Now what?

[Diamond G]

OK, we've picked out my son's steer and he will be cut out of the herd thursday. At first he will be kept in a small pen until he's halter broke then he will be on a nice 1 acre pasture with lots of grass (here in Florida we usually have good grass until november) Initial tag in/weigh in is i think sept 29th and the fair weigh in march 8th. He must weigh a minimum of 975 by the fair and they recommend a .3-.5  outside fat cover (we think hes currently in the 550lb range - will know thursday when we put him on the scales)

Here are my questions

#1 How do we start a grass fed steer on grain?
#2 How much?
#3 any supplements? when? how much?

The feed used here on the farm is a basic stock pellet. the replacement heifers and bulls get fed this during the winter while the cows just get grass hay.

We've raised a steer for freezer beef before but never for show

Any other advice for success in the show ring? This is his senior year, he has showed heifers the last 2 years so this is his last and only chance to do a steer

 

[lightnin4]

Anytime you change feeds you want to do it slowly (whether its grass to grain or one type of grain to another).  Start with small amounts and work up to full feed.  If he has never eaten grain before it might help to have another calf that's used to eating grain in the pen with him for a few days.  Any supplements need to be added in small amounts at first and then worked up to the recommended amount.  Vita Ferm Sure Champ is a great general vitamin/mineral supplement to add to feed.  It has something (Amaferm) in it to help keep his digestive system in good working order too.  Good Luck!

 

[KSanburg]

What works for us may not necessarily work for you but here is our program, take it for what it is worth. I understand that the grass is cheap and you would like to keep your feed input as low as you can, that being said you need to feed and push him as much as you can with a concentrate. So start him slow maybe 6 pounds a day 3 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. We do not utilize green grass with our calves so I don't know how it will work for you, we do use grass hay and have found that the more hay that is available to them the better the eat the grain keep slowly working them up to where they are consuming around 3 pound of your grain to 100 pound of body weight. Weight them regularly so you know what rate you need to feed them. I like to start with a higher protein feed with a little less fat content until they reach 1000 pounds then I start switching over to a finshing rations with a protein content between 12% and 13% and fat content around 5%. Vita ferm is an excellent supplement to feed. If you don't have a bagged feed that you normally use look up AAOK's receipt on here and mix it your self or have your local feed mill mix it. It is the least expensive feed I have seen and you get great results.

Good luck and have fun with your project.