Finishing steers soon

[LB2727]

We have a few beef steers that are going to the butcher at the end of December. They are about 17 months old right now. Starting this summer they have had all the ground corn they can eat with 32% protein pellets mixed in (roughly 2lbs of pellets per animal) as well as pasture/grass hay available to them. They just don't seem to be growing and we are worried they won't finish in time. Would guess they are about 900lbs right now? Any advise? Thank you.

 

[simme]

Are you feeding ground corn free choice - putting out more than they can eat and they eat all they want? I would be concerned they would founder. When they founder, they go off feed and develop feet problems -rapid hoof growth and walk like they have tender feet. If they are not foundered, take their temperature to check for sickness. Have they been dewormed? Do they have the squirts - very loose stool? Have any pictures?

 

[SBMF 2015]

900 lb strs should be / could be eating around 18lbs of feed a head a day. Plus free choice hay. Cattle that size I would switch to Rumensin to help combat acidosis.
If they need some encouragement to eat that much corn you can start limiting their hay.
The weather is starting to cool off and the cattle on full feed are really starting to gain.
They should gain 225+lbs by December. They might not be finished enough to sell, but they'll be finished enough to eat.

 

[LB2727]

Yes, they get all the corn they want. Here is one of them, he is probably the best looking one. They have been dewormed and have never seemed sick nor had loose stool.

 

[M.Magis]

I know pictures can't be tricky, but he looks bigger than 900 lbs to me. Can you get a pic showing the rear a little more? It seems like there are already fat deposits around the tail head, but again, it may be the pic.

 

[LB2727]

I feel like he looks bigger in pictures. Here is a different angle.

 

[Buck Randall]

He looks good to me, and I agree that he looks to be more than 900 pounds from the pictures. Some times when you see an animal every day it's harder to notice them growing. Do you know the parentage of these animals at all? Some small framed animals will finish out at 1000-1200 pounds.

I would say stick with what you're doing and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised by the weights at the end.

 

[ksmit454]

He seems larger than 900lbs. He looks great! I started my steers on sweet cob approx 90 days before butcher and gave them unlimited hay. I think the unlimited hay was really the key, and I began with sweet cob at 5lbs per head per day and gradually worked up to about 15lbs per head per day. They finished out excellent!

Also if you look at the tail head of you steer, you can start to see some fat deposits around it so that is a good sign. You can also see that his cod is filled in, also showing he's getting closer to being finished.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

He is finishing out well. But, they do NOT need all that protein. By the time they are around 900#, corn and decent hay "should" have enough protein. Think of you eating good red meat (protein) vs eating French Fries (corn). Don't just drop the protein, but start backing off for next few weeks, until they are not getting any or very little of the pellets.

 

[Farmgirl]

Jeanne,

What do you consider decent hay?

Thanks,
Farmgirl

 

[MurraysMutts]

View attachment 196I feel like he looks bigger in pictures. Here is a different angle.

I think he looks good!
Any recent pics?
December ain't far off now...

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Just nice grass hay - absolutely not Alfalfa or heavy Clover. they just need roughage to keep system working.