Off the hay

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

my steer is not eatin all his alfalfa. we give him a flake morning and night. he goes out to pasture about 4 hours a day, and is getting about 9lbs of feed a day. any ideas?

 

[shortyjock89]

Is he eating all his grain? Does he look sick or have a fever?  We don't feed alfalfa to show calves, we feed 2 flakes of grass hay/calf/day.  How much grass do you think he eats while out on pasture?

 

[bcosu]

i think that the alfalfa is pretty strong stuff sometimes and kind of fills them up a little. add that the feed and the pasture and he's probably getting all he wants how old is he, a baby or a fat?

 

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

thats what i was thinking, hes just full. he eats all his grain and does not seem sick. hes about 7 or 8 months.

 

[shortyjock89]

thats what i was thinking, hes just full. he eats all his grain and does not seem sick. hes about 7 or 8 months.

I wouldn't worry about it too much then.  I would maybe consider switching to a grass, or grass/alfalfa mix hay if it is readily available in your area.  Alfalfa can be too rich a lot of the time for calves to eat everyday, but can be a good way to introduce more nutritional value when needed.

 

[justme]

How much is he weighing?  is that 9# per day or per feeding?

 

[the_cowgirl_in_me]

hes about 500lbs and 9lbs a day of the feed.

 

[showsteerdlux]

I would be cutting him off the Alfalfa and upping his feed to between 12.5#s and 15#s which is between 2.5 and 3%. The alfalfa is taking up room that that he could be using grain for to get fat. Also you may want to consider not putting him on pasture a lot. A little exercise is ok but the way I think of it on steers is that he is just going to be exercising off most of what you just payed good money for feed to get weight on him.