steers not gaining

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I've been feeding out some steers for butchering. I am fairly new to this business but we have fed out several steers and customers have been very happy with the beef. I also have a few head of commercial cows. The set of steers I have now haven't been gaining. They are on soy hull pellets from a creep feeder, hay, loose salt, and also high mag loose mineral although they do run out of high mag mineral now and then. Never run out of salt. My feed lot is about an 1 1/2acre and I have 9 steers. A few are steers from my cows and some are from a local friend. No difference in gain between mine and my friends. We weigh every Saturday. Gains were good back in January and February when weather was cold(2.2 to 2.5 lb per day average). Right after it warmed up they stopped gaining. After 2 weeks in a row of no gains, I used a pour on wormer. 2 more weeks of no gain. One of the pros in the area said he had trouble with pour on a while back so I got the vet out and used an injectable wormer. 2 weeks in row of gains and I thought the problem was solved. Weighed today and almost all lost the gains they accumulated the 2 weeks prior. They all look slick and healthy, just not gaining. Tired of filling the feed wagon for nothing. About to get hot here so they'll be laying in the shade all day. Have orders to fill in June but the way it's going I will not have them ready.
I would appreciate any advice.
 
There are people on here with more feed knowledge than I, so I will let them answer that. My vet recommends injectable and tube worming at the same time. Sounds like you could have gotten one stage of worms, now they have advanced again. Just guessing, since you had gains after worming.
 
What breed are they? and I'm going to go out on a limb and assume they're yearlings? I find my yearling heifers always grow better when it's cold, I think it's because they have to eat to stay warm, and the byproduct of that is they also gain weight, once it warms up outside, they aren't as hungry anymore. Since you said you had better gains after worming, perhaps that's the problem...
 
You tapped out- their daily maintenance requirements are being met. They need to be exceeded in order to gain weight. As they get bigger their maintenance needs increase. You will really notice this when they start growing frame.

Make sure you are weighing under the same conditions. The rumen itself can hold 25-40 lbs of fill. A big drink of water can really increase the daily gain figure.
 
They are angus and brangus steers. Little over a year old. Vary from 670lb to 880lb. How soon is too soon for another worming?
 
Maybe you should run a fecal test at the vet's and see if you even have parasites before you throw more dewormer at the problem.
 
I last set really started packing the weight on after they it about 850lb. That was last fall. Haven't changed anything. Same feed, same mineral. I will check on a fecal test before worming any more. Should this be something I do often? May help with the cows too. I don't think any of the guys around here ever do that but it would make sense to me.
 
zirlottkim":kr3qd6rj said:
They are angus and brangus steers. Little over a year old. Vary from 670lb to 880lb. How soon is too soon for another worming?
Click to expand...
At over a year old the Brangus should be pretty close to 1000lb. at least.
I think the fecal test is a great idea, then you will know for sure.
Frequency of worming depends on the wormer. And what kind of worms you find.
Better eval your feed as Nesi said. There are some really good feed Gurus on here!
 
zirlottkim":e8toqvz0 said:
I've been feeding out some steers for butchering. I am fairly new to this business but we have fed out several steers and customers have been very happy with the beef. I also have a few head of commercial cows. The set of steers I have now haven't been gaining. They are on soy hull pellets from a creep feeder, hay, loose salt, and also high mag loose mineral although they do run out of high mag mineral now and then. Never run out of salt. My feed lot is about an 1 1/2acre and I have 9 steers. A few are steers from my cows and some are from a local friend. No difference in gain between mine and my friends. We weigh every Saturday. Gains were good back in January and February when weather was cold(2.2 to 2.5 lb per day average). Right after it warmed up they stopped gaining. After 2 weeks in a row of no gains, I used a pour on wormer. 2 more weeks of no gain. One of the pros in the area said he had trouble with pour on a while back so I got the vet out and used an injectable wormer. 2 weeks in row of gains and I thought the problem was solved. Weighed today and almost all lost the gains they accumulated the 2 weeks prior. They all look slick and healthy, just not gaining. Tired of filling the feed wagon for nothing. About to get hot here so they'll be laying in the shade all day. Have orders to fill in June but the way it's going I will not have them ready.
I would appreciate any advice.
Click to expand...


I'd question the nutritional value of the feed except you claim to have been getting 2.2-2.5 # per day earlier
Has the quality of the feed changed
Are they getting enough feed
What frame size are the cattle

A picture is worth a thousand words
 
Put some grain in the mix and kick the energy levels up some. Soyhulls are very digestible but not designed for feeder cattle. Probably would help to just find you a good complete grain ration and go with it. Start weighing about every 10--14 days.....one good crap on the way to the scale will screw up your numbers completely and drive you crazy.
 
Thanks for all the input. I'll try and get some pictures on tomorrow if it's not flooding here. I am thinking of adding some corn gluten pellets with the soy. Anyone have an opinion on corn gluten?
 
zirlottkim":1n79ll9q said:
Thanks for all the input. I'll try and get some pictures on tomorrow if it's not flooding here. I am thinking of adding some corn gluten pellets with the soy. Anyone have an opinion on corn gluten?
Click to expand...

Have fed lots of 50/50 corn gluten/sh mix with free choice hay. Calves do well on it. When fed free choice plus free choice hay, they will eat about 20% hay and 80% cg/sh. Should gain 2+#/day easy. Some may say protein will be on high side but they perform well. Could try 1/3 sh, 1/3 cgf, 1/3 corn mix. Should be cheaper than just cg/sh mix and gain better.
 

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