Need some advice.......

[russfarm]

We just brought our son's steer in from being out in the pasture for 2mths (in an attempt to help him lose some much needed weight). We spent almost 3 hrs on  him trying to get the crap clumps out of him and get him cleaned up.  I was really dreading it and it was just as awful as I had anticipated it being.  I  soaked him down with nothing but water for more than 45 minutes, then just started slowly but surely raking that crud off piece by piece.  Then he got a nice soapy bath followed by conditioner and a blow dry  O0
His hair was faded from the sun, but he still had tons of good hair left.  You would think that taking him off grain, turning him out to run with the cows and getting nothing but hay that he would have lost SOME weight.  Well, he gained 15 lbs  .  No turning back now....  do we just  fill him out and hope for the best ?
Do any of you have any advice or tips we could use to make a too heavy steer look better?  Our fair is the end of July/ first part of August.
He's 1350 right now  .  We realize he's not going to win anything being this big but he's a really nice steer and we just want to make him look the best he can.  We always appreciate any and all advice we can get!
I'll try to attach a pic of him taken in March.  Forgive me if it's too big.  I don't know how to resize.

 

[AAOK]

I think you could show him July/August in good condition at about 1325.  I would put him in the barn, tied or in a small area in the dark, under fans and misters. (Brush every square inch of him at least twice daily) Turn him out into a large area (without grass) after dark.  Get a good show feed and give him 5 pounds, twice daily.  The last three weeks, feed him all the Beet Pulp he will eat.  Weigh him often.  You may need to increase his feed.

 

[russfarm]

If he's 1350 now, you think I can hold him at 1325?  Just wanted to be sure I read that right.
He's in our show barn now under fans, but not really in the dark.  We had planned on getting our cooler done this year, but doesn't look like that is going to happen now.  We're rinsing 3x a day.
What kind of feed do you recommend?  I always like to hear what others feed their fair steers.
Will definately use the Beet Pulp, thx.

Another question....will the hair thats faded to red turn black again, or should we just plan on using hair dye before show day?  I can't handle seeing all that faded hair; looks bad.  It's not dried out like I thought  it would be, just red.

 

[HAB]

I have had good luck "holding " animals with wood pulp/saw dust.  They eat it, and they get nothing out of it.  I tried the long stem grass hay and dry beet pulp, and my steers continued to gain 3 lbs a day.

 

[farmboy]

Hold him back and then at the weigh in, suck him back a hundred pounds. If you want, I can send you a rundown of what we did with a 1550 lb calf (a week before weigh in) and we sucked him down to 1430 and filled him back up with no problems and we won the class

 

[AAOK]

If he's 1350 now, you think I can hold him at 1325?  Just wanted to be sure I read that right.
He's in our show barn now under fans, but not really in the dark.  We had planned on getting our cooler done this year, but doesn't look like that is going to happen now.  We're rinsing 3x a day.
What kind of feed do you recommend?  I always like to hear what others feed their fair steers.
Will definately use the Beet Pulp, thx.

Another question....will the hair thats faded to red turn black again, or should we just plan on using hair dye before show day?  I can't handle seeing all that faded hair; looks bad.  It's not dried out like I thought  it would be, just red.

Yes, I think you can easily show him at 1325.  Any packaged Show Ration should work.  I sent our ration to you on PM.  His faded hair will not turn black, but it may grow enough that you will cut it all off the next time you clip.  I would dye him anyway as long as it is OK at your show. 

 

[russfarm]

Got your pm, thanks
Where his hair is most red is his mid section, so we should be able to take care of that.  Would you dye it now and before show, or just wait until a day or so before the show?
Thanks for all your advice.  There is hope!  lol....

 

[farmin female]

We just brought our son's steer in from being out in the pasture for 2mths (in an attempt to help him lose some much needed weight). We spent almost 3 hrs on  him trying to get the crap clumps out of him and get him cleaned up.  I was really dreading it and it was just as awful as I had anticipated it being.  I  soaked him down with nothing but water for more than 45 minutes, then just started slowly but surely raking that crud off piece by piece.  Then he got a nice soapy bath followed by conditioner and a blow dry  O0
His hair was faded from the sun, but he still had tons of good hair left.  You would think that taking him off grain, turning him out to run with the cows and getting nothing but hay that he would have lost SOME weight.  Well, he gained 15 lbs  .  No turning back now....  do we just  fill him out and hope for the best ?
Do any of you have any advice or tips we could use to make a too heavy steer look better?  Our fair is the end of July/ first part of August.
He's 1350 right now  .  We realize he's not going to win anything being this big but he's a really nice steer and we just want to make him look the best he can.  We always appreciate any and all advice we can get!
I'll try to attach a pic of him taken in March.  Forgive me if it's too big.  I don't know how to resize.

I think you will be fine.  We use Purina's "Full Control" feed for holding calves.  You can also contact Purina's nutritionist about how to feed him and keeping him looking fresh.  Personally, if you can dye him,  I would wait until right before show and clip and dye.  He should look good.

 

[AAOK]

Got your pm, thanks
Where his hair is most red is his mid section, so we should be able to take care of that.   Would you dye it now and before show, or just wait until a day or so before the show?
Thanks for all your advice.  There is hope!  lol....

Dye a day or two before your show.