steer trouble

We have a march Tiger Woods steer just weighed him this morning and he weighed 850. Our county fair is the end of July and I'm worried he's not going to be big enough. Some days he eats fine other days he hardly eats anything. We have him on Sullivans appetite express and have had him on it since we got him the beginning of January. Our heifer is the same age and she inhales her feed and is looking for more. We feed them in different pens but still next to each other and that doesnt seem to make a difference. He has been wormed recently also. He is currently on a custom ration we have mixed at the local mill which consists of corn,oats,white salt,protein supplement, cotton seed hulls,molasses, glucoat, and depth charge form purina. We are feeding him about 16lbs a day of this and he has been on this ration since we got him. Any suggestions ,advice, etc ?

drop the depth charge,,I've had problems with that decreasing appetite on some

Thanks HF never thought that could be the issue. I have been having the mill just mix that into the feed so next time I will just buy it by the bag and top dress the heifers feed .

try sure champ it keep them eating

He should make it, how many pounds per day?

We had a TW steer last year.  He weighed less at our weigh in and our fair is the same time.  His appetite was similar, not real aggressive.  He made it just fine.  I am by no means a professional, but just make sure he is getting enough roughage, but not too much, and try and keep him on whatever amount of feed he will consistently clean up.  I wouldn't throw everything in the book at him as sometimes I think this does more harm than good.  Keep it as simple as possible and as consistant as possible.  Feed as close to 12 hours apart as you can every single day.  It has also been our experience if they don't have a good clean water source they will go off of feed.  I know you probably already know this stuff it just never hurts to remind ourselves.  On the days that he doesn't eat look at everything that is going on.  Did he eat his hay from the night before?  Has he drank as much water as he usually does?  Is his feed pan clean and free of manure, fines, etc.?  Has the weather changed?  Did I feed him at the same time today as I did yesterday?  Did I mix his feed exactly the same as I did yesterday?  Some of them are just that sensitive.  Another thing we have found is some type of a lick tub whether it is a stress tub or something similar to lick on throughout the day tends to stimulate their appetite.  Good luck and don't panic just look at all the variables. 

Right now about 16 lbs per day . At a 6:1 ratio he should be gaining almost 3lbs per day but he isn't eating all his feed every day.

Thanks Willow. He gets the exact same every day mixed the same way fed in the same pan etc. as far as he gets a couple flakes of good grass hay after he is fed in the morning and then when we turn him out at night there is a round bale for him and our heifer to eat on . It's also good grass hay same as the other hay he gets on in a round bale.

paj315 said:

Thanks Willow. He gets the exact same every day mixed the same way fed in the same pan etc. as far as he gets a couple flakes of good grass hay after he is fed in the morning and then when we turn him out at night there is a round bale for him and our heifer to eat on . It's also good grass hay same as the other hay he gets on in a round bale.

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Well sounds pretty good.  Hopefully he is not over eating at night, but you would probably have picked up on that connection by now...?  If he were overeating at night I imagine he would have less of an appetite in the morning.  We have a market heifer right now that is really, really picky and the smallest thing can take her off of feed.  It does make you crazy I know that for sure!

My steer this year is very similar. He doesnt like eating and Im trying to get him to a late July fair. For a while he wasnt gaining, but now hes doing good. Hes about 100 heavier then your steer though. I feed him 12 lbs of Purina show feed, 3 lbs beet pulp with molasses (which he loves), Sure Champ, Calf Manna, Appetite Express, and liquid molasses(for the sweetness). This combo is now working really well for me, he is gaining really well now. 850 lbs is fine right now. The best thing to do is to figure out his ADG and calculate how many pounds he needs before fair. It sounds like hes gaining well though.

paj315 said:

Thanks Willow. He gets the exact same every day mixed the same way fed in the same pan etc. as far as he gets a couple flakes of good grass hay after he is fed in the morning and then when we turn him out at night there is a round bale for him and our heifer to eat on . It's also good grass hay same as the other hay he gets on in a round bale.

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Two questions for you.  Why do you add salt to your concentrate?  And why do you allow the cattle to be on full feed hay at night?

That's the ration our mill came up with. In fact both of the local mills here put salt into their rations. However we are only talking 2.5 lbs per 500 lbs of feed. As far as hay I feel it helps keep their guts filled out . He was on the same ration when we got him at the beginning of January and also allowed all the grass hay he wanted at night. So nothing has changed in his feed ration or hay since we got him he just doesn't seem to have a big appetite. Our heifer on the other hand will eat anything and everything you put in front of her