How to hold a steer back?

[Chris H]

We have a super nice Hereford bull calf we'd like to steer for our grandson's first 4-H steer project. The problem is he is 7 months old now, 700 lbs, and our fair is just over 9 months away. We'd have to hold him back to just under 2.5 lbs gain/day to keep him from getting too big.
We show heifers & bulls, so it's usually 'the bigger the better' as long as they're not too fat. We took a steer for open class a few years ago, fed the same way as our heifers and he weighed almost 1600 lbs. A friend's son took one of our steers last year and at 13 months old at his fair the steer weighed 1200 lbs and won the rate of gain.
On full feed I'd expect this calf to gain over 3 lbs/day based on his growth to date, his sire & dam's performance, and half sibling's performance.
Is it possible to hold a steer back without growing too much frame and still finish nicely at the slower growth rate? Or should we just pick another younger one and full feed him like we usually feed our (non 4-H) steers?

For what it's worth, this boy wouldn't be steered, except he had pinkeye that's left him with a bit of an impairment to his vision in his left eye. Not a big deal for a steer, but it would hurt him as a bull.

 

[L Weir]

How big is your grandson? Do you think he would be afraid of handling the steer when it gets big? I would maybe find a younger calf for the first year. We made the mistake with our daughters first 4-H steer and picked a steer that got too big for her. She got a little afraid of it as it got older. The steer was gentle. She didn't want a steer last year. So this year we let her pick the steer she wanted which is a little sim/ angus steer twin.

 

[Cowboy 2.0]

Gonna be hard, but it's possible. Keep him cut back like he is and then whem he gets closer to his ideal weight, then you start cutting back feed and water and feed a lot of hay and other filler.

 

[Moocow11]

i would just feed him a little feed for a awhile(4-5 lbs) and then give him grass hay, so he wont be gaining much.and then whne he gets to the right weight at the right time(i will figure it out later and then post) then get him on full feed and he will be able to gain his 3 lbs a day with out getting to big. i will post the rest latter

 

[Chris H]

Decided he's going to our friend's boys. Their fair is a month and a half before ours. We'll pick a younger calf that will be about 14 months for our fair. I don't know if he'll be able to handle a steer by the time it's finished, and that older one needs to be shown. He's doing OK so far, he showed a November heifer this summer in Open class. He was 8 this summer.

 

[*Cowgirl*]

My youngest brother was 8 when he first started. His first "calf" was a 1200 pound 15 m.o. chiX(simXangus) he had issues holding her head up, but as long as the calf is well broke, the child shouldn't have too much trouble.

 

[ArrowHBrand]

Really you should look at his frame size. If you hold him back on feed and he has a large frame he is going to look thin and undernourished. If he is a smaller frame and he gets a 3lb./day RofG, he is going to look fat. Slow is feed intake for a month or so and re-evaluate what he looks like. He needs nice cover and finish to compete, but not be gawdawfully fat.

 

[Chris H]

Really you should look at his frame size. If you hold him back on feed and he has a large frame he is going to look thin and undernourished. If he is a smaller frame and he gets a 3lb./day RofG, he is going to look fat. Slow is feed intake for a month or so and re-evaluate what he looks like. He needs nice cover and finish to compete, but not be gawdawfully fat.

That's what I was thinking about too. He has the potential to develop too much frame unless he's fed to finish at a younger age. He'll be good for our friends.