How to get a steer to eat?

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if thats the case maybe you could get some alfalfa and slip him a flake every once in a while or something. 3 gallons is a little over half a 5 gallon bucket... so if hes getting that at night and 1 and 1/2 gallons in the morning hes probably burn out on feed. how much do you want him to eat?
 
also, he may be getting full on hay before you feed him. you might want to limit his hay before feeding the grain, and only allow access after he's eaten the grain. like put it in a separate area and turn him out when hes through eating. or you could feed him less hay during the day so he eats more feed at night and then give more hay at night since he will eat less in the morning..
i/m assuming hes cleaning up in the morning but not in the afternoon?
 
restrict his hay during the day is all i can think of...
freechoice hay at night after he eats all the grain he will
 
after we get done blowing them and stuff we untie them take there halters off and let them eat. then about 30 mins to 1 hour we go back and give them there hay.We are thinking sense we dont ty them up while feeding the heifer finish before the steer and then she goes to his feed and eats it all gone because she is really fat. But then when we tie them up to eat her feed is gone and his is'nt. what can we do?
 
Try feeding him less but more frequently. instead of twice a day feed him 3 times instead, like maybe around a lunch give him a portion of what you would normally feed him and see if he will finish it all. tie him to eat or at least separate him from porkchop so she doesnt eat his feed. see if that works, if not start over and gradually up his feed until he is eating it all again.
 
If you think the heifer is eating his chow, get her outta there during feeding time. He's not competing with her, either due to an illness (possibly something with his mouth, does he appear to chew ok?) or maybe its just his disposition.

If you want him to eat more of your finishing ration, restrict his hay intake. An animal will eat approximately 3% of its body weight daily. So if you want him to eat 15 lbs of your ration, make sure you only give him 20lbs of hay. Feed your finishing ration in the evening only, hay after and during the day.

Rod
 
no, its easier to eat feed than hay.
try feeding him 3 times a day instead of two.
 
shorthorn cowgirl":3fgh4o0j said:
He chews fine but he does have a small under bite. would that cause it?

If hes chewing fine, then I doubt it. He may simply not be aggressive at the bunk.

Separate him at feeding time, and weight how much feed he's consuming. Without knowing how much he's truly eating, its pretty tough to make any recommendations for you.

When I was feeding Maine X calves, I found I really needed to hump the grain to them to get them finish properly.

Rod
 

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