First Steer - A Few Questions

Glad you got somebody coming to put a eye on him....glad you also thought of the people on scales.......I searched the web for a 1300 pound steer picture..and found one on youtube......check out this link the steer is with a little bitty girl but you can see what a 1300 pound steer should look like..... .. see how much meat he has on shoulders and butt...this is a weighted 1300 pounds

I would eat it immediately.

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Deja Moo; The feeling I've heard this bull before.

for what reasons?

Immediately isn't really an option for us. November is the earliest we could swing it.

Because we are waiting a while anyhow, I think I agree that it is best to grain him to improve the meat. While he is huge to me (I'm still used to sheep), he doesn't show the signs I have read to look for for a "finished" steer, namely the fat around the tail, and he still has "wrinkly" skin in the front.

we don't "finish" anything. the diet is pretty much the same till the end. A little grain and pasture/hay.
1300 pounds is big enough for us and this is the right time of the year.

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Deja Moo; The feeling I've heard this bull before.

Anyone know why my last reply to this post got bumped?

Liberty..I do not know....but I have it happen to me all the time.....


because I click the enter button on key board...like on most sites it post it...but here you have to click on the POST REPLY


do not know if that what happen to you but I do it it a lot

I've only slaughtered a dozen steers, never close them in, only add 2 lbs a day sweet feed, I like the lean beef, start the grain 2 mths before butcher and stop 2 wks before butcher. Butcher in the winter at least a couple of weeks after the 1st frost-kill off any onion grass and richer fresh grass growth. A couple of steers butchered straight out of the field no grain and they were great aswell.

Libertys ledge has some very good ideas, the 18% dairy feed produces a leaner type of beef, the cornmeal feed will increase the fat on the steer, I try to finish them for the last 6 - 8 weeks on feed and keep them as confined as possible. Even though I do sell quarters or half's I'm still eating the beef I sell and if I don't make as much money on the sale of beef, I know I'm still raising cheaper than the supermarket and a much better cut of beef.

I don't eat tough beef and don't expect anyone who buys from me to eat tough beef either. And it's cheaper than the super market

So my brother in law took a look at it and said it did have a disease, noassatall

He said it certainly wouldn't do well at a fair, but that it was still a good trade for the sheep. He agreed that it "wouldn't hurt" to worm it, and that the weight we were told was probably a little high, but not outrageous. (I forgot to ask if he could guess at an age).

I got what I think is a great deal on rolled corn and barley mixed, so I have 1,245 Lbs of grain, and about 1,600 Lbs of alfalfa cubes (5/6 of a ton). I'm feeding the cubes basically free choice, and feeding about 15 Lbs of the grain, 7.5 in the morning and the same in the evening. The two ram lambs I have are able to get a little of the grain, so they'll probably be a little on the fat side when I sell them as Christmas lambs.

On another note, I got a halter on him yesterday. Despite the size, he was pretty easy to halter, considering it was the first time he had been haltered. We left him haltered to a post for a few hours then left the lead rope to drag over night. He seems to be doing well with it. I just need to be able to lead him by the time he's ready for slaughter.