ya know, that is where I am lucky. They don't have kids that show. We had a WONDERFUL rate of gain on this calf. On March 3rd he weighed in at 880# and weighed at a jackpot on 6/16 after we had cut him back some and he was gaining 3.33333 day. Before that, we weighed him on the scales at the feedstore and we had 1320. Which at that point had put him at 5.25#/day. So he had been cut down about 2.5 weeks when we weighed him at the jackpot. So the rate of gain is somewhere in there between the two. As far as a lot of help, I wish I could. We are just learning too. I know we stuck with the general rule of them of 3% of body weight and added from there. We feed grass hay but in limited quanities and make sure they clean their feed up first. Are you feeding a "show ration"?
I will look for some recipes on Breeders world and send them your way. In fact, go check out
www.breedersworld.com and do a search for some recipes. There are many that are ready to go like Purina, Ranchway, Moormans etc...but frankly, we can't afford them. I am paying $260/ton for this and it has everything but the hay in it.
We have a feed store locally that I do some business with but his kids too show calves and the wife is more than helpful, but the husband kind of keeps things to himself at times. Is your calf home bred and grown or did you buy it from a breeder? We bought from a local breeder and he is the cat's meow when it comes to helping the kids.
We keep our steer with a partner. (my daughter's heifer right now). They eat better with two's when there is some competition. We keep him cool. I know when I am hot and miserable, I don't feel like eating much either. You can give him some vit B12 either by injection or orally top dressed on his feed. We also feed probiotics once a week to just get better absorbtion. Make sure you worm him a couple times if you have dry climate, maybe more if it is wet, I am not sure on that. The feed we use has molasses in it to get them to like it. Is the steer eating all the food now? If not, cut back some. That way he is hungry at the second feeding of the day. If so, up him just a smidge at a time, like a 1/2 can. Feed for about 4-7 days and then up him again. Oh ya, there is a product called optiflex from elanco. It is said to increase muscle mass and improve wieght gain. Never tried it ourselves.
Good luck and keep posted. Go visit that website and the
www.clubcalf.com www.cattletoday.com and
www.showsteers.com
They have alot of stupid comments on there, but there are some really smart people with alot of experience willing to offer practicle adivse.
