County Fair Steer???

[murraygreygirl0205]

This is Bruno. He is a Murray Grey and weighs about 730 pounds. I am using him for the fair this year and was wondering what anyone thought of him. The fair aint until August but any comments would be appreciated thanks 

 

[OH Breeder]

This is Bruno. He is a Murray Grey and weighs about 730 pounds. I am using him for the fair this year and was wondering what anyone thought of him. The fair aint until August but any comments would be appreciated thanks

I think you will get along just fine. Only thing....Murray's can very difficult hair to work with. It may not matter at your county. They usually feed easy and mature earlier. Most I have seen are docile overrall. We have/had a murray grey breeder in our county for several years. Feed, brush, rinse and blow. He will fill out.

 

[Barry Farms]

Does your county 4H or FFA do a Rate Of Gain competition? If so you will want to feed him mostly hay until he your weigh in date. If you're feeding him allot of hay instead of grain then he will be very green and his growth rate will explode once you put him on full feed.

 

[murraygreygirl0205]

"Does your county 4H or FFA do a Rate Of Gain competition? If so you will want to feed him mostly hay until he your weigh in date. If you're feeding him allot of hay instead of grain then he will be very green and his growth rate will explode once you put him on full feed"

They do. And thank you so much! Ill have to try that, ive only shown heifers and cows before so im new to this steer stuff. But i will definitely try it.

 

[murraygreygirl0205]

"I think you will get along just fine. Only thing....Murray's can very difficult hair to work with. It may not matter at your county. They usually feed easy and mature earlier. Most I have seen are docile overrall. We have/had a murray grey breeder in our county for several years. Feed, brush, rinse and blow. He will fill out."

How did they do at shows? We just moved two months ago and we've to the cattlemen and they've all said that they've never seen a Murray Grey up here. His hair is going to be a problem, but i have a heifer that ive shown at the state fair and her hair is about 4 1/2" long on her body. But, thanks. Im new with steers and im trying to out everything still.

 

[vc]

When is your first weigh in, if it is not soon I would be careful holding him off of grain for to long, you can start feeding him grain just shrink him down the day prior to your first weigh in, and make sure you weigh him full at the final, can be an easy 60 to 100 pound swing.

By shrink I mean limit his water and feed the day prior to weigh in. each gallon of water is 8 pounds, calves can drink anywhere from 5 to 10 gallons at a time.

If you decide to go this rout PM me prior to your weigh in, there are some ways to shrink them with out slowing them.

 

[Diamond]

I have raised grays for about 18 years. great breed, only thing is you have to be vary watchful feeding them. I'm raising a few of our own gray steers along with my clubby steers and I have had to put them on about 5# grain a day versus the 16# my clubby and Simmental steers are getting,  they are just gaining too fast. They are super feed converters so be watchful on him that you don't finish him to early and he looks wasteful come show time. Grays can have hair if you work with it, just like any breed some are better then others. They can be vary competitive, my five month old female went supreme female and prospect champion at our state fair last year. I also use them for my first calf cows regardless of breed, super easy calving, and great structure. Great beef quality, maternal, and vary docile. The draw back on the breed is they aren't monster boned, and like I said you have to keep an eye on them when feeding grain, they get fat quick.

 

[murraygreygirl0205]

I have raised grays for about 18 years. great breed, only thing is you have to be vary watchful feeding them. I'm raising a few of our own gray steers along with my clubby steers and I have had to put them on about 5# grain a day versus the 16# my clubby and Simmental steers are getting,  they are just gaining too fast. They are super feed converters so be watchful on him that you don't finish him to early and he looks wasteful come show time. Grays can have hair if you work with it, just like any breed some are better then others. They can be vary competitive, my five month old female went supreme female and prospect champion at our state fair last year. I also use them for my first calf cows regardless of breed, super easy calving, and great structure. Great beef quality, maternal, and vary docile. The draw back on the breed is they aren't monster boned, and like I said you have to keep an eye on them when feeding grain, they get fat quick.

We've only had Greys for about a year, we never have had any other beef breed, only Jerseys and Texas longhorns. So, I'm still new by all means. Thank you so much for that advice. I would have never thought that there would be that much of a difference. I guess now the good news is that I wont have to spend as much on show feed. haha.