Opinions on my new Mercedes Benz steer

[simba]

This is a steer I recently bought. He is very green; he was just weened, moved to my place and started on grain last week. I halterbroke him on Saturday and washed and clipped him for the first time this afternoon. He is extremely quiet and I'm hoping to have a good year with him. Being that this is my first club calf, I am loving all the hair to work with! I'm looking for any opinions on my steer and how advice as to how I can improve him for future shows (feeding and fitting).  Please keep in mind that I live in Canada and many popular show feeds (ie Purina, cotton seed hulls) are not available here. Thanks in advance!

 

[Freddy]

GOT A VERY GOOD START FOR YOUR PROJECT,LIKE HIM A LOT ...

 

[simba]

Thanks Freddy! Does anyone else have comments or advice?

 

[simba]

Updated picture of him taken today.

 

[steepnweedyacres]

Updated picture of him taken today.

other then being short necked that is a really nice steer keep up the good work

 

[Ohio1]

I don't think that he has too short of a neck. My concern is how much power does he have?

 

[Quick fire]

I don't think that he has too short of a neck. My concern is how much power does he have?

X 2

 

[simba]

I don't think that he has too short of a neck. My concern is how much power does he have?

If I could change him, the first thing I would do is add more muscle expression and overall power.  I'm hoping that I won't get very much homework in my upcoming semester in school so that I have time to exercise him daily. Any other ideas on how to increase muscle? He's eating oats, beet pulp and canola meal right now as well as grass hay and I'm going to be introducing barley pretty soon. Anything I could add to his feed to help with the issue?  My end show is June 3 and if he is looking good enough I'm going to take him to the Calgary Stampede in mid July. Thanks in advance!

 

[grandchamp58]

give him plenty of adequate exercise. also i would feed him a 14% protein mix it will put on a bit of muscle.

 

[dimebag]

Very nice calf !!

 

[worthabit]

steer looks great. here is a three week old Benz calf.

 

[zak]

If he was just weaned you probably won't recognize him 100 pounds from now. you have a real nice steer there.

 

[mccannfarms]

Give him a month on a 14% protein feed and I bet you won't recognize him. He seems to be a good steer with a lot of potential.

 

[simba]

Thank you for all of your comments and advice! I will be sure to add more protein to his ration asap!

steer looks great. here is a three week old Benz calf.

Thanks for the picture, your calf looks to have a ton of potential, not to mention all that wool! Keep us updated on how he grows.

 

[simba]

Just thought I'd post an updated picture from today (25/05/2013). He weighed 1055. I wish he could have put on more weight, but he just doesn't eat well at all.

 

[tcf]

Hi Larissa,

Please list what you are feeding him now. If he is not on a Finishing ration a minimum of 120 days out that is a major issue. Finishing rations in Canada are typically 60-80% barley with corn, oats, internal pellets, beet pulp and molasses making the balance.

Kaityns steer is a march born troubadour, he shows in a month. He is on 80% barley ration, oats and supp pellet that we mix and I balanced. He is 1280 and we are pushing for 1350 for early July. Another possibility would have been ShowRite Full Throttle.

Lots of the time power in a steer can also come back to feeding and how finished he is. Powerful calves will never be powerful fat cattle without the feed.

Kurtis

 

[simba]

Hey Kurtis,

Him and another steer are being fed together. They receive the following ration twice a day:

2.5 gallons barley
4 cups beet pulp
2 cups canola oil
2 cups canola meal
2 cups 32% medicated protein pellets
1 cup milk replacer

And a few slabs of hay.

I can't get them to eat anymore, especially my steer, he has very little interest in eating grain. Increasing his beet pulp and hay has helped him belly down in the last few weeks, even though I knew that it might slow down his daily gain a bit. The canola oil put finish on him quite quickly, I wish I would have started earlier though. I think the milk replacer added a bit of bloom. Every time I increase his barley, he goes off feed. The other steer he's fed with has been growing and gaining quite well, but this guy just won't grow.

I've never had this much trouble trying to make a steer grow and gain weight, but our last show is in a week, so I'm just going to keep things the same until then.

Any suggestions as to what I should have done differently?

Larissa