Steers Off Feed aka Frustration Game

[CattleAnnie]

Good day, all. Sure could use some advice from you folks.

I've got a question that maybe should have been in the Show part of this site, but figuring as it's pertaining to feed stuck it here.

The 'AppleDumpling Gang' decided to give Beef 4H a go. We walked through the steers in the fall and they picked their 'projects', got them started on rolled oats, switched them over to rolled barley/oat ration with some Bovatec pellets. They get very little roughage... a few pounds per head.

Now I'm just kind of winging it with the kids, as when I was a kid Dad sold all the calves in the fall except for his replacements, and they never were on the sort of intense grain ration that these wooly boogers are. (Honey and I do the same here. Couple pounds a day of rolled barley for the replacements and free choice hay. We're producers that don't background our steers.)


Here's the problem. Little butthead 4H steers keep going off their feed in the warmer weather we were having. Steers are around the eight weight mark - give or take (should finish at around 1200 lbs or so I'm guessing).

We've tried cutting back the ration, but it's fairly frustrating. When the kidlings switched them onto the barley, the steers had been eating up to 18lbs of the oats a day per animal. Currently getting the 'showburgers' to polish off 8 lbs each of the mixed ration is an achievement. Going on week two of this nonsense.

Help!!

(My kidlings are feeling pretty blue - worrying that their steers won't gain enough to finish and be sold in June)

Thanks for any and all advice. Take care.

 

[fellersbarnoneranch]

Maybe you could appeal to their "sweet tooth"? When our steers back off feed in the lot, they get some sweet feed mixed in to get them going. Wishing good luck and good cheer to the "apple dumlin' gang"

 

[jkwilson]

Don't have much experience feeding barley down here in the corn belt. I would think your steers ought to be going through 8 lbs each, morning and night. With the oats and Bovatec, I'd think they would be ok on rumen pH.

I would consider two things: Add some molasses to the feed (about a half cup per steer), mixed with water, just before you feed them, or mix in a little commercial sweet feed. Second, if you aren't feeding a commercially mixed feed, you need to include a good vitamin and mineral supplement to keep their digestive system cranking to use all of the feed. Calcium and Vitamin A are two of the more important ones.

 

[Big D]

Here are my thoughts on this.
Is there any green growing grass... in the pen?
If so, might your steers be consuming this instead of their mixed feed?
Are you feeding the correct level of bovatech? Ionophores can act as feed limiters, (especially rumensin) if fed at high enough levels. Are the bovatech pellets being mixed?
What is your protein source? Barley and oats will not have adeqaute protein for fast gaining cattle. Low protein can contribute to low feed intake.
Did these steers get stepped up to the higher barley ration? Oats are high in fiber, however the barley has less and one would need to gradually work up to the higher barley level. Whether or not this is the case, I would reintroduce long stem hay for at least a week. This should help get consumption back up.

 

[jerry27150]

my feed book says bovatec is for cattle under 800 lbs, don't know what effect it would have on bigger ones, you increased the energy considerable when you added the barley which may have led to acidosis. might try adding baking soda & molasses to help them get going

 

[Jake]

Here are my thoughts on this.
Is there any green growing grass... in the pen?
If so, might your steers be consuming this instead of their mixed feed?
Are you feeding the correct level of bovatech? Ionophores can act as feed limiters, (especially rumensin) if fed at high enough levels. Are the bovatech pellets being mixed?
What is your protein source? Barley and oats will not have adeqaute protein for fast gaining cattle. Low protein can contribute to low feed intake.
Did these steers get stepped up to the higher barley ration? Oats are high in fiber, however the barley has less and one would need to gradually work up to the higher barley level. Whether or not this is the case, I would reintroduce long stem hay for at least a week. This should help get consumption back up.

I'll about guarantee you that she has no green grass in the pen........

 

[CattleAnnie]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. We've had a four day blizzard blowing through here and now it's leaving with a 30km/hr wind so I've been a bit busy with the calves, etc.

Update on the wooly boogers: Took them right off the oats (oh, and I screwed up - they're not getting Bovatec - it's Rumensin - I really need these cows to finish calving so I can get a good night's sleep ;-) ) and introduced a Bull Ration that's pretty sweet- mixed 50/50 with the rolled barley. That seems to be more to their taste as the bums are finally licking the bunker clean (yay! happy kids!). Currently working their way slowly back up the 20lbs a day, so all sunshine and roses here where they're concerned.

Take care and thanks again.

ps. Jake's right about the grass....we won't see any of that till the second week in May, unless we're really lucky and have an early spring. Sure do enjoy seeing all the lovely green in the pictures from the southern climes.

 

[Jake]

ps. Jake's right about the grass....

:lol: 8)

 

[TXCHICK]

May also want to give them some b-12 and probios.

 

[Bez]

CA

I suspect you are feeding a home grown mix of feed for your "show stoppers".

When we were in Fairview, we went to BOCA Feeds in Fairview and oldest daughter used their specific 4H mix. They provided the feed free of charge from start to finish - and the kids paid off the bill after the final 4H sale.

They provided a schedule for the feed, and the recipie if we wanted it. All we ever added was about a teaspoon of Kelated mineral.

In our time there, they were the experts on feed - Daughter won the whole shebang using their feed and their advice.

You might want to give them a call at 780 835 3803. If they are still doing this, they seemed to always have the answer.

Best regards

Bez

 

[CattleAnnie]

Thanks for the info about the Fairview mill, Bez. And thanks for the tip, TXChick.

Currently the mix is called "Bull Ration" from Champion Feeds in Grande Prairie.

It's 20% (min)Crude Protein, 1.25%(max) ECP, 3.0%(min) Crude Fat, 6.0%(max) Crude Fiber, 0.7%(act)Sodium, 0.08%(act)Calcium, 0.36%(act)Phosphorous, 41,000 IU/kg(min) Vitamin A, 4,000 IU/kg (min) Vitamin D, 93 IU/kg (min) Vitamin E.

It's medicated with monesin sodium (Rumensin) at the rate of 55 mg/kg.

The hairballs still seem to be gobbling it up with great gusto, so hopefully we're over the picky eating hump now.

Once again, my sincere thanks to all who posted suggestions - especially on behalf of the Apple Dumpling Gang.

Take care.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Hey all,

Hard drive on PC crashed about a month back and have been missing all the fine folks on this site. Sorry to hear about the US BSE case...hope it works out better in the end for the American cattlemen and women than it did for us.

Anyway, just wanted to post a couple pictures of the kidlings and their 4H beef projects on June 6 Achievement Day Show and Sale (unfortunately for my eldest daughter, her calf was kitty-wonkers and we decided it would be too dangerous both to her and the other kids to bring it...she's hoping for a quieter calf next year).

The first steer went second in his weight/frame class, and the local vet bought him to show himself at our local Fall Fair in August.

The second steer placed fifth in his weight/frame class (not bad for a twin that was orphaned at one week of age and bottle fed for three weeks till I had a cow to graft him on).

Many thanks to all those who offered advice when the bums were off their feed from the Appledumpling Gang and myself.

Take care and happy haying.

 

[ollie]

Hey there GURU Annie. Nice pics of the kiddlings and nice pair of steers. Glad it worked out for you . Hope the kids enjoied themselves. How are you doing otherwise. I havn't seen you on here in awhile. You still jamming those big rig gears??? I think I met you on the road the other day. She was on my side. Take care

 

[Bez]

Welcome back m'dear - have missed you.

Wife and were chatting about you just the other day - we sure miss that country you and I shared a few years back. Nothing like a moose in the meadows with the mountains in the back drop.

Glad all things went reasonably well - you still driving?

Warmest regards,

Bez

 

[Texan]

Sure good to hear from you, Annie. We miss out on one of our best cattlemen with you gone. Try to make some time for us when you can, please.

 

[la4angus]

Welcome back Annie. We sure been missing you not only on the boards but also our late evening PM's. Stay in touch. The kids and their projects look great.

 

[Jake]

great to have ya back Annie, sure missed your input, hard to keep these guys in line without ya ;-) :lol:

 

[frenchie]

hey Annie good to see you back on here

 

[Medic24]

Glad to see you back... the younguns look like they did a great job with those calves! Congrats! :cboy: