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Finishing Steer questions
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<blockquote data-quote="rlrobinhood" data-source="post: 1850577" data-attributes="member: 40025"><p>Hi all,</p><p></p><p>We've been raising cattle for about four years and are now paying a lot of attention to finishing. We have a very small herd (2 pregnant Scottish Highland cows, 1 pregnant black angus and a steer). The steer is a cross, Panda (small bull) and black angus (cow). The steer was born on the 4th of July (no joke, lol). We have a butcher date of September 5th. The steer has been weened (we used a nose weener) and has been fed hay during the winter.</p><p></p><p>Although we live in Wyoming, I was born and raised in Iowa. The last cow we kept and butchered was 100% grass raised. I miss the Iowa corn belt fed and finished meat, so we want to grain finish this steer. I'd like to hear suggestions and recommendations on how to best go about this.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">During the winter, the cows have had full access to over winter pasture. We've also been feeding them hay twice a day hay and about 4lbs of corn a day (for the herd of 4).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">We are continuing to feed them the same but have them in a corral to allow the pasture grass to grow a little before we kick them out on pasture. We rotational graze in the spring/summer and will be kicking the cows out to pasture in the next couple weeks.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The steer is the lowest in the pecking order, so he likely is not getting much corn, but gets plenty of leftover hay.</li> </ul> <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Would it be OK to separate out the steer and leave him in the corral by himself to finish? This would allow him full access to hay and grain. If not, what would you recommend?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Because we are such a small operation, we buy corn by the bag. Is there a different product you would recommend instead (like sweet feed or something else)?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">We were thinking that if we separate the steer, we will begin feeding him 5 lbs. of corn a day and then bump that up 1 lbs. per a week for the next 4 weeks. Then bump it 1/2 lbs. per a week till butcher. We will also make 20-25 lbs. of hay available each day. <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Another option is I also have access to barley straw that has a fair amount of seed in it as well.</li> </ol></li> </ol><p></p><p>Thanks in advance for wisdom and guidance. I've learned so much here just lurking and searching. Much appreciated!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="rlrobinhood, post: 1850577, member: 40025"] Hi all, We've been raising cattle for about four years and are now paying a lot of attention to finishing. We have a very small herd (2 pregnant Scottish Highland cows, 1 pregnant black angus and a steer). The steer is a cross, Panda (small bull) and black angus (cow). The steer was born on the 4th of July (no joke, lol). We have a butcher date of September 5th. The steer has been weened (we used a nose weener) and has been fed hay during the winter. Although we live in Wyoming, I was born and raised in Iowa. The last cow we kept and butchered was 100% grass raised. I miss the Iowa corn belt fed and finished meat, so we want to grain finish this steer. I'd like to hear suggestions and recommendations on how to best go about this. [LIST] [*]During the winter, the cows have had full access to over winter pasture. We've also been feeding them hay twice a day hay and about 4lbs of corn a day (for the herd of 4). [*]We are continuing to feed them the same but have them in a corral to allow the pasture grass to grow a little before we kick them out on pasture. We rotational graze in the spring/summer and will be kicking the cows out to pasture in the next couple weeks. [*]The steer is the lowest in the pecking order, so he likely is not getting much corn, but gets plenty of leftover hay. [/LIST] [LIST=1] [*]Would it be OK to separate out the steer and leave him in the corral by himself to finish? This would allow him full access to hay and grain. If not, what would you recommend? [*]Because we are such a small operation, we buy corn by the bag. Is there a different product you would recommend instead (like sweet feed or something else)? [*]We were thinking that if we separate the steer, we will begin feeding him 5 lbs. of corn a day and then bump that up 1 lbs. per a week for the next 4 weeks. Then bump it 1/2 lbs. per a week till butcher. We will also make 20-25 lbs. of hay available each day. [LIST=1] [*]Another option is I also have access to barley straw that has a fair amount of seed in it as well. [/LIST] [/LIST] Thanks in advance for wisdom and guidance. I've learned so much here just lurking and searching. Much appreciated! [/QUOTE]
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