Oh Joy

[Misty]

My son showed his steer Friday night and placed 3rd overall. No I don't have pictures, forgot the camera.
Anyway, our "real" fair is 30 days from now. We weighed him last night and he is ....1425 and still not finished!!! We have added some corn to his ration. Our beef leader said he has 3 ribs he needs covered yet. He is a really big boy. He is really nice, and I hope there is a steer there who matches him well so he will have a shot at Grand or Reserve. What is everyone's experience with huge calves at your shows? This is only our second year in beef and we didn't have this problem the time before.
Thanks

 

[iowahawkeyes]

No decent judge would pick a calf that big. It's carcass is too big and you said he still needs 3 ribs covered, that's a lot more weight.

Better find a smaller framed calf for next year or you'll be in the same situation.

 

[Misty]

that is what I figured...He sure didn't look that big framed in November...He looked pretty average. But it is a county fair and not a huge one at that. So we may not have a decent judge!!

 

[VCC]

I have a question for you, when you weighed him in was he full or empty, if he was full you can lose close to 60 to 80 pounds by weighing him in empty. That means about a week before the fair start giving him electrolytes in his feed, the day before weigh-in hold back his water and feed, give a tube of Cellarator Turbo, small amount of grass hay to give him something to chew on. After you weigh-in, give him another tube of Cellarator Turbo, 2 gallons water, then a about 2 pounds grain and free choice grass hay, repeat this until he no longer needs drinks or eat.

As far as the finish feed him Fast Fat with his feed, cut back on some of the grain and add beet pulp. Cut about 4 pound of feed a day and add that much beet pulp or filler to his feed.

 

[Misty]

He had eaten. My son had fed him first because he had a football thing to go to. How much water he drank, we have no clue.
We were going to hold his water and feed the night before.
As far as the water, feed, hay and cellerator turbo, how long inbetween do you wait? 1 hour or 2 or????
Thanks

 

[VCC]

You want to repeat the water and feed every hour or so, you don't repeat the tube. You want to have an extra tube on hand just in case he needs a boost the next morning. If the steer had eaten and had a lot of water, it could put up to 100 pounds on him. We keep our calves tied all day at home so by the end of the day they are fairly empty that is a good time to check their weight if you have access to a scale. You might be fine for your fair just by not feeding or watering him the morning before you weigh.

 

[Misty]

He probably tanked up water for sure as they were tied in the barn all day. He drinks before he goes in and again in there during the day. I don't know how much a thirsty steer will drink in one setting but I do know one gallon weighs 8#.
I gues I don't understand how the beet pulp and fillers will help with condition. The way I am thinking that fills them so they won't eat. But maybe with the fast fat it puts on the condition but not the weight gain???
We have 29 days until show now.
How long does it take fast fat to work?

 

[VCC]

The Fastfat will put the finish on, feed 1.5-2 pounds a day, start him out with 1/2 pound per feeding work your way up. Start him now, we feed it for about 30 days before the show.
You are right, feed the filler to slow down the weight gain. Our last steer was getting more filler than feed, with the fast fat. Your trying to hold the wieght and still but cover on.
Good luck and let us know how you do.

 

[Misty]

I am taking that it worked well for you? I may need to do that.
Thanks for you help and I will keep you posted.

 

[Misty]

We reweighed today, he is 1480. Going to take away more of the feed and add some more oats.
He is filling out and looking good though. Very complete.
I am really happy with him. Even if he is too big.

 

[Maineshowgirl]

Get some FastFat that's going to be the best thing that will work fast. Good Luck ;-)

 

[Misty]

we are using Natural Glo and it is working well. We show a week from Thursday. Weigh a week from Wed.
Thanks. I thought about fast fat after we got this stuff started.
Misty