Maximising weight gain

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Annieboon

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 2, 2015
Messages
53
Hi all

i have a 250kgs poll Hereford steer he was December drop, I am hoping to take him to a hoof and hook show In September, the min weight is 360kgs their is 83 days to the show,he is going on feed tommorow so by the end of the month I should have a good idea about his daily weight gain. what would you recommend me doing to maximise his weight gain? I feed barley,lupins corn mix, with chaff as a finishing ration, also I am planning to start weaning him in the next 2 weeks, I have left it really late this year but with complications with the Cow had to do it late. Ps it is winter here so his feed will be in a shelter.
 

Mark H

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Messages
645
What kind of condition is this steer in?  If he is thin you have a much better chance of hitting your minimum 1.33 kg per day weight gain requirement.  If he is already fat tthen it becomes hard to get him to sustain gains near that level.  The main thing is to keep his feed intake up with out stalling him out,  Is the chaff the only source of roughage?  I generally lke to give them some long  high quality hay to keep their digestive system going.  What is the compostion of your ration from the feed testing lab?
If you  use a growth implant youcan increase your gain over a shout feeding period by around 16Kgs. and your feed conversion by around 10%.
 

Annieboon

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 2, 2015
Messages
53
Hi
He is still on mum, fairly good condition, but no where near fat. No he will be getting a bale of hay free choice until he hide in the finishing ration, then I will hand feed him a bit if hay, also getting probiotics. - what is a growth implant I don't think we have them in Australia. Our feed tested pretty good, can't tell u what the figures are off the top of my head but was around 13% protien but I feed extra corn not included in the ration test.

Thanks heaps for your help!!!
 

Mark H

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Messages
645
Ralgro is a chemical called Zeranol it is a mycotoxin that functions as a estrogen agonist.  It works by simulating the adrenal gland to produce the hormones that produce the growth affect.  After looking at the show rules I would not use Ralgro with out asking them first.  Given the rules I would likely say they won't allow the use of the product.
 
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