How long on high grain diet to see any carcass effects

[Millerlanefarms]

Looking to add a few steers to the freezer and have a line on a few grass fed organic steers that are 1100 ish lbs. We are not a fan on grassfed as a rule and would like to feed them out grain to finish them. With the weight they are at now whats the minimum we would need to feed to see any inter muscular fat deposits and carcass quality changes from grain.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SBMF 2015]

90 days after you get them worked up to the level of corn you want them at. At 1,100lbs they could be eating 22lbs/Hd/day. You just can't start them out there. Start them at 10lbs and increase 1/2lb every three or four days. Then just stay on that schedule until they are leaving feed in the bunk the next morning. 2% of their body weight in corn is usually considered a finishing ration.

 

[Stocker Steve]

90 days after you get them worked up to the level of corn you want them at. At 1,100lbs they could be eating 22lbs/Hd/day. You just can't start them out there. Start them at 10lbs and increase 1/2lb every three or four days. Then just stay on that schedule until they are leaving feed in the bunk the next morning. 2% of their body weight in corn is usually considered a finishing ration.

After hand feeding a few - - the range of max corn consumption seems to be very wide. Some top out at about 2% of BW per day while others will eat much more. What is the risk at over 2% of BW corn with finishing pellet mix per day?

 

[SBMF 2015]

90 days after you get them worked up to the level of corn you want them at. At 1,100lbs they could be eating 22lbs/Hd/day. You just can't start them out there. Start them at 10lbs and increase 1/2lb every three or four days. Then just stay on that schedule until they are leaving feed in the bunk the next morning. 2% of their body weight in corn is usually considered a finishing ration.

After hand feeding a few - - the range of max corn consumption seems to be very wide. Some top out at about 2% of BW per day while others will eat much more. What is the risk at over 2% of BW corn with finishing pellet mix per day?

Once you get them worked up to that 22-25lbs/day then they would be ready for a self feeder. I've had some really good steers get up over 30lbs a day about a month before they were finished.
I guess the risk is over eating. As long as you provide a little roughage to keep their gut right they can eat over 2%.
I've cranked some thin market cows 32lbs of cracked corn and supplement a day. Implant and worm them then work them up on feed. Once you get them going their like corn vacuums.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Do you think the expensive beef builder type pellets are needed in the mix to self feed a cracked corn mix?

 

[SBMF 2015]

A good friend of mine uses Purina Acuration. The only roughage those cattle get is from their deep pack bedding.
U.S.Feeds used to have a feed line called Linebacker. Is was pelleted supplement with best pulp as built in roughage.
Cattle need some kind of scratch to keep their stomach working.

 

[TexasBred]

A good friend of mine uses Purina Acuration. The only roughage those cattle get is from their deep pack bedding.
U.S.Feeds used to have a feed line called Linebacker. Is was pelleted supplement with best pulp as built in roughage.
Cattle need some kind of scratch to keep their stomach working.

Some of those Accuration mixes contain very little if any corn. They'll be comprised of rice bran, wheat midds and soyhulls. Very high in fiber.

 

[SBMF 2015]

A good friend of mine uses Purina Acuration. The only roughage those cattle get is from their deep pack bedding.
U.S.Feeds used to have a feed line called Linebacker. Is was pelleted supplement with best pulp as built in roughage.
Cattle need some kind of scratch to keep their stomach working.

Some of those Accuration mixes contain very little if any corn. They'll be comprised of rice bran, wheat midds and soyhulls. Very high in fiber.

All depends on what ration you are making: creep/starter, grower, or finisher. We were buying the Accuration supplement and grinding our own feed. If I remember correctly it was two hundred lbs of Accuration and 1,800 lbs of cracked corn to make a ton of grower.

 

[Stickney94]

With the weight they are at now whats the minimum we would need to feed to see any inter muscular fat deposits and carcass quality changes from grain.

I think the science isn't much in your favor. Marbling begins early in an animals life so if these are 15 month old grass fed animals you may not improve marbling much.

The suggestions you've gotten are all good though for fattening these up for slaughter.

 

[TexasBred]

A good friend of mine uses Purina Acuration. The only roughage those cattle get is from their deep pack bedding.
U.S.Feeds used to have a feed line called Linebacker. Is was pelleted supplement with best pulp as built in roughage.
Cattle need some kind of scratch to keep their stomach working.

Some of those Accuration mixes contain very little if any corn. They'll be comprised of rice bran, wheat midds and soyhulls. Very high in fiber.

All depends on what ration you are making: creep/starter, grower, or finisher. We were buying the Accuration supplement and grinding our own feed. If I remember correctly it was two hundred lbs of Accuration and 1,800 lbs of cracked corn to make a ton of grower.

You bought the concentrate and added corn. The complete accuration feeds "ready to feed" may or may not contain corn and never at the level you were mixing it. I would call the ration you mix more of a finisher than a grower.