Growth pills ????

[Fred Belknap]

I know a fellow who uses growth enhancing pill that are injected just under the skin on his cattle. I assume they are some kind of steroid. He says they work. I was wondering about the safety, ethical and legal questions they might cause. He said that some places won't sell them.

 

[randiliana]

I know a fellow who uses growth enhancing pill that are injected just under the skin on his cattle. I assume they are some kind of steroid. He says they work. I was wondering about the safety, ethical and legal questions they might cause. He said that some places won't sell them.

Pretty common practice in the cattle business. They are called implants, and you won't find too many big feedlots that don't use them. They increase the feed efficiency of the cattle. They are tested to be safe, there really are no ethical or legal reasons not to use them.

 

[dun]

Google Ralgro implant and you'll get tons of information. There are others that use a different hormone/chemical but they all do the same thing. The EU won;t import US beef because of implants.

 

[Bez+]

I know a fellow who uses growth enhancing pill that are injected just under the skin on his cattle. I assume they are some kind of steroid. He says they work. I was wondering about the safety, ethical and legal questions they might cause. He said that some places won't sell them.

A legal product

We used Ralgo and injected the implant into the cartilage in the ear - it was a timed relaease product.

We used to get about aq 50 pound increase if memory serves - we no longer use them.

Some folks used to use them on their grassers as well

Other than organic operations, they are very widely used and I would suggest the vast majority of feed lots use them - so it is very probable that you have eaten some of the final product.

Never heard of a place refusing to sell them

Cheers

Bez+

 

[grannysoo]

Feedlots use them, they do give you added growth. We do not and are not going to use them. To each their own.

 

[msscamp]

I know a fellow who uses growth enhancing pill that are injected just under the skin on his cattle. I assume they are some kind of steroid. He says they work. I was wondering about the safety, ethical and legal questions they might cause. He said that some places won't sell them.

They are called growth implants - Ralgrow is the only one I can think of right off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are others. We never used them. My way of thinking is this - if you have to use implants to obtain the selling weight you're looking for, you're either raising the wrong cattle, you're cutting corners on feed, or you're looking to make a cheap buck - that is probably just me, though.

 

[FarmGirl10]

I know a fellow who uses growth enhancing pill that are injected just under the skin on his cattle. I assume they are some kind of steroid. He says they work. I was wondering about the safety, ethical and legal questions they might cause. He said that some places won't sell them.

They are called growth implants - Ralgrow is the only one I can think of right off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are others. We never used them. My way of thinking is this - if you have to use implants to obtain the selling weight you're looking for, you're either raising the wrong cattle, you're cutting corners on feed, or you're looking to make a cheap buck - that is probably just me, though.

Nope, that is my thought too.

 

[larryshoat]

I know a fellow who uses growth enhancing pill that are injected just under the skin on his cattle. I assume they are some kind of steroid. He says they work. I was wondering about the safety, ethical and legal questions they might cause. He said that some places won't sell them.

A legal product

We used Ralgo and injected the implant into the cartilage in the ear - it was a timed relaease product.

We used to get about aq 50 pound increase if memory serves - we no longer use them.

Some folks used to use them on their grassers as well

Other than organic operations, they are very widely used and I would suggest the vast majority of feed lots use them - so it is very probable that you have eaten some of the final product.

Never heard of a place refusing to sell them

Cheers

Bez+

In other words for the $1 spent on the implant you ended up with $50 more beef. In terms of management of rescources, an economic return like that can't be ignored. As long as implants are legal and believed to be safe I will implant cattle according to the label.

Larry

 

[ga. prime]

Not to answer Fred's question (which would be an excercise in futility because he never revisits his questions) I use implants for the same reason Larry Shoat said.

 

[Fred Belknap]

Not to answer Fred's question (which would be an excercise in futility because he never revisits his questions) I use implants for the same reason Larry Shoat said.

sorry guys I really do appreciate your response. I raise calves and usually sell them at around 600 lbs and wonder if it is ok to put them in small calves. If you are going to keep a cow would you use them? The person I referred to has a small stocker operation.
Fred

 

[kenny thomas]

Check the label. Some can be used on heifers that you are going to use for cows and some can not. Some are for feedlot use only.

 

[ga. prime]

Glad to see you're still around, Fred! Yes, you can put them in small calves. You should not put them in heifers that you plan to keep for breeding since it could foul up their reproductive cycle. Check the label like Ken said. The use of implants is recommended (to be used in non-reproductive stock) by every cattle association and veterinarian that I've been aquainted with. Some of us have to raise beef for the masses- if everybody raised beef without the use of implants, wormers, fly sprays, preventatives, and medicines, beef would be unaffordable to the average consumer.

 

[randiliana]

There are various different kinds. Some can be used on calves around 2 months old, some are for feedlot use only. Some for heifers, some for steers and some work in either. I personally haven't had any good experiences with heifers that were implanted as calves, but there are implants that are labeled for use in heifer calves that may be kept as replacements.

 

[ga. prime]

There are various different kinds. Some can be used on calves around 2 months old, some are for feedlot use only. Some for heifers, some for steers and some work in either. I personally haven't had any good experiences with heifers that were implanted as calves, but there are implants that are labeled for use in heifer calves that may be kept as replacements.

The only one I've used is Ralgro and it can be administered immediately after birth and can be used on either sex, although I usually wait until I catch them in the headgate- which may be a few days or a few weeks- because it's a kind of tricky getting the implant in place- hard to do in the field unless you have somebody to hold the animal while you do the work. I band all my bull calves at birth or soon after- I think the label on Ralgro will tell you not to use on bull calves- you should read it and see for yourself. Implants make a significant positive difference in weaning weights.

 

[Fred Belknap]

Thanks guys. It would be nice to get a little extra return on calves. They haven't really been making much money lately. It something I am going to consider.

 

[Lucky_P]

The growth-promoting implants are anabolic agents - some are 'hormones', some are not. But even with the hormone-based ones, an average serving of meat from an implanted steer will contain less estrogenic hormone activity than the same size serving of meat from a non-implanted intact cow or heifer - and those are way less than the estrogenic activity contained in a similar serving of peas or cabbage.

Ralgro, probably the best known one, is not a hormone; it stimulates the animal's pituitary to secrete more of its own natural somatotrophin(growth hormone) - resulting in increased weight gain and improved feed efficiency - mostly an increase in lean muscle mass. They won't make up for a lack of quality forage or feed - but will help the calves make better use of what's available; increased weight gains may be in the 25 - 50# range, over what similar non-implanted calves would get on the same level of forage/feed.

Ralgro, and some of the others(like Synovex-C, if it's still on the market) are approved for use in heifers - and there was some work done back in the '70s-80s that showed that implanted heifers had increased pelvic diameters(more room for a larger calf to be delivered) compared to non-implanted cohorts, without any significant decrease in pregnancy rates. From a physiologic standpoint, there's no reason why Ralgro would interfere with reproduction in heifers.

I mainly implant steers at castration, but I've done a few heifers - particularly ones that are 'tail-enders' - small, or born at the end of the calving season - and have probably ended up keeping an implanted heifer on more than one occasion - though I suspect most left the farm - but because they were inferior from the outset, or didn't fit into the breeding/calving season, not because they had been implanted.

 

[ga. prime]

Good post, Lucky_P.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Glad to see you're still around, Fred! Yes, you can put them in small calves. You should not put them in heifers that you plan to keep for breeding since it could foul up their reproductive cycle. Check the label like Ken said. The use of implants is recommended (to be used in non-reproductive stock) by every cattle association and veterinarian that I've been aquainted with. Some of us have to raise beef for the masses- if everybody raised beef without the use of implants, wormers, fly sprays, preventatives, and medicines, beef would be unaffordable to the average consumer.

Very well said.
Also, Lucky P, that was an excellent explaination. I knew all that info, but would never have been able to spit it out!!! :lol: :lol: