Weight gain in show steers

[Jay16]

Hi!

I live in California and have a sim/angus steer that is currently 760 pounds. I need him to be at least 1100 pounds by July 15, and his weight gain has started slowing down because of the heat. He’s consistently gaining over 2 pounds a day, but I need him doing at least 3.5 a day. I’m currently feeding 15 pounds of the Showtime steer/heifer developer feed per day, and he has an entire round bail of forage hay in his pen that he eats freely. I have a basic mineral block in there as well and clean his water once a week.

I’ve heard that feeding alfalfa or stabilized rice bran can help with weight gain, but would just that be enough to double his average daily gain?

Any suggestions on what I could do to help with this would be great!

 

[vc]

What is the nutritional value of the feed, how much fat, protean? You will probably need to push him up to 3 percent of his body weight but do it slowly. Alfalfa is to hot, you add that with the grain he will get loose on you, I would start him on 1 pound of Stabilized Rice Bran as well. Do you have a picture of him? You need 4 pounds a day to hit 1100 in 85 days. Was the steer empty or full when you weighed Him (how long since he ate or drank before he was weighed?)

 

[Jay16]

My feed is 14% protein and 4.6% fat. The person I bought my steer from has always fed his alfalfa on top of grain and they have seemed fine, so I kind of figured that would work out. This is completely new territory for me as every steer I have shown has been within 100 pounds of the maximum weight, so I only have experience holding cattle for weight instead of pushing them. I weigh my steer Sunday mornings before I feed, but there’s no guarantee on how much hay he would’ve eaten or water he would’ve drank, but I weight him as empty as I can. I do it early enough that it’s before it gets warm and he would really want to drink anything though.

What is the nutritional value of the feed, how much fat, protean? You will probably need to push him up to 3 percent of his body weight but do it slowly. Alfalfa is to hot, you add that with the grain he will get loose on you, I would start him on 1 pound of Stabilized Rice Bran as well. Do you have a picture of him? You need 4 pounds a day to hit 1100 in 85 days. Was the steer empty or full when you weighed Him (how long since he ate or drank before he was weighed?)

 

[vc]

Hopefully he was fairly empty, you can pick up an easy 50 to 70 pounds if he was, I have seen it mentioned on this site in the past to feed him 3 times a day to help them gain, if that is possible for you you might try it, if you can start at 5 pounds a feeding upping it a half a pound a feeding every few days until you get to 21 pounds total, or 7 pounds a feeding along with the rice bran. If you can average 3.5 a day on him plus the 50-60 pounds with him full you should get there no problem.

 

[Jay16]

Hopefully he was fairly empty, you can pick up an easy 50 to 70 pounds if he was, I have seen it mentioned on this site in the past to feed him 3 times a day to help them gain, if that is possible for you you might try it, if you can start at 5 pounds a feeding upping it a half a pound a feeding every few days until you get to 21 pounds total, or 7 pounds a feeding along with the rice bran. If you can average 3.5 a day on him plus the 50-60 pounds with him full you should get there no problem.

Thank you!

 

[looking4champions]

(1100#-760# ÷ 75 days = 4.5 lbs day

(Based on 30 days in May and June + 15 days in July).

You will be hard pressed to get any steer to covert any feed + supplement + implant combination and get that high rate of gain. Especially not using a supplement that will help you in such a short period of time and not impact his soundness or his gut health.

That's just my opinion. Good luck to you.

 

[vc]

(1100#-760# ÷ 75 days = 4.5 lbs day

(Based on 30 days in May and June + 15 days in July).

You will be hard pressed to get any steer to covert any feed + supplement + implant combination and get that high rate of gain. Especially not using a supplement that will help you in such a short period of time and not impact his soundness or his gut health.

That's just my opinion. Good luck to you.

The post was started on the 13 of April which gave them 93 days so they need 3.6 a day, not easy but not out of reach. If he was empty when he was weighed that is an easy 60 more pounds so they need 3.1 ADG to get close. We have a HGTA gaining 4 a day right now and he is not being pushed at all. He would be converting right at 6/1 but again he is at the weight 1200+ so he will be slowing down soon and start putting fat on.

 

[looking4champions]

You're spot on with math! Share some tips on how to manage one and get that 4 lb per day gain rate regardless of geographical location and genetics.

 

[vc]

I really think it a combination of him being on his last growth spurt, he is a real laid back calf, and he likes his environment. The young lady raising him, has him at her fathers dairy, he gets about 20 pounds of finishing touch, 2 pounds of rice bran, and a few pounds of TMR, plus hay a day, He lays around all day with his steer buddy in the pen next to him. Also we have had Cool weather, little to no rain, it all helps. He gained 3.4 pounds over 36 days and he was gaining 4 pounds a day the last 18 days of that.
As far as what I have learned in the past for getting calves to gain well, it is consistency, and that goes for everything, from feeding times, working with them, rinsing and hair care, and their feed. if they are in a routine they do better, if you feed different times each day work them at different times or do something different to their routine they do not do as well. Feed is another thing, it needs to be the same, smaller mills seem to change on you some times or do not get the mix exactly the same, if the feed looks, smells or feels different it seems to effect them. I have had to take a pallet back because the fat in it was bad the feed smelled like death, I have had feed with little to no molasses and then feed that was dripping with it, needs to be the same every time for the best results.