What Is a Feeder Steer? A Detailed Guide to Feeder Steer Fattening Techniques

With the continuous development of the livestock industry, many people have joined this big family of farming, and many are very interested in raising feeder steers. So the editor will briefly introduce feeder steer raising techniques for everyone. First of all, feeder steer fattening is an important part of increasing the economic benefits of cattle raising. Therefore, selecting the right feeder steers well is key, and it is mainly done from the following aspects.

Feeder Steer Fattening Techniques

1. Selection of Feeder Steers

1. Age selection: cattle around 1.5 years old can be fattened to produce high-grade quality beef. However, Qinchuan cattle grow and develop more slowly, and under traditional feeding methods, their frame and body type only reach the requirements for fattening at 3 to 4 years of age. Therefore, to obtain good results and benefits from short-term intensive fattening, healthy 3- to 4-year-old Qinchuan steers should be selected. Steers over 6 years old, culled base cows, and other old or cull cattle have poor fattening results and low benefits, so they are not suitable for producing mid- to high-end beef and can only produce ordinary fattened cattle.

2. Body type and appearance: short head and broad forehead, large mouth and thick neck, broad, deep and long body, well-opened forequarters, thin, soft hide, relatively large frame, obvious angularity, broad and level back and rump, with fattening potential, body height 137 cm, body slant length 150 cm, body weight above 350 kg. However, cattle with an overly short body, narrow back and arched waist, pointed rump, and thin, weak body condition are not suitable.

3. Fattening time: spring and autumn are the best seasons. During the high-temperature season from June to August, measures such as water curtains, roof sprinkling, and fans should be used to prevent heat and cool down, reducing heat stress; in winter, heat preservation measures should be taken. The most suitable environmental temperature for beef cattle fattening is 4°C to 20°C.

2. Feeding Techniques

Use a high-energy diet, with net energy reaching more than 30 MJ/day, and gradually increase the concentrate ratio to 70%. Do not use green juicy feed or silage. Energy feed should be mainly barley, to increase the proportion of high-grade beef cattle and ensure beef color, quality, and flavor.

1. Recovery period (10 to 15 days). Due to stress responses from factors such as transport, environment, and management methods, cattle become fatigued and lose 5% to 15% of body weight, and need a period to recover so they can adapt to the new environment, grouping, and feeding management methods. The diet should be mainly high-quality green hay and wheat straw, with sufficient drinking water. No concentrate is given on the first day; a small amount of wheat bran is given on the second day; after 3 days, the concentrate is maintained at the original amount fed by the farmer or farm. Quarantine, epidemic prevention, deworming, and isolation observation should also be completed.

2. Transition period (15 to 20 days). Gradually realize the change from the original roughage type to the concentrate type. After the feeder steers recover their body condition and adapt, reduce green hay and increase wheat straw, feeding 4 to 6 kg of roughage per head per day; keep crude protein in the concentrate at 13% to 15%, and gradually increase the feeding amount to 4 kg/day, ensuring 37 to 52 MJ/day of net energy per head.

3. Fattening period: at this stage, stop feeding green hay and prohibit feeding green juicy feed, mainly feeding wheat straw and rice straw, with a daily feeding amount of 3 to 4 kg per head, gradually increasing the concentrate, increasing the concentrate by about 2 kg per head per week, keeping crude protein at 8% to 10%, and stabilizing the daily concentrate feeding at 6 to 8 kg per head until marketing.

3. Management

1. Sufficient drinking water: adopt free drinking water or water at least 3 times per day, and drink warm water in winter.

2. Deworming and stomach strengthening: during the recovery period, use albendazole orally once, at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight; for external parasites, use 2% to 4% fenvalerate, and on clear days, shower to kill insects, which can not only kill parasites such as ticks on the body surface but also help repel mosquitoes and flies. Three days after deworming, use 50 to 80 rhubarb and sodium bicarbonate tablets per time, twice a day, for 2 consecutive days, then use 500 g per head of Chinese herbal stomach-strengthening powder for 2 consecutive days to strengthen the stomach and promote digestion.

3. Grouping: group and pen cattle according to body size and strength, with at most 15 head per group during the fattening period, and small groups of 6 to 8 head are best, and the groups should remain relatively stable. During the fattening period, each small group can only have cattle removed, not added, and the pen area is 12 to 18 sq m.

4. Feeding frequency: in the early fattening stage, feed 2 to 3 times per day with a 6-hour interval, and in the later stage, free feeding can be used.

5. Sanitation: keep the cattle shed dry and hygienic. Before cattle enter, the shed must be cleaned thoroughly and completely sprayed and disinfected with 2% to 4% caustic soda, and cattle can enter after it dries.

6. Observation and weighing: during the fattening period, observe each cow's rumination, spirit, and feces, and sick cattle should be isolated promptly and raised and treated separately; if there is bloating, thin and foul-smelling feces with undigested concentrate, the concentrate should be reduced or its increase stopped. During the fattening period, weigh every 30 days. The method is to weigh twice continuously on an empty stomach in the morning, take the average as one weighing, calculate the daily gain, and adjust the diet formula according to the daily gain so that the daily gain remains 0.8 to 1.2 kg.

What Is a Feeder Steer

A feeder steer is a type of cattle. First, purchase feeder steers that are the offspring of foreign improved beef cattle breeds such as Charolais, Simmental, Limousin, and Hereford crossed with local cattle; second, purchase Holstein bulls or the crossbred offspring of Holstein cattle and local cattle. Such beef has good quality, fast growth, and high feed conversion. Feeder steers are characterized by a large body, level and broad shoulders, broad and deep chest, straight and broad back and waist, large round abdomen, curved ribs, broad rump, large head, large nostrils, large and deep mouth corners, broad and moist muzzle, well-developed lower jaw, large and spirited eyes, fine and shiny coat, and soft, loose, elastic skin. When pinched and pulled up with the thumb and index finger, it stretches like a rubber band; when fingers are inserted behind and grasped, there is a large handful of skin. Such cattle gain more meat and are easy to fatten.

What Is the Best Age for Feeder Steer Fattening Results

From the perspective of cattle growth and development, calves and growing cattle mainly rely on the growth of muscle, bone, and various organs to gain weight, while adult cattle mainly rely on storing fat in the body to gain weight. Cattle reach sexual maturity at 8 to 18 months of age and body maturity at 3 to 5 years. Improved breeds reach sexual maturity earlier than primitive breeds, cows earlier than bulls, and cattle in good nutritional condition earlier than malnourished cattle. For this reason, feeder steers must be selected under 5 years old, and generally selecting 1.5- to 2.5-year-old feeder steers gives the best fattening results. After 2 to 6 months of intensive fattening, the best economic benefits can be achieved.

What Body Condition of Feeder Steers Is Suitable for Fattening

The quality of body condition is related to the length of the fattening period; the better the condition, the shorter the fattening period. As for cattle with a short and small body, shallow chest, narrow back, pointed rump, showing severe starvation body condition, and stunted growth and development, they are not suitable as feeder steers.

The introduction of feeder steers and fattening techniques ends here. I believe everyone now has a simple understanding of feeder steers and raising techniques. However, if you want to engage in the livestock industry, it is believed to be very difficult. But only by enduring the bitterest hardships can one become outstanding. I believe that if you persist, you will surely gain something.