# Grain finishing



## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

So-right wrong or indifferent, I have grassfed beef.

Problem is I have a steer (beltie) who just doesn't seem to be finishing as well as I would like. I am considering penning him and grain finishing him to put some weight on him.

I now have a nice 24x30 pen he could be in (dont want to grain rest of herd). South side of pen is my shed so somewhat shaded.

My thought is to put bale ring in, feed hay free choice, and corn. He is smaller framed. He is about 900ish pounds.

Thoughts? Straight corn vs some feed store blend? Would I need a better mineral (use trace mineral block).

TIA


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## bbos2 (Mar 20, 2015)

I think it's a good idea to blend a pellet ration in and I think cracked corn wouldn't slide through him like whole corn would. But for only one steer its probably not worth too much fuss. 
I like to do free choice hay as well. I push cracked corn ration hard on holstien s and give them roughly 15 lbs of hay a piece every week on average and they finish well.


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

I agree with bbos, definitely crack or grind the corn. Also something for a little more protein like a pelleted feed, distillers, or even ground barley will do good.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

How much feed? And how much to start, and when to ramp up?


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

That all depends on the critter and what weight you want him finished at. I would think if he is weighing 900lbs now. I'd let him have free choice hay and start graining him. I'd start him out slow on grain so he doesn't bloat and then slowly increase his grain until he doesn't quite clean it all up in a day. Basically get him on full feed.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

You might also check him for worms.

Ralph


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

I grass finish and never feed grain. I have a lot of differentiation in frames and finishing times and just keep them on high quality hay longer if they are not finishing out on pace with majority of the herd as this is just part of the system. I would not modify my whole system for one animal as this will happen more then once and I found buying some one else's grain when I have hay a pasture was a complete knife in my back economically. I would not expect any of them to finish out like a grain finished animal.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I would suggest free choice loose mineral. As Ralph mentioned, a good deworming also.

We used mineral blocks when I was growing up. We switched to loose mineral years ago and it is one of the best moves we made. I looked on the Block label and it said 2% mineral. Our cows and calves consume a lot of mineral now.

If he is dewormed, has minerals, free choice hay then I would feed him a few pounds of pelleted feed per day.


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## Fowllife (Sep 10, 2010)

On the whole corn verse crack corn, it would depend on how easy and cheap it is for you to get cracked corn. If I remember right cracking the corn increases efficiency by about 10%. At $4/bu if you cant get it cracked for under $0.40 you are losing money.

In terms of how to feed him, it depends. What weight do your belties usually finish at? If you just want him to gain a little better so he catches up with the others then I would go free choice hay & mineral and slowly work him up to 10 lbs of feed per day (corn & pellet). If you want to try to do an actual grain finish I would slowing back out the hay and increase the grain until on full feed.You need to maintain some roughage though on full feed, either by bedding or a small amount of hay.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

900lbish sounds like it is within a 100 lbs antways as far as finishing for a bestie.. Is the criteria for finishing weight and overall frame size or visual inspection of finish? My forage finished smaller framed angus and cross with Herefords are usually a couple hundred lbs lighter then market steers. As far as mineral supplementation I have a little different take, just like in humans, if cattle are getting good feed then mineral supplementation is just excreated out onto the pasture, I.e. Expensive fertilizer. I now occasionally leave out a white salt block but I don,t get too excited about it like I used to. Lots of reductionist trials to show benefits of mineral supplementation do exist but lots of conflicting data and funding by feed and pharmaceutical companies.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

I'd sell him to someone who already had a pen of cattle on grain. Feeding a single steer is pretty far down the priority list the way I look at it.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

We have different priorities.

I am still debating graining. Would like to see the difference, although not apples to apples. I will finish only 2 steers this year. I sold the rest of my belties. Have one highlander who will be 25% in my freezer.

I was finally able to turn into lush pasture last week. I will see how a couple more weeks goes and go from there. I should be about right on stocking rate now after sending some on down the road. Good thing as I only have 2 bales left.


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## Ray 54 (Aug 2, 2014)

The mineral content of your grass needs to checked before you can be sure of how much your animals need. But if they look good and gain well your not in to bad of shape. We have to watch for low cooper in the diet. It is easier to see if you know what to look for in hair color and general coat than some others.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

I decided not to grain him
The hot carcass looked really similar but slightly smaller than the highlander that went away the same day.

Imho-plenty of fat and marbling from the grass. I sold them off, but bought back a t bone and some burger from the Highland. I prefer leaner burger. Here is the tbone.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

I had planned on keeping a quarter off of my highlander steer, but ended up butchering a cow earlier. Butcher told me to grind her except tenderloin. Nope.

Here is a ribeye off of 6ish year old cow: she is tasty.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Nothing wrong with that at all. Nice looking meat.


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## Supa Dexta (May 28, 2014)

I had those plates once upon a time.


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