Opinions

[Simmgirl03]

Just looking for some opinions on my brother's late April/first of May Simm/Angus steer.  The plan had been to take him to a June show but I'm afraid we just haven't pushed him hard enough for it so we will take him to the county show in August.  He has a super high tail head so if anyone has any recommendations to disguise it I would be open to hear them all.  Also, I think he is a too wastey in his front so was wondering if you all thought a sweat collar would help that or not.  Thanks from both my brother and I!

 

[OH Breeder]

Definitely needs more cover. I wish I could feel him. As far as tailhead, if you can keep working the hair and get him to grow some more, you will help disguise it some with clipping. I definitely would push him hard now. Here in the warmer summer months we try to have our calves almost finished. The calves almost always go off feed and decrease gains. What are you currently feeding him. I am not sure if you using any beet pulp and if you are letting him eat free choice hay but both will help with overrall appearance. You are going to have to work that hair. Looks like his hair might be little hard or coarse.

 

[Simmgirl03]

Definitely needs more cover.

Yes, sadly he is no where near being done.  I think a lot of it has to do with his age, and also the way we've been feeding him.  We've just started adding beatpulp to his ration and he's been on it about a two weeks.  I can't tell if it has helped him in that time frame or not.  I can say he has increased his intake since we've started it, I'm assuming the beat pulp has made the pelletted feed he was on more palatable.

And yes, he does have funky hair - we've just started to work it, and these pictures are probably not the best as we had just knocked his scurs off. We don't have a cooler or dark barn to put him in but I know rinsing and working the hair daily will work for this area.  Thanks for your input! We will sure shoot for hiding the high tail head with more hair!

 

[shortyjock89]

Beet Pulp wont help add any more cover.  I'd add in some Barley instead.  It will put on a smooth, even coat of delicious fat.  We start feeding it anywhere from 90-120 days out and you wouldn't believe the great cover and taste that comes from it.

 

[OH Breeder]

Beet Pulp wont help add any more cover.  I'd add in some Barley instead.  It will put on a smooth, even coat of delicious fat.  We start feeding it anywhere from 90-120 days out and you wouldn't believe the great cover and taste that comes from it.

I wouldn't suggest beet pulp for cover, but to expand his gut. It might help him increase his intake and improve his hair a tad. I thought barley too, but don't know what the feed ration is currently. Barley usually will give that hard finish toward the end. If they are shooting for august, I might wait til may one to add barley. What kind of ration are you feeding him and what kind of hay?Periodic dose of probiotics wil help his appetite.

 

[Simmgirl03]

Currently he is on a hayless pelletted ration that my step dad and local feed mill developed of corn and grass seed screenings. I wasn't happy with what I was seening so I've added beat pulp. When I was showing we used the hayless ration but with barley and purinas beef impact supplement. I had really good results with that. I appreciate the information you both have provided.

 

[shortyjock89]

I would think adding hay into his daily intake would greatly increase his capacity and guts in him.  I'd also put some beet pulp in it, not going to hurt a thing by adding some.  I know it might be a little early, but some barley won't hurt I don't think.  I'd put some yeast or a supplement like Calf Manna with yeast in it to help his rumen.  Corn is a pretty hot feed, and barley and beet pulp will cool it down and keep him eating.  The yeast is really good for his belly, should keep him eating well too. 

 

[OH Breeder]

OFS is right, you have to hay in his ration. It will help belly down and fill.  cows are ruminants. They need the hay to help maintain a healthy stomach. The grain burns them up. It doesn't have to be fancy hay. Good Ol grass hay is what we feed. our calves are on a round bale all night. Shut up during the day.

 

[Simmgirl03]

I forgot to include that he is getting 2 Oz's of Yea-Sacc 1026 (http://www.alltech.com/en_US/brands/Pages/Yea-Sacc1026.aspx)
and 2 tbsp MTB-100 (http://www.alltech.com/en_US/brands/Pages/MTB-100.aspx) per day.  I was reading on the bag of Yea-Sacc that for high performance animals or low quality feeds you should feed 2-4 Oz's, do you guys see any potential problems with increasing the yeast to 3 or 4 ounces per day?

As far as hay goes - should we only use grass hay or would grass/alfalfa work also?  The grass/alfalfa we currently have, has quite a bit of alfalfa in it, but I'm not sure what it is testing at.  Thank you both for all you help, this has been kind of a trying experience with the steer at my house but my stepdad still wanting to run the show.  Together we are getting it figured out.

Thanks again!

PS - Any thoughts on a neck sweat?

 

[shortyjock89]

I don't think feeding more yeast would hurt.  We feed it by the handful to our show calves daily and have never had any problems. 

We feed just straight grass hay, alfalfa can be a little rich, plus if their belly is new to it, I've seen it get compacted in the rumen and cause trouble (but that doesn't happen very often in my experience). 

A neck sweat sure wouldn't hurt on him, I would put it on him during the day.  Do you have him under fans?  If you don't then he could get pretty hot with it on, keeping him cool during the day will keep him eating too.  Take it off at night when you turn him out, you don't want him to get it hung up on anything when you're not there to help him out. 

Good luck!

 

[TJ]

I don't think feeding more yeast would hurt.  We feed it by the handful to our show calves daily and have never had any problems. 

We feed just straight grass hay, alfalfa can be a little rich, plus if their belly is new to it, I've seen it get compacted in the rumen and cause trouble (but that doesn't happen very often in my experience). 

A neck sweat sure wouldn't hurt on him, I would put it on him during the day.  Do you have him under fans?  If you don't then he could get pretty hot with it on, keeping him cool during the day will keep him eating too.  Take it off at night when you turn him out, you don't want him to get it hung up on anything when you're not there to help him out. 

Good luck!

Ditto on the grass hay.  Alfalfa is richer & it wont scratch the rumen nearly as well as the longer stemmed grass hay will.  Also, longer stemmed grass hay will help to prevent bloat & Alfalfa can actually cause bloat.  I'd feed a fleck of grass hay per day minimum, IMHO and if it was me, I'd feed 2.           

I think that I would keep on feeding the beet pulp... I think it would help him.  It along with the grass hay will help the rumen work better & will help add guts.   If wetted with cool water it will help the hair & beet pulp packs more punch than grass hay.   

I'd personally give him some type of oil supplement to help add some cover.  Up to 4 oz. of corn or other oil would work (don't start at 4 or they could get loose), but I like Natural Glo (ADM) or Max-E-Glo (Manna Pro) in the pellets (feed up to 1 lb.).  It will actually help his hair too.  You can get more cover on one faster with oil than you can with corn or barely.  I agree that barely will lay a harder fat layer on & it can also make them appear thicker too.  I'd slowly start adding some barely.  When the cover gets closer to where you want it, you may want to back the oil off a little bit. 

RE the tail head... use your clippers & get "creative" with the hair in that area & it will look better.   Find the highest point of the tailhead & take it fairly tight (you don't necessarily have to skin it though).  Right now that hair at the highest point is much taller than the tailhead... get it shorter... then try to grow the hair behind it & in front of it, taller so that you can make it look better.  Wish that I could show you, rather than try to explain it.  Basically fill the lows & chop the highs... that's the best way to explain it.  The main thing is that you need more hair both in front & behind the highest point, IMHO.       

     

 

[TJ]

I don't have my good photo program, but I erased some of the hair (not a perfect job) in the tail head area... I think it looks better already, IMHO.  Anyway, this will give you some ideas.

 

[simtal]

I'd slick his hair off, it make him look better I think.  Your not going to grow any anyway.