feeding holstein steers

JMP · Jul 30, 2010

looking for some imformation on feeding out calves from 3 days old to market how much corn,protein ,hay best weight to market and how long to finish date I do realize you have to feed a bag of milk replacer and some starter pellets Thanks John

JMS/.MN · Jul 31, 2010

Google "Doboy pellet program for steers". Read about Tendr-Lean.

gene bender · Jul 31, 2010

Unless you have your own corn and hay barn ect forget it. So how many acres do you have?

JDseller · Jul 31, 2010

Holsteins grow faster than beef steers when they are young and then the beef steers out finish them. If you are wanting to sell them as finished steers then you had better have your own corn. These cost are per head.
1 bag milk replacer $55.00 (cheap stuff will cost you dead calves)
100 lbs calf pellets $17.00
100 bushels of corn $365.00
300 lbs Protein supplement $100.00
2000 lbs hay $175.00
You will have some other small costs for medicines etc. $50.00
the total would be $762.00 Plus what you give for the calf up front.
It will take the average Holstein steer around fifteen to sixteen months to get to finish weight. You will gross $1000-1100 per head so after you pay all of your costs you will make just $100-150 per head. Cattle feeding is a high capitol low margin business.

Bkpigs · Jul 31, 2010

Dad and I finish Holstein steers. Dad has been doin" it for about 30 years now (nothin big but we do make a small profit). We do not raise our own corn but we do ship them at about 1000 pounds. We sell to family and friends so we don"t take the hit for being lighter. The steers are usually right at 12 months of age when we sell them. We don"t feed any good hay, just limited "trash" (cornstalks, cheap grass hay, etc.) and they have pasture grass for the most part of thier life (until about 8 months of age, then it is winter and the pasture is done for). We feed corn and supplement mix from about 6 weeks on. Calf starter before that.

camju · Jul 31, 2010

We found leave them on grass and grass hay till almost 2 years old then put barly or corn to them for 1-2 months and they marble out much better

We were told that holstiens don't marbel till they hit at least 18- 20 months.
having been in the butcher end for4 years I have to agree.

john in la · Jul 31, 2010

I sure hope you have a farmer will to sell you calves straight off the farm.
Buying 3 day old Holstein calves at the sale barn can eat up that $150 per head profit JDseller mentioned just in taking care of sick calves.

4010 puller · Jul 31, 2010

I would say as 3 day olds, feed them milk replacer for 2-3 months. They seem to grow much quicker. It doesnt hurt to leave hay and water in front of them during this time and give them pellets more gradually from about 2-3 months on then when they get to eating pellets ok and are drinking some water, pull the milk.

RodinNS · Jul 31, 2010

If you want to go digging that hole you might as well at least look into 'barley beef' which is basically a feeding program where you push a high concentration of barley to holstein steers and finish them at 12-14 months.
IIRC the general idea is that you push a high starch, low/moderate protein diet as they're framey enough to grow anyway and the higher starch helps them marble. This is a low hay/no pasture system...
They are supposed to grade out well on this program.
Regardless I wouldn't expect to make a big fortune at it...

As far as calves go, get them onto an 18% starter right away and get them off milk at 6-8 weeks. Start them on a bit of hay once they're weaned... then get some more info on the transition into the barley diet.

Rod

feeding holstein steers

JMP

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JMS/.MN

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gene bender

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JDseller

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Bkpigs

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camju

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john in la

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4010 puller

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RodinNS

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