feeding suggestion

[jaydill]

alright...i've been on this board probably two other times asking for suggestions on this very topic. i'm trying to finish a steer out (a simbrah) so of course, he is very lean. we're having some problems because he just does not like to eat. we've tried so many things that i'm not even going to list them here. i'm not looking for criticism or 21 questions, just wondering if there is anyone out there that has tried something out-of-the-ordinary to get a steer to eat, and that has worked for them?

thanks,
jaydill

 

[Bullbuyer]

jaydill -
First question - Does the steer have a source of clean water ? He won't eat if he doesn't have water to drink. Also, what about worming - might be time for some pour-on. My last idea is to place another steer with him. I've seen a lot of animals drop their intake when placed alone.
Just a few ideas ! [/list]

 

[jaydill]

thanks for the suggestions..BUT those things are already taken care of. everything except for placing another steer with him...i can't do that. these are show cattle. but what i'm really looking for are OUT-OF-THE-ORDINARY suggestions. i'm lookin for someone whose done pretty much everything that immediately comes to peoples minds when a question is asked about putting fat on a steer, and who tried something DIFFERENT and got it to work. thanks for your suggestions, though.
jaydill

 

[LaurenE]

I agree with finding him a buddy (if he doesnt have one). My steer had refused to eat, so we initially added molasses and that got him to eat alittle better, but we just ended up switching his feed to a sweeter feed (Purina Show Chow) and now we are having no problems (knock on wood.) You also might try feeding him corn, mine really eats when we feed him that, if not already. Sorry I can not be of more help. Good Luck!

 

[jaydill]

Thank you, Lauren, also, for your suggestions. But when I say we've tried all that (minus the extra steer cause again...they're show cattle), I really mean we've tried all that. We've got him on corn and barley everyday, B12 everyday.. probias every now and again to make sure everything's okay in his stomach. I'm looking for something DIFFERENT. Something drastic! Thanks again for y'alls time in responding to my problem
jaydill

 

[LaurenE]

About the buddy thing, my steer will refuse to eat in his stall, if he realizes that all of the other steers have been let out, but he does fine if he has a steer in the stall next to him. We joke around that
he has separation anxiety. We have also added beet pulp and weight builder to his feed and that has done alot of good

 

[LaurenE]

Is he kept in a stall, or on pasture?

 

[jaydill]

My steer is in a stall. He used to have that "separation anxiety" thing too, lol.. but he doesn't get let out anymore (so that he'll put on more weight) so now he eats when I put the feed in...whether the one next to him is in or not.

 

[LaurenE]

I would let him run around abit each day for about an hour or two,or every other day. This will help him build up an appetite and hopefully when he is brought in he will really eat. If my steer hasn't been let out in a while, I can tell because he tends to eat less. He also builds up more muscle and is less rowdy when I walk him and set his feet.

 

[jaydill]

okay...lemme make sure everyone understands. i need OUT OF THE ORDINARY advice. i have ag teachers...they know what's best. but they've even run out of ideas. my steer used to be let out every night and he ate less than he even eats now. if i were to keep him in, he wouldn't gain any weight because he runs it all off. keep in mind...this isn't some club calf that's easy to put fat on. this is a simbrah; which is characteristically lean. while being as such, we would still like to put a little more fat and fill on him. i used to walk my steer everyday in addition and am not allowed to do that either because now that we keep him cooped up, he's gaining more weight. my steer's pretty calm; not rowdy at all. so the keeping him in has only been a positive (fingers crossed) in this weight gain process. so if there's anyone out there.. that knows of something drastic i can do, please do tell.
thanks,
jaydill

 

[certherfbeef]

Jay, I hate to tell you this but out of the ordinary advice is the last thing you need. How long to you have to get him finished? How much weight does he need to finish?

First you need to start letting him out. Believe it or not excersise will get that calf to eat more.

Second, HE NEEDS A BUDDY. I show cattle. I have good friends that showing is all they do. Never do you seen one calf in the barn or penned alone. Cattle are herd animals, show calves are too. They need the competition to keep up a good appetite. When one gets up to eat the other does too.

Third, what is he eating now? How much hay is he getting? He needs access to free choice hay. More hay=more grain intake=more weight. Trust me.

Now a "different" suggestion. Get an old 5 quart crock pot. Fill it 3/4 full with water and add a cup and a half of whole corn. Let it cook all day. Keep the lit propped open. Add the cooked corn to the feed you are already giving him. But ease him into it. Now, I don't remember where you are located but beins you have a simbra I'm guessing south. The cooked corn will heat him up. If possible put him in front of a fan.

If you are interested I'll give you my show ration. I'll even give you my phone number and we can discuss this calf further.
Is this the same calf you sent the picture of?

You need to remember that sometimes book intelligence is a little different than real world trial and error. Not knocking you or your ag teachers so please don't take it that way. I would not to anything to discourage a young energetic lady like yourself from showing.

Please pm me maybe together we can come up with a solution that suits your situation.

 

[J. T.]

I had a weanling calf that scoured up the other day and refused to eat. Vet said shoot him with vitamin B-12 to stimulate his appetite. He's eating the bottom out of the trough now. Might try it. Also, I have some experience with show cattle as well. Two calves usually eat better than one, and excercise will stimulate their appetites, as has already been stated. Good luck.

 

[LaneFarms]

you could try giving him a little rice bran to boost the fat content of his ration.

 

[triple'S']

I've never even thought of showing a calf so I am clueless on this? Why can't you put two "show steers" together? Is it because they might scar each other up or what? That just doesn't make sense to me?

 

[jaydill]

not that they would scar each other up..just that we need to monitor what each is eating.

 

[milkmaid]

First you need to start letting him out. Believe it or not excersise will get that calf to eat more.

I'll second that. I have a pen with three ("wild"-not show) heifers, and some days they'll just stand on the other side and not even budge when I pour the grain in. They're just bored - same routine, day in and day out. I come over and give them grain twice a day. Hay in the feeder free choice. Water in the trough. Nothing new. Sure, they'll eventually wander over, but it takes awhile.

I've found that something as simple as just restrawing their pen can give them the break in the routine that they need. It needed restrawing last night, and all of them were racing around, kicking up their heels, playing with the bales of straw, and and then thundering to the other side of the pen...and this morning all three of them buried their noses in the grain.

One day I left the gate ajar while I was in the pen, and they were gone in an instant. LOL. After 5-10 minutes of chasing them off the road, I had them back in their pen. But...they sure ate well for the next few days after that. It's just a boring life being a cow, cooped up in a little pen, same routine every day, same people - they need a bit of a change from time to time.

I walked my show steer a good 1-2 miles down the road every day up until the fair...and he cleaned up 28lbs of grain every day plus free choice hay. Exercise stimulates their appetite same as taking a walk does for you.

Second, HE NEEDS A BUDDY. I show cattle. I have good friends that showing is all they do. Never do you see one calf in the barn or penned alone. Cattle are herd animals, show calves are too. They need the competition to keep up a good appetite. When one gets up to eat the other does too.

Again, I'll second that and so will everyone else. I bought a bottle calf for my show steer this past summer - something that wasn't going to be able to get in the grain bin, or if he did, he wouldn't get much grain - but was just company. I never keep less than two animals to a pen except in special cases - like a sick animal.

Shoot, put another animal of the same size in his pen, and just mentally divide the amount of feed by half. That's how much your steer is eating. You don't have to have it figured down to the last ounce, do you??? At this point, just get him to EAT, and later, LATER, when he's eating well, worry about exactly how much it is.

Vary his routine, take him for a walk, give him something to do. And we still don't know just what he's eating or what he weighs right now - you're leaving out the important information.

i have ag teachers...they know what's best. but they've even run out of ideas.

We've discussed this before...I remember. I'm not overly impressed with your ag teachers. They have not done everything, and they have not done the obvious things - like exercise and a buddy. No one out there knows everything, and you need to take advice from different people, use what you can, what you like, and what works, and discard the rest. It's YOUR steer - you do whatever you need to do and whatever it takes. Their advice is evidently not working in this situation. Discard it, and do something different.

There's my opinion, and I'm done. Take it or leave it.

 

[hillbilly]

turn him out.

Grind him up.

Go back to the show board.

hillbilly

 

[jaydill]

We've discussed this before...I remember. I'm not overly impressed with your ag teachers. They have not done everything, and they have not done the obvious things - like exercise and a buddy. No one out there knows everything, and you need to take advice from different people, use what you can, what you like, and what works, and discard the rest. It's YOUR steer - you do whatever you need to do and whatever it takes. Their advice is evidently not working in this situation. Discard it, and do something different.

This is why I asked for no criticism. You do not know that they haven't tried it all because I haven't listed it out for you. This is one thing I find unattractive about these boards. You ask one question, don't get the answer to your question, but instead get 21 back. I asked for people who've had a problem with finicky cattle, who tried something DIFFERENT and had it work. Just so you know, for the first SEVEN MONTHS that I had this steer, we were turning him out with his buddies WHICH IS EXERCISE. AND IT WASN'T WORKING. WHICH IS WHY WE KEEP HIM PENNED UP. WHICH IS WHY, LIKE I SAID, IF YOU WERE READING that HE'S GAINED AND FILLED OUT MORE ADEQUATELY SINCE WE'VE HAD HIM PENNED UP. Second of all, all of the calves in the barn ARE NOT MINE. I CANNOT pen them up together.

What I don't understand is why can't people get on this board and just answer the question asked of them once in a while? If you need more information, simply state that. Though in this case, had you read my entire original post, no extra information was needed. As far as this thread goes...I'm done with it. I've contacted certherfbeef and am going to continue from there.

Thank you to those who honestly tried to answer my question.

jaydill

 

[dph]

Look Jay:

The trouble with this board is you get someone posting with a question and not "hearing" the 21 good, solid answers posted because they don't think it is "the" answer. I find people on this board to be extremely knowledgeable, because most are basing answers on real world trial and error.

What most are trying to tell you, although it will probably be of little value going over it again, is that the steer isn't doing anything while he is penned up, therefore he has a low metabolism. Therefore he doesn't eat. Shutting him up is just keeping his metabolism low, suppressing his appettite. If shutting a calf in a pen increased gain, every purebred breeder in the country would be doing it with their animals on test.

And while I would like very much to ask you what good a calf is that won't gain weight, if it truly is this difficult, I won't. Instead I will take the time to let you know I flat out don't appreciate the tantrum you just threw at milkmaid, and I highly doubt she's ever been the subject of such. She sure seems to me to be one of the most helpful people on this board. Almost everyone of her posts is meant to give someone else a hand.

Your capitalization and underscoring underscores the fact that you are acting like a child, and may very well be (at least I hope). When you calm down, you ought to try to make ammends. Sometimes the truth is critical, kid, and if milkmaid was telling you a critical truth, you shouldn't forget that it was not personal in the least.

certherfbeef is someone else that is really sharp. I sure hope she can help you, but as far as this board goes, it should be done with you if you come with your temper tantrums.

 

[msscamp]

We've discussed this before...I remember. I'm not overly impressed with your ag teachers. They have not done everything, and they have not done the obvious things - like exercise and a buddy. No one out there knows everything, and you need to take advice from different people, use what you can, what you like, and what works, and discard the rest. It's YOUR steer - you do whatever you need to do and whatever it takes. Their advice is evidently not working in this situation. Discard it, and do something different.

This is why I asked for no criticism. You do not know that they haven't tried it all because I haven't listed it out for you. This is one thing I find unattractive about these boards. You ask one question, don't get the answer to your question, but instead get 21 back. I asked for people who've had a problem with finicky cattle, who tried something DIFFERENT and had it work. Just so you know, for the first SEVEN MONTHS that I had this steer, we were turning him out with his buddies WHICH IS EXERCISE. AND IT WASN'T WORKING. WHICH IS WHY WE KEEP HIM PENNED UP. WHICH IS WHY, LIKE I SAID, IF YOU WERE READING that HE'S GAINED AND FILLED OUT MORE ADEQUATELY SINCE WE'VE HAD HIM PENNED UP. Second of all, all of the calves in the barn ARE NOT MINE. I CANNOT pen them up together.

What I don't understand is why can't people get on this board and just answer the question asked of them once in a while? If you need more information, simply state that. Though in this case, had you read my entire original post, no extra information was needed. As far as this thread goes...I'm done with it. I've contacted certherfbeef and am going to continue from there.

Thank you to those who honestly tried to answer my question.

jaydill

Milkmaid did not deserve that tirade! I would suggest you get a grip and be a little more courteous to her. Of course you're calf is gaining better - he's shut in a stall where he can't get any exercise. You might consider practicing what you preach and LISTENING to the responses.