My Daughter's Fair Steer

This is my daughter's steer for this year's fair. Our fair is the second week of October. What do we need to do between now and then to finish him? He is currently eating a 12% all stock ration. 24 pounds a day. We will seitch to Sunglo Finisher this Saturday after our first weigh in. Any suggestions?

Just from the pics it looks like he is in the 850-950 lb range. Just my guess.  I'm not sure if your fair is a hair show or not, but considering you have a black steer my guess is it's a hair show.  At this point I would focus on getting him soft and putting cover on his ribs (fat).  Achieving that while maintaining/adding bloom is critical. Not sure of your budget, but consider a product that will give you results in a short period of time for finishing.  Considering you are switching to a finisher, if you are convinced and confident it will get the job done for you based on where you are now and your desired endpoint. Go for it.  Trying to add more lean muscle at this point is the least of your concerns. I would stick with your current 12% ration and not switch and add to it for finishing him out. You know he eats your current ration. Will he eat the finishing ration consistently....?  You stand to have more control of his conditioning by adding to his current ration. If you can afford wheat germ or soybean oil or Honor Show Chow Power Fuel then you can't go wrong. They work quickly and are proven. Corn works but he will have to consume more and is not good for promoting hair growth. Powerfuel helps with bloom also because it promotes hair growth.  Couple either of the oils with Calf Manna or Sure Champ, stand back and let him go.  Just my opinion. Keep it basic and trust your decision, whatever you decide.  It's not rocket science! Good Luck!

I would put him on Stabilized Rice Bran (work up to 2 pounds a day), If switching feed do it slowly, 3/4 current feed 1/4 finisher for a few days then up it a pound every few days, if he goes off feed or slows down back up and for a few days then start again. He needs to soften up as well as finish the SRB will help with that and keep them looking fresh. I would also like to see a little more volume (guts) to him, you might try free choice hay or add a little filler to his feed if he'll eat all his grain plus the filler.

Last weight he was 970. This is a hair show. He was hairy when we bought him back in August. We shaved him to keep him cool and his hair has not grown back. I am not set on switching to a finisher. We are fairly new to steers and we were told to switch to a finisher at 120 days from the fair. This is only our 3rd year doing a steer. First year we lucked out with good genetics and had Grand Champion. Last year ended up with a crazy, picky steer that would only eat the Sunglo feed. This year's steer seems to have a much better personality and has been a consistent eater. He is not picky about his feed. He is on a grass pasture at night and feed free choice hay in his stall during the day. I can add the Power Fuel. As far as fillers go we can get cotton seed meal or beet pulp. We will do whatever is best to get the cover on him he needs.

You need to switch him to a finisher ASAP or add flaked corn to his current ration. 

Nice job on Grand Champion first time out!  It's hard to comment on you should do this or you should do that but as poster I can only tell you what works for us. Will Rogers has a quote that All good judgment comes from experience and lot of that comes from bad judgment.  I think when you've done a few years like yourself and have gone through the trial and error, you probably know what to do but too many people give you what you ask for and that's an opinion.  Get a plan, stick with it and don't look back.

We start em off with a finisher plus steamrolled corn right away with supplements like Final Cover to put fat on asap from day one keeping them eating 2% of their weight.  I want them to grow wide and not up.  Corn burns the hair off so if you have a hair show, then he might need something else but you probably don't want to clip the hair all the way off. Just use fans and a water misting system to keep them cool.  Add some Power Fuel and beet pulp, Full Tank or Depth Charge to give him some bloom and add some brewers yeast to keep the rumin healthy.

Hope it works out

Chuck