New pictures of 4h calves

[CameronW]

I got the steers heads tied up today and took some better pictures. The first one is a late April Master of Puppets and the second is an early March Unstoppable.

 

[vc]

Are they for 2 different fairs, the Unstoppable looks like he will be a good fat steer, the Master of Puppets looks like he will have a little more eye appeal, he just needs to get on some groceries and do a little growing.

 

[carpediem]

They are gonna be 2 nice steers at fair time. I agree the little one will need to do a bit of growing.

 

[CameronW]

Thank you both. They are both going to my county fair and the bigger one will go to some jackpots as soon as I get him lead broke. The little one does need more time and feed but I think he is gonna be good. He might go to a few jackpots but as it stands right now when you pull on him with the halter to try and lead he just locks up so I will have to break him of that and then he will go to some. One or both will go to state fair to compete in the Best of the Buckeye depending on how they turn out and if I can sell in auction and still take to state. Its going to be a good year.  But on a side note should I be feeding them hay? The big guy starts to bloat whenever he eats. He shovels it down and then he bloats up some. I have been giving some baking soda on his feed since my friend told me to try that and it isn't helping. That friend said the hay would make them bloat as well. I am not sure what to do.

 

[carpediem]

What kind of hay are you feeding? They should get as much hay as they want because it makes there stomach bigger and then in the end they will eat more. If its to rich of hay it may cause them to bloat but it has never happened to are animals before.

 

[CameronW]

Right now all I feed is plain grass hay. Its not the best but it isn't bad or dusty. I am going to be buying some high quality grass hay as soon as I feed all I currently have

 

[carpediem]

That shouldn't make them bloat maybe its your feed.

 

[CameronW]

I am currently feeding Kalmbach 1/3 1/3 1/3 feed. Thats what the feed rep put them on until they are 600 pounds but I am going to change it to a higher protein feed as soon as I can to push them some.

 

[Davidsonranch]

So what does the tag say?  Protein, Fat, fiber %?  And how much (pounds) are you feeding?  I will say this over and over again.  I am a FIRM believer in Diamond V yeast products or a comparable brand.  A bag goes a long way and since we have been using it, I have never had a calf bloat and never had one go off feed.  I have to either drive 300+ miles to get it or pay ridiculous shipping prices to get it here, but it's worth it.

 

[CameronW]

It's 11% protein, 10% fiber, and 3.5% fat. The pair is cleaning up around 20 pounds a day. Do you have a websire where I could look up the Diamond V yeast products?

 

[vc]

Do you feed them twice a day or once? You may need to feed them separate as the larger calf may be wolfing down more that his share. What do you think the calves weigh?

 

[CameronW]

I feed them once a day right now. I will switch to twice a day in a few weeks. I fed them seperate today and in the 30 minutes I left feed in front of them the little one ate around 5 pounds and the big one ate like 8. But then I put the rest of the feed in the bunk and the bigger went right to eating. The little one doesnt go after food as vigorously. He is more cautious to find out what is infront of him and then he starts to eat. I am thinking about tying them at opposite ends of the bunk so they think they are in competition for the food but i can moniter what they eat more closely. I am not the best with weight guessing but I would say 350-400 for the little one and 500-550 foor the big one.

 

[vc]

I think your big steer is eating most of the feed and it sounds like he does it in a hurry. I would feed twice a day try and get the the little one to eat about 6 and 6 and the big one 8 and 8 to start, I would also make sure they have plenty of hay at all times. If you are feeding 20 pounds at once the big steer could be eating 15 pounds all at once while the little one may only be getting 5 a day. Could be why the bigger one bloats.

 

[CameronW]

I can try to feed twice a day but with them in the same pen I won't be able to start feeding until like 3 in the afternoon with school starting. But this weekend I plan to work on getting them into seperate pens so I can just feed before I have to leave. Since it took such a long time for them to start eating today and the little one is just a slow eater I can't feed them before I have to leave. I will try tying them seperate and feeding them seperate after school tomorrow.

 

[Top Knot]

In my opinion, I'd be feeding more protein. I'd want to be 13-15% for the ration. If you're feeding grass hay (which will not cause them to bloat) instead of alfalfa, you're most likely not even at 11% right now. I'd definitely go to twice a day feeding. Smaller meals will help with the bloat and stimulate appetite. Consistency of the ration, amount fed, and time of feeding is important. Your calves look like they have potential.

 

[CameronW]

Top Knot I had originally planned on feeding something with that protein level but I just ended up feeding what the feed rep said to feed. I am going to change to a higher protein as soon as I can.