Grain Finishing Angus Steers

[ksmit454]

Hi,
My Angus steers are currently 16 and 17 months old. They're probably at about 1,000lbs. They graze (not a ton of grass but graze everyday) and alfalfa and oat hay. They also get grain at night (whatever I get from the feed store that is discounted - wheat bran, rice bran, sweet cob, horse grain etc.). My question is this: I am going to transfer them to a fresh pasture with lots of green grass and go heavy with them on the grain. Should I be more particular about what grain I'm giving them? And when should I start heavy graining them? 3 months prior to slaughter? 2 months? How many pounds of grain per day for finishing do you suggest? Let me know what you've found successful for finishing your beef! Thanks.

 

[sstterry]

Hi,
My Angus steers are currently 16 and 17 months old. They're probably at about 1,000lbs. They graze (not a ton of grass but graze everyday) and alfalfa and oat hay. They also get grain at night (whatever I get from the feed store that is discounted - wheat bran, rice bran, sweet cob, horse grain etc.). My question is this: I am going to transfer them to a fresh pasture with lots of green grass and go heavy with them on the grain. Should I be more particular about what grain I'm giving them? And when should I start heavy graining them? 3 months prior to slaughter? 2 months? How many pounds of grain per day for finishing do you suggest? Let me know what you've found successful for finishing your beef! Thanks.

First, let me say that just about everyone else on this Board is much more knowledgeable on this than me and you should take my advice with a "grain of salt".

I am assuming that these are for personal use and not to take to market. Since they are already on grain, I would start them out on about 10lb/day and gradually increase that up to about 25lb/day. The one I just took to slaughter was basically on free choice at the end. I can't tell you about which grain to use (I don't know if it will make a difference in taste) but I have read that gluten can give the meat a different taste. Around here I just use whole or cracked corn.

As to how long, I really think you have to look at the animal to tell. But it does need to be long enough to make sure you can get those fat deposits in the meat.

PS...It does not matter whether they are Angus or not :tiphat:

 

[Ebenezer]

You would not want to bump up grain too fast. And if you get too much grain you need to add soda or some other buffering agent. The corn gluten pellets will give a sulfur taste to the meat so skip that. I'd look for the option to find a bulk blend finisher feed either dumped in your trailer or in a tote. Genetics and frame score will play into finish weight. You can judge fat pones and deposits to determine finish. But around here finding an opening in a processing plant is the limitation. They are scheduled out way ahead due to the virus panic.

 

[Brute 23]

Ya, book it now and it will be ready when they call you.

 

[ksmit454]

Hi,
My Angus steers are currently 16 and 17 months old. They're probably at about 1,000lbs. They graze (not a ton of grass but graze everyday) and alfalfa and oat hay. They also get grain at night (whatever I get from the feed store that is discounted - wheat bran, rice bran, sweet cob, horse grain etc.). My question is this: I am going to transfer them to a fresh pasture with lots of green grass and go heavy with them on the grain. Should I be more particular about what grain I'm giving them? And when should I start heavy graining them? 3 months prior to slaughter? 2 months? How many pounds of grain per day for finishing do you suggest? Let me know what you've found successful for finishing your beef! Thanks.

First, let me say that just about everyone else on this Board is much more knowledgeable on this than me and you should take my advice with a "grain of salt".

I am assuming that these are for personal use and not to take to market. Since they are already on grain, I would start them out on about 10lb/day and gradually increase that up to about 25lb/day. The one I just took to slaughter was basically on free choice at the end. I can't tell you about which grain to use (I don't know if it will make a difference in taste) but I have read that gluten can give the meat a different taste. Around here I just use whole or cracked corn.

As to how long, I really think you have to look at the animal to tell. But it does need to be long enough to make sure you can get those fat deposits in the meat.

PS...It does not matter whether they are Angus or not :tiphat:

Ok great, thank you! I didn't know that about gluten. I will probably just finish them on a sweet grain. I'm sorry I stated they were Angus, I simply wanted to give some background on what I had, I wasn't sure if some finished at other ages due to their breed .

 

[ksmit454]

You would not want to bump up grain too fast. And if you get too much grain you need to add soda or some other buffering agent. The corn gluten pellets will give a sulfur taste to the meat so skip that. I'd look for the option to find a bulk blend finisher feed either dumped in your trailer or in a tote. Genetics and frame score will play into finish weight. You can judge fat pones and deposits to determine finish. But around here finding an opening in a processing plant is the limitation. They are scheduled out way ahead due to the virus panic.

Ok thank you for the input! These steers are just for personal use so I contacted my butcher and cut&wrap and they are booked out and they're only out about a month which should be just fine. What is the best advice for looking for fat deposits when finishing? Thanks!

 

[greggy]

I would look at what grain you can get and the nutrient value, then also look at what else they are getting.

All feeds, when changing, should be introduced slowly and built up over around 10 days or so. You should def not change the feed or mix when feeding at max.

 

[sstterry]

Ok thank you for the input! These steers are just for personal use so I contacted my butcher and cut&wrap and they are booked out and they're only out about a month which should be just fine. What is the best advice for looking for fat deposits when finishing? Thanks!

 

[ksmit454]

I would look at what grain you can get and the nutrient value, then also look at what else they are getting.

All feeds, when changing, should be introduced slowly and built up over around 10 days or so. You should def not change the feed or mix when feeding at max.

Ok great thank you. I've had horses for years but cattle are a whole new thing for me. I think I'll look into a sweet cob, all breed, or some sort of cattle finisher and add gradually.

 

[ksmit454]

Ok thank you for the input! These steers are just for personal use so I contacted my butcher and cut&wrap and they are booked out and they're only out about a month which should be just fine. What is the best advice for looking for fat deposits when finishing? Thanks!

Excellent, thanks!!

 

[TexasBred]

Ok thank you for the input! These steers are just for personal use so I contacted my butcher and cut&wrap and they are booked out and they're only out about a month which should be just fine. What is the best advice for looking for fat deposits when finishing? Thanks!

Excellent, thanks!!

A plain ol' horse and mule feed from a reputable company will do you an good job. Just get away from the "cheapest" approach. In the long run it won't be cheapest. Best wishes.

 

[ksmit454]

Excellent, thanks!!

A plain ol' horse and mule feed from a reputable company will do you an good job. Just get away from the "cheapest" approach. In the long run it won't be cheapest. Best wishes.

Thanks!
I work at a feed store and get all of the leftover bags that are not horse quality, but are great for cattle (usually just a small amount of wetness or mold at the top of the bag that i'm able to scrape off and give them the good stuff). I have about 20 bags of a particular horse grain and the ingredients are as follows

Primary Ingredients

Beet Pulp Shreds, Soy Hull Pellet, Oat Hay Pellet, Soybean Meal, Wheat Bran, Canola Oil, Ground Flaxseed, Rice Bran, Yeast Culture (Dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae), Calcium Carbonate, Wheat Flour, Mono-Dicalcium Phosphate, Brewers Yeast, Salt (Sodium Chloride), Flax Oil, Soy Oil, Vitamins, Minerals…

I do have a few bags of sweet cob that I could mix with it. They seems to eat the horse feed just fine but I'm not sure if their are certain types of feed that will make the meat less desirable.

 

[VaCowman]

You would not want to bump up grain too fast. And if you get too much grain you need to add soda or some other buffering agent. The corn gluten pellets will give a sulfur taste to the meat so skip that. I'd look for the option to find a bulk blend finisher feed either dumped in your trailer or in a tote. Genetics and frame score will play into finish weight. You can judge fat pones and deposits to determine finish. But around here finding an opening in a processing plant is the limitation. They are scheduled out way ahead due to the virus panic.

TRUE STORY! I called our processor (we sell direct so we speak frequently) last Friday, and first available booking date was FEB 2021. Yes, that's not a typo! 2021!!! Luckily, I have already booked our monthly kill dates for 2020 when all this crap hit, but I decided I might as well go ahead and book 2021 before it filled up. We are good through Jan 2022, but golly Pete who would've thought we'd be up against something like this at the local, small butcher shops across the country. Even the custom inspected plants are booking LATE (nov/dec) 2020 already. It's crazy!

 

[sstterry]

TRUE STORY! I called our processor (we sell direct so we speak frequently) last Friday, and first available booking date was FEB 2021. Yes, that's not a typo! 2021!!! Luckily, I have already booked our monthly kill dates for 2020 when all this crap hit, but I decided I might as well go ahead and book 2021 before it filled up. We are good through Jan 2022, but golly Pete who would've thought we'd be up against something like this at the local, small butcher shops across the country. Even the custom inspected plants are booking LATE (nov/dec) 2020 already. It's crazy!

I picked up the meat from my personal beef this morning and while the processor and I were chatting, he had two calls about people wanting to have have hogs slaughtered. He told each of them that the earliest he was not booked solid was October (and this was for hogs not beef) I am just glad I got mine processed when I did.

 

[Bcompton53]

I fattened out two steers this past year on whole corn and soybean meal and free choice hay. The meat is excellent and it turned out to be a pretty cheap way to feed. Started 6lbs/day of grain, and increase a pound every couple days to 25lbs. Figure 3-3.25/day gain at 25lbs of feed, and 2-2.25lbs/day at 16 pounds. Take your slaughter date and current weight, and figure out how much they need to gain. Shoot for at least a month at 25lbs/day, preferably two months at least

 

[ksmit454]

I fattened out two steers this past year on whole corn and soybean meal and free choice hay. The meat is excellent and it turned out to be a pretty cheap way to feed. Started 6lbs/day of grain, and increase a pound every couple days to 25lbs. Figure 3-3.25/day gain at 25lbs of feed, and 2-2.25lbs/day at 16 pounds. Take your slaughter date and current weight, and figure out how much they need to gain. Shoot for at least a month at 25lbs/day, preferably two months at least

I'm figuring that right now they're about 1000lbs, maybe a bit more, but not seeing much in the way of fat deposits. If I start them at 6lbs/head/day, and increase by 2lbs/day each week, that would be an 8 week program (Or longer depending on how they're doing) and I'd be feeding 20lbs/day. Maybe set up butcher date for August...?

 

[sstterry]

If it were me (and this is only my personal opinion), I would shoot for Sept-October. Remember, it is not all about how much they can eat, but are they eating it long enough and in the right way to create the marbling you want. Intramuscular fat takes longer to develop than simple outside bodyfat.

 

[ksmit454]

If it were me (and this is only my personal opinion), I would shoot for Sept-October. Remember, it is not all about how much they can eat, but are they eating it long enough and in the right way to create the marbling you want. Intramuscular fat takes longer to develop than simple outside bodyfat.

Ok thank you! I was going back and forth on waiting until September or October. I think I'll take your advice on that one and shoot for those dates so they get finished right.

 

[Bcompton53]

I agree with September/october, and also that more time on high energy grain helps marbling a ton. We fed 1/2% of body weight for probably 6 months before bumping up the intake, at around 1000 pound live weight. Meat is wicked good. Bought bulk corn from co-op and that's cheap feed.
Also I wouldn't expect fat deposits now. Additionally finish weight can also depend on frame size and growth potential of each animal.

 

[ksmit454]

I agree with September/october, and also that more time on high energy grain helps marbling a ton. We fed 1/2% of body weight for probably 6 months before bumping up the intake, at around 1000 pound live weight. Meat is wicked good. Bought bulk corn from co-op and that's cheap feed.
Also I wouldn't expect fat deposits now. Additionally finish weight can also depend on frame size and growth potential of each animal.

That's awesome, good to hear some good feedback on some good meat! I booked butcher date for Sept 14th! This will be my first steer raised and butchered. I have so many people asking for beef... time to try to find more to finish out!