Feeding by giving % of body weight daily

[LaurlaFarms]

So everybody talks about finishing steers by giving X % of body weight daily in whatever feed blend they use. Obviously this amount of daily ration is changing as body weight increases (hopefully). How stupid is it to ask: are you really weighing them? Not likely. Then how do you estimate weight and how critical is it?

Why not just slowly increase what is given daily to build their rumen up to the point of free choice feed and hay? Then mix in corn in greater percentages every 4 weeks or so until they are finished on mostly corn at the end of 4-6 months?

 

[Down in Dixie]

I just work them up to 25 lbs of feed a day split to two feedings a day. A few weeks before their date I will keep a little extra out for them.

 

[SBMF 2015]

How stupid is it to ask: are you really weighing them? Not likely. Then how do you estimate weight and how critical is it?

No we're not weighing them on a scale. We're weighing them with a sharp eye. Folks who finish cattle for a living get a keen eye for weight.
My goal has always been to gain 100lbs/ month.
We've always mixed our own grain so it's easy to increase the corn as we go along. Once we get them eating good I bump them up 1/2lb a week until 28-30lbs a day. That's about when I put them on a shelf feeder. THATS HOW WE USED TO DO IT.

With the new products created by Kent Feeds and Purina ( they've been around for a while now) you hand feed them for a short period of time and straight to a self feeder. No hay. It's great. Consistent intake, they just eat, grow, and finish.