Sir Loin has arrived! Need to know about feeding

[MikahMom]

Yesterday we picked up our new steer -- hurray!!

Sir Loin is a seven month old Hereford 1/4 Brahma and he is quite the handsome fellow! The lady we bought him from said that we should feed him six lbs of grain a day and gradually move up to 10 lbs etc...how do I know when to move up?? I know readying him for the freezer (last two months) he should be getting 20lbs of 14% feed, but how do I go about the next 10 months?

 

[herfrds]

Is he eating all of his grain right now?
You want to gradually increase it and not just suddenly dump it on him.
It is a long process and not something you can rush.

I would keep him at what he is at for at least a week. See how he is doing with it. Then if he is cleaning it all up then increase it by half a pound pound.
continue increasing every few weeks, but be careful because if you increase too quickly you can cause him to bloat.
found out from our vet you can also founder a steer with too much grain.

 

[glenolam]

Congrats on the steer!

We also named our steer Sir Loin when we got him back in July. I think it's such a cute name and keeps him from being a pet.

I agree with herfrds - if he's scarfing down everything now gradually increase it.

 

[MikahMom]

He didn't have any trouble gobbling down his feed this morning

We thought we would feed him twice a day for the first couple of weeks so that he would get better used to us -- should we then move to just once a day or is twice fine all the way until "freezer time"?

 

[jhm47]

Once or twice isn't a big deal. I guess if he were mine, I'd go for twice, just to keep an eye on him at least for a month or so. Increase the grain s l o w l y, till he begins to leave a bit. Then you will have him on full feed. Then back off a pound or so to keep him a bit hungry. You will have less trouble with acidosis if you keep him just a tiny bit hungry.

 

[MikahMom]

Thanks for ya'lls help Another question -- when can I start feeding him hay? I don't want him to get scours...

 

[jhm47]

He should have good quality hay free choice at all times. If he's on pasture, he won't eat much, but it's important for him to have access to good quality roughage to keep his rumen working properly.

 

[Dreaming Of Goats]

I named my friends cow Sir Loin, too! lol

 

[country freedom]

We all want to see your handsome boy - pics would help!