Putting weight on market hefier

[cattleshowgirl14]

I have shown steers for 6 years and they all have been real easy on gaining weight Ive never had a problem with them not gaining. This year I'm showing a market heifer shes getting 16 pounds of grain each day eating all of it and is on free hay...shes barley pushing 770 lbs and my fair is in 2 and a half months and i need her to be at at least 1100lbs...any suggestions?? she will be in aoc class with market steers i think she can compete against some of them well if she gets fatter.

 

[OH Breeder]

I have shown steers for 6 years and they all have been real easy on gaining weight Ive never had a problem with them not gaining. This year I'm showing a market heifer shes getting 16 pounds of grain each day eating all of it and is on free hay...shes barley pushing 770 lbs and my fair is in 2 and a half months and i need her to be at at least 1100lbs...any suggestions?? she will be in aoc class with market steers i think she can compete against some of them well if she gets fatter.

So we have to do some thinking here. You are at 770 and you want 1100. 330#'s of weight in 74 days.

so you are almost 4.5#'s a day til show day. The first thing, is are you going to keep her for replacement female or is she terminal after show. Implanting will speed up weight gain. Make sure you have on her on the right feed ration. Also, this time year the cooler you can keep her the better her appetite. We feed free choice hay no stop and have a good mineral in our ration. It is going to be tough but not completely impossible. I would make sure she is completely full when you go for weigh in's, water and feed. Both of those will help with final weight. Give her a shot of Probiotics oral if you can to amp up her gut. You can look at some of the appetite stimulants on the market. I have used them with some success. Exercise is also important to maintain condition and appetite. Make sure you get her out and moving. is she being fed with other calves or alone. If you have pen mate which can sometimes make them eat more. Rule is 3% of their body weight is what they should be consuming.

 

[Tallcool1]

Nice heifer!  Cool front, powerful, looks like good hair.

If I were you, I would punt.  Find another show because you aren't going to make it to 1,100 in 2 1/2 months.

 

[creativecattle]

Full disclosure I work for Sure Champ, but I would recommend you adding it to her ration. It will allow her to utilize what you are currently feeding more effectively and stimulate appetite. We several have peer review research studies that show Amaferm (found in Sure Champ) will give you an extra .25 lb a day gain because of the additional efficiency. There are quite a few other people on this board that use Sure Champ, feel free to also ask them their opinions. I agree with OH breeder that it is probably going to be tough to see those kinds of gains, but maybe you can get close.

 

[vc]

She is not getting enough feed, 16 pounds to 770 is just over 2% of her body weight. She should be getting around 23 pounds a day. Most calves have a conversion rate between 7 to 1 and 9 to 1, if your calf is even gaining 6 to 1, she would only be gaining 2.67 pounds a day, up her feed slowly. I would shoot for 25 but do it over a few weeks, up her daily intake a pound every 2 to 4 days, I would also add granulated probios to her feed as you do this along with supplements.
Watch her close and back off if she starts showing signs of overly loose stool or bloat.

 

[RyanChandler]

I find it very discouraging that so few people have been taught to understand feed rations and how to adjust them in order to achieve desired rate of gain.  Ag teachers need to step it up.

'grain' and 'hay' have absolutely no meaning in terms of the nutritional value of the ration that you're feeding.  Is that a 50% TDN high fiber 'grain' mix or is it a 80%TDN high energy textured finisher?  Is that 20%CP heavily fertilized Coastal hay or a 7% native hay?

Even without knowing the energy level of the grain you're feeding -which is most important- I would bet if you're only feeding 17lbs, then close to half of your heifers total ration is hay.  Unless you're trying to hold one over- maintain weight- this should never be the case.  With a calf of any weight, if half of their total consumption is dry hay, then you're going to be hard pressed to get much over a couple lbs per day gain.  If you want a calf to really gain, the TDN% of the TOTAL ration needs to be over 70% with no more than 20% of the total ration coming from hay. 

All the supplements in the world are of very little use until after you've adjusted the energy level of the TOTAL ration to meet your desired gain. 

 

[OH Breeder]

I find it very discouraging that so few people have been taught to understand feed rations and how to adjust them in order to achieve desired rate of gain.  Ag teachers need to step it up.

'grain' and 'hay' have absolutely no meaning in terms of the nutritional value of the ration that you're feeding.  Is that a 50% TDN high fiber 'grain' mix or is it a 80%TDN high energy textured finisher?  Is that 20%CP heavily fertilized Coastal hay or a 7% native hay?

Even without knowing the energy level of the grain you're feeding -which is most important- I would bet if you're only feeding 17lbs, then close to half of your heifers total ration is hay.  Unless you're trying to hold one over- maintain weight- this should never be the case.  With a calf of any weight, if half of their total consumption is dry hay, then you're going to be hard pressed to get much over a couple lbs per day gain.  If you want a calf to really gain, the TDN% of the TOTAL ration needs to be over 70% with no more than 20% of the total ration coming from hay. 

All the supplements in the world are of very little use until after you've adjusted the energy level of the TOTAL ration to meet your desired gain.

Speaking of Ag advisors. The kids in our area weigh their calves through out the year. So you are 2 months prior to your show trying to gain bunch of weight. Also instructing kids on what is growing ration and a fat ration. Adjusting your ration according to where you are in the process of gain and days til show. I always work with my feed mill to adjust rations accordingly. We usually have to hold them and shrink them. f

 

[Tallcool1]

I find it very discouraging that so few people have been taught to understand feed rations and how to adjust them in order to achieve desired rate of gain.  Ag teachers need to step it up.

'grain' and 'hay' have absolutely no meaning in terms of the nutritional value of the ration that you're feeding.  Is that a 50% TDN high fiber 'grain' mix or is it a 80%TDN high energy textured finisher?  Is that 20%CP heavily fertilized Coastal hay or a 7% native hay?

Even without knowing the energy level of the grain you're feeding -which is most important- I would bet if you're only feeding 17lbs, then close to half of your heifers total ration is hay.  Unless you're trying to hold one over- maintain weight- this should never be the case.  With a calf of any weight, if half of their total consumption is dry hay, then you're going to be hard pressed to get much over a couple lbs per day gain.  If you want a calf to really gain, the TDN% of the TOTAL ration needs to be over 70% with no more than 20% of the total ration coming from hay. 

All the supplements in the world are of very little use until after you've adjusted the energy level of the TOTAL ration to meet your desired gain.

Speaking of Ag advisors. The kids in our area weigh their calves through out the year. So you are 2 months prior to your show trying to gain bunch of weight. Also instructing kids on what is growing ration and a fat ration. Adjusting your ration according to where you are in the process of gain and days til show. I always work with my feed mill to adjust rations accordingly. We usually have to hold them and shrink them. f

Holding and shrinking is a sign of knowledge and experience.  We (for the most part) are the same way.  You can always take weight off.

 

[hedgesjp1985]

What is this TDN %

 

[RyanChandler]

Total Digestible Nutrients- It's a measure of the energy value of a feedstuff

 

[GrowerShower32]

I know this feed is old but I'm looking for someone to evaluate our feed ration and tell us what we need to change in it to make it give us more gain in our cattle.

 

[CAB]

I would suggest finding a beef nutritionist from your area that is very familiar with what ingredients are readily available in your area and build a relationship with he or she.