Best guess, what's he weigh?

FarmerDavid · #1 09/11/13, 10:08 AM

Any guesses in what this steer weighs? I have never feed out a steer before and don't really know. I'm needing to get an appointment to get him processed and trying to decide when to do it.

Best guess, what's he weigh? - Cattle

agmantoo · #2 09/11/13, 10:41 AM

I cannot judge his weight from a pic however I would feed him till grass starts to fade from the onset of cold weather. Nice animal!

Grumpy old man · #3 09/11/13, 10:56 AM

450-500 I'd let him go a while longer say 14 to 16 months and over 1000 lbs at least . check cattletoday.com or many threads in here

MO_cows · #4 09/11/13, 11:09 AM

He looks in great condition and health but not finished. Hard to tell his size with nothing next to him for scale/reference. Guessing 800.

FarmerDavid · #5 09/11/13, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MO_cows

He looks in great condition and health but not finished. Hard to tell his size with nothing next to him for scale/reference. Guessing 800.

I'm guessing 900, he looks smaller in the pic but I'm not experienced at judging their weight. He is 14 months old, grass fed untrll a month ago I've been giving him ground corn to finish on. I'd like to get him processed nov 1. If I don't schedule it for then it'll be mid dec because of deer season. I'm thinking hell still be alittle small, but would love to have him back by thanksgiving. Guess I can up the corn he's getting about 15 lbs a day right now. How bad am I hurting myself if I take him in alittle small.

kycrawler · #6 09/11/13, 03:00 PM

7-800 brisket and rear quarters have hardly started filling out yet at all He has grown the frame now you are just hanging meat on him butcher now or schedule an appointment about april he is just now ready to go to a feed floor to be finished out and even then it would be 90-100 days on full feed to get him finished

Grumpy old man · #7 09/11/13, 04:06 PM

no where near 900 lbs he still looks too young to me you don't lose anything waiting

biggkidd · #8 09/11/13, 05:50 PM

He looks to small to me to. But to tell the truth I don't know any thing about cattle yet, just starting to learn.

Luck

Larry
A World Away

FarmerDavid · #9 09/11/13, 06:09 PM

He really looks bigger in person then in the pics but he's probably lighter then I thought. I really don't have the facilities to keep him seperated from the herd through winter. I could probably make a appointment to get him processed mid dec which would go along with agmans suggestion and then I'd have the small pasture he's in to use to wean as planned. Wouldn't have him for thanksgiving or Christmas but I don't want to waste money if there's not going to be much meat out of him. Haddnt planned on feeding him corn that long hopefully it'll improve the taste.

Allen W · #10 09/11/13, 07:51 PM

closer to 700 then 800

Grumpy old man · #11 09/12/13, 05:53 AM

Well I've sold a few and if I could get buyers to believe that is a 900 lb animal I could get rich fast !

FarmerDavid · #12 09/12/13, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Well I've sold a few and if I could get buyers to believe that is a 900 lb animal I could get rich fast !

Sorry I don't have your experience.

Grumpy old man · #13 09/12/13, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmerDavid

Sorry I don't have your experience.

You will soon ,

everybody learns as they go i've just had more time at it and still learning ,no disrespect here i had to learn myself and asked a lot of questions from the local farmers till the point I saw them shaking their heads when i was driving up their road ! now some call me when they need an extra hand .

Lazy J · #14 09/12/13, 09:09 AM

He's not close to being finished and from the photos it looks as if your pasture is gone. Were I you I would get that steer in a dry lot and feed it so it has a chance to finish by November 1.

What is his breeding?

topside1 · #15 09/12/13, 09:22 AM

If you want a guess, then mine is 800#....he has room to grow.

FarmerDavid · #16 09/13/13, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazy J

He's not close to being finished and from the photos it looks as if your pasture is gone. Were I you I would get that steer in a dry lot and feed it so it has a chance to finish by November 1.

What is his breeding?

That's a small field, just a few acres. id basically mob grazed it then brushhogged it before i sperated him, but ya there's not a lot of grass left. Hopefully we start getting some rains and well get fall growth. Ill just try and get him processes early winter like mid dec, so that'll give me three months to put weight on him. He's responded well to the grain so hopefully he can put on enough weight in 90 days. I guess if he's still quite a bit to small ill figure something else out then.

He's Beefmaster, born last July to a heifer. Hes gaining slower then I'd like but like I said he'd been 100% grass fed till last month. And we didn't have much grass a lot of that time.

CIW · #17 09/13/13, 01:33 PM

If I might add. I think that that calf weighs about 830 lb. He is still building structure. If you try to switch gears with him now you won't be able to finish at his full potential weight.
I would keep him either on good pasture or dry lot him with free choice grass hay, loose mineral, and fresh water through September and October. After that start with a slight ration of finisher, continuing with free choice grass hay. Over the next 45 to 60 days bring him up to full feed. Leave him there for the last 30 days before processing.
Beefmasters are a little harder to put a marbling into, so you may want to up the corn part of his ration 10% in the feed mixture.
Another trick is after he is on a good ration of finisher start lacing it with a couple of teaspoons of mineral. It will help him drink more. Water is the key to good gain ratios. Another thing is to have some kind of buddy for him to be with. Even a hog works. Thier appetite will increase when they are in a good mood.

Grumpy old man · #18 09/14/13, 07:39 AM

wait a little longer and get steaks like these

topside1 · #19 09/14/13, 08:39 AM

Looking Good Grumpy....Topside

HDRider · #20 09/14/13, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmerDavid

That's a small field, just a few acres. id basically mob grazed it then brushhogged it before i sperated him, but ya there's not a lot of grass left. Hopefully we start getting some rains and well get fall growth. Ill just try and get him processes early winter like mid dec, so that'll give me three months to put weight on him. He's responded well to the grain so hopefully he can put on enough weight in 90 days. I guess if he's still quite a bit to small ill figure something else out then.

He's Beefmaster, born last July to a heifer. Hes gaining slower then I'd like but like I said he'd been 100% grass fed till last month. And we didn't have much grass a lot of that time.

I'd have guessed he had some Jersey in him...