What kind of "pounds" are you wanting to put on your animals, white fat or red meat?
It is pretty easy to fatten up a cow...heavy grain diet, white bread...donuts...alot of tricks some folks use to put extra fat on a beef.
Our customers do not want overly fattened carcasses. Folks do not want to pay for something that is going to the rendering plant.
We continue feeding alfalfa and suppliment with cracked corn to finish...the amount of body fat on the animal determines the amount of corn that we feed. Yes, we do masage the steers, a fella can tell by grabbing the flank fat and feeling the rib and back about how fat the animal is.
Our customers like the "yellow fat" on our carcasses and the real beef flavor that grass/alflafa diet gives the animal. The corn just kicks in a little more IMF in my humble opinion.
Oh yeah...we feed all the herd cracked corn when the temps drop below about 10 degrees and alwys have tank heaters in anytime it is below freezing....do not want the animal using body reserves just trying to stay warm. The corn hopefully makes up for any extra energy that is expended maintaining body tmperature.
And that's my two bits worth.
Dave Mc