either. We use a mill mix feed because it is easier to adjust when we need to.

 

[vc]

It looks like the Prause Feed is out of a mill in Spring TX., web page is a little week, shows their list of products but nothing more than that, a feed label or nutritional value would have been nice. Aharp it might help if you could post the label from the feed on here, so we can see whats in it.