my steer needs to gain weight!

I have a shorthorn plus steer that needs to gain weight. I've heard that shorthorns do not put on weight very well. He is around 600 lbs and needs to gain at least another 650-700 lbs before our county show. What type of feed ration would help him gain weight the fastest?

When is the county show?

When is the show?  It's a marathon, not a 100 dash so it just takes time.  If he weighs 600 lbs and you feed him 2pct of body weight, that is 12 lbs a day.  He should gain 2lbs a day on a finisher but it all depends on your steer and what he looks like now.  Weigh him regularly and a good goal is 100 lbs a month.  If your show is 6months from now you are in good shape.  If he's not eating, that is a diff story.  Keep his rumen healthy.  Sure champ is good with feeding or just add brewers yeast as a supplement and also make sure he's eating hay along with the grain.  Give him 15 cc probios for three days in a row, that usually gets them going.  Add a Fat supplement like rice bran or any there's a purina product that adds fat. We have use final cover with success as well as stand alone.

Well to start whoever told you shortys don't gain may be a little breed biased to a different color of hide. If you have a late July early August show you should have no problem hitting that mark. You have approx 215 days to feed that's only 3lbs a day I would say switch him over to a finishing ration and push him hard now, as he will slow down when it gets hot. I would try to get the most growth now while it's cold out. Talk to nutritionist they can help you put a plan together. We really need to know what your feeding now along with how much. To help you in the right direction. Where do you live?

I live in Indiana.We have about 210 days. Hes getting approximately 20 lbs a day and its a half grain/half sweet show feed mix.. Some people have told me that i should add a filler, and others have said I should keep the ration I have if he eats it okay.

I would get in touch with a nutritionist. We can't really make recommendations based on

mn55 said:

its a half grain/half sweet show feed mix.

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Search aaok feed ration on here. It's a good simple feed mix that can be tailored easily to your needs. I am a firm believer in free choice hay also, it's needed to keep their rumen working properly. We feed a custom mix, I mix on farm that we have had good luck with I can post that if your interested.

I get the biggest kick out of the talk to a nutritionist deal.  Every calf is different, period.

Is the calf eating all his feed?  Are the droppings firm or runny?  2 percent is a bit on the light side,  most will push the 3 percent range.  Add a little feed and watch the droppings,  if they don't loosen up, add some more feed,  and watch how his appetite goes.  Cattle guts work more efficient on full capacity rather than 1/2 full.  If you are in a bind, feed 3 times a day,  and one other thing,  skip a feeding once a week,  an empty belly will make a calf think about lolly gagging at the feed bunk,  when you start back, don't go full blast, maybe 80 percent and work up to 100 percent in say 4 feedings.

cowman 52 said:

I get the biggest kick out of the talk to a nutritionist deal.

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Why do u get a kick? Sounds like he may need to get a base ration to work from and tailor to each calf. If they are new to feeding one any help that they can get is needed. All the nutritionists I've ever talk to will come out look at the calves and help put a ration together for free so there is no cost for that? Knowledge is power.

Great recommendations Cowman.    You are right, all steers are different and 3lbs a day is a good target but I don't understand how a 600 lb steer is eating 20lbs a day and not gaining weight!

You really need to know the weight at a given time.  We weigh ours every two weeks so we can calculate the daily gain.  I can project out on a spreadsheet my target weight and adjust ration. As we get closer to show, I will weigh weekly.  I also cut back the finisher and add extra steamrolled corn

He's cleaning up most of his feed, leaving about a handful in the pan, but it takes him hours to finish it. I've calculated how much he needs to gain to reach my desired weight and its AT LEAST 3 lbs. He's eating perfectly fine now for the most part. He needs to gain 3 lbs a day everyday for the next 200 days. What I'm worried about is the fact that most steers don't put on as much weight in the summer as they do in the winter. I'd like to get him above 3 lbs a day if possible. Also he has free choice hay, and his stool is a bit on the runny side. (His exact weight is 586)

Start from the beginning, have you wormed him? is he penned with other calves or by himself? When you say grain and sweet show feed mix what exactly is that. How much protein to fat is in the feed, is it a Starter, grower developer or finisher? He is eating more than 3% of his body weight at this time, so appetite is not the problem.

At his weight this is what I would do, make sure the feed he is getting is what he needs at this stage,  I would make sure I fed at the same time each day, 6am and 6 pm or close to that (you need to set a schedule and stick to it, calves tend to do better when they or on a strict feed schedule, less stress if they know they are going to eat at a certain time every day). He needs hay, quality grass hay along with his feed to keep his digestion system on track, Feed the grain first and once he cleans it up feed the hay.I would drop him down to 18 pounds (9 morning and 9 at night) and see if he does not clean it up more efficiently.

Every calf is different, managing their feed and staying on top of them is the difference in finishing a calf at the right time or playing catch up throughout your project, He needs a feed to get him to grow right now, and filler is not going to help you right now, a balanced developer to maximise growth and weight gain is what I would be feeding him a complete feed with a protein level around 12.5-14.2 and fat around 2.9-3.5, many of the pre mixed show feeds should meet those needs. I like to find a brand that has feed for the different stages of growth, changing them over is easier and the feed is usually similar in type and texture.

Do not panic yet you have time, your goal is a 3 pound average, I have had calves gain 2.5 for a while and then hit a growth spurt and average 4.5 for the next month or so.

I agree with the above comment about breed bias. It all depends on the genetics. I had a purebred SH steer a couple years ago that was born July 12, weighed 600lb at weigh-in February 1st, then 183 days later at our county fair weighed 1290. I worked him up to almost 25lbs/day of Ag partners Beef Show Grower and later their Finisher (generic brand of Purina Honor Show Chow). He was splitting a full bag of grower plus 4lbs/day of Depth Charge with a baldy steer that weighed 900 at Feb weigh-in and the baldy ended up at 1350. They were fed from the same pan, so don't worry too much about his rate of gain just because he is part shorthorn.

You talk to a nutritionist because NONE of the complete feeds you buy tell you the energy level. Energy is what you need to know to raise a steer. Growers and Finisher diets should be in increasing energies. Growers are lower energy (~55mcal) to do just that... grow the animals frame so that they can add the mass later and finish efficiently. Then you step them up to a first phase finisher (~58mcal) to transition their body to adding more muscle development and begin fat deposition. Then about 120 days prior to your show push them up to the final finisher (~62mcal). This will put the final fat cover on them that you wish to see. If you are running a 62mcal now, you may burn their gut up and stunt their growth. Neither fat content nor protein content will tell you anything about your diets. The timing in which you switch to these diets is dependent on the animal.

Yes he has been wormed. No he is not penned up with any other cattle. The show feed we use is 12% protein and 2.5% fat content. The grain is our own mixture and is around 10% protein. The show feed we use is a grower. We have mixed extra cottonseed hulls into the mix, but he does not eat as well when we mix them in.

The reason I'm  wanting to get his weight up quickly is because we have a few shows to get ready for in the next few months, but the county show is the most important.

When you start mixing different types of feed you change it's nutritional value, most show feeds will be formulated to meet the calves needs at each stage of development. This is why I like to pick a brand and stick with it through out the project, switching types of feed as the calf hits each stage of development.

Alright thank you!

You never described the droppings.  If he is full on 20 lbs of feed and cotton seed hulls don't really agree with him,  I'm thinking the palatability of your feed mix is lacking.  I'm gonna bet the droppings are a bit firm,  maybe even leaning toward tight.  Palatability can be helped by a little protien, a coarser feed,  adding a little wheat bran, even some corn oil.  The feed may be so fine that he  is tending to feel full, and the digestive system is just moving too slow.  I'm not much on the feed additive of the week club but will suggest a dose Of red cell. Have used it for years, it will make one want to eat.

Cowman he stated it was a little runny.