OT.feeding beefcows

cbd · Jan 9, 2011

Hi all hows everybody!when raising a beef for butcher,feeding him 3 one pound coffe cans in the morning and 3 at evening too much grain.i also give him 3 patches of hay each feeding.he is a hereford.thanks for any advice or ideals
cbd

Lumpie · Jan 9, 2011

Geez dude, you're starving that critter. You'll never get him to slaughter weight only feeding him six pounds of grain a day. Don't know what he weighs right now, but eventually he'll be eating a five gallon bucket full twice a day. Give him all the good quality hay he wants, until he starts wasting it.

billonthefarm · Jan 9, 2011

Best thing I can tell you is find someone near you that has some livestock background and get some advice. Feeding a butcher calf aint rocket science but sounds like you could use a hand. Good luck.
bill

M Nut · Jan 9, 2011

Actually, if you're not in a hurry , and you like lean meat, I'll bet that you'll really like that critter when he is up to butcher size. My neighbor butchers 2 steers a year, at two years of age, and he gives an icecream pail morning and night of ground corn to 4 animals. The two yearlings and the two 2yr olds. Very lean meat when they are processed.

cbd · Jan 9, 2011

he is 15 mo.about 600. I can increase feed amont.When do you wean from mother?He is weaned just asking.

M Nut · Jan 9, 2011

Are you sure he is 15 months old and 600 lbs? Our herford calves wean at 600+ lbs at 7-8 month of age. He should be every bit of 1000lbs at 15 months.

cbd · Jan 9, 2011

Billonthefarm are you saying i should feed more.if so what amount.

Iowa Farmer · Jan 9, 2011

I don"t know if you have a Kent feed dealer nearby, but mine carries a handy little book with rations using their most populat Baby Beef protiens and different formulations of corn, alfalfa, haylage and silage. They also have formulations using co-products, both wet and dry. The book is free and quite handy. As a general rule, you want to feed the calf 3% of their body weight total (grain and hay both) each day. So, a 600 lb steer would get around 10 lbs of corn, 7.5 lbs of mixed hay and .75 lbs of protien supplement. An 1150 lb steer would get 21.0 lbs of corn, 3 lbs. of mixed hay and 1.0 lbs of protien supplement. Hope this helps!

IF

RMinVa · Jan 9, 2011

I have a 12 month old heifer that's eating 3/4 of a 5 gallon bucket of course cracked corn a day now and increasing every 3-4 days. She has all the hay she wants in a ring. I've fed steers that had no problem eating 25 pounds of corn a day. More if I had given it to them.

PJH · Jan 9, 2011

You have to be careful about increasing the corn intake too quickly - you can founder him.

Like Bill said - find someone in your area to give you helpful advice, not that we don't want to help, but it's risky without seeing the situation.

Paul

gene bender · Jan 9, 2011

The wt is wrong or else its not beeing fed very well should weigh that much off the cow at weaning. At 15mo should be ready for market at 1100lbs. Something is wrong here.

camju · Jan 9, 2011

I never feed my steers any grain exept maybe a treat.There 12-1500 Lbs at 1.5-2 years old.They get good alfalfa hay and butcher them strait off the pasture.Meat has good marbling but they don't have neerly the fat on the back that is all a waist anyway.Never had a tough eating one yet.

Uncle Ernie · Jan 9, 2011

Ma had the bright idea once that she should buy and feed up a beefer. Dad tried to tell her how to do it but she was way smarter than him. She fed her beef the same rations as the Holstien dary cows in the barn with her. And maybe a bit more. That beef was the fattest, poorest meat animal Dad and I even saw. Couldn't hardly eat the meat for all the fat. What a waste...

cj in wisconsin · Jan 10, 2011

I assume he is getting all the hay he wants or else he will starve to death on those rations. I feed mine all the hay they can eat and just a little grain daily, they do great! Overfeeding will not necessarily give you better meat, too much fat does not make the meat better and you would be just wasting feed!

OT.feeding beefcows

cbd

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Lumpie

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M Nut

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cbd

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M Nut

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cbd

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Iowa Farmer

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RMinVa

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PJH

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gene bender

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camju

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