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CONTENTS

Breeds of Cattle ................................................ 3

Starting a Steer Project .................................... 4

Selecting the Calf ............................................ 5 :

Buying the Calf ................................................ 8 }

Feeding and Management .............................. 8 :

Starting Steer On Feed ...................................... 9 l

Full Feed .......................................................... 9 I

Ration Substitution .......................................... 10

Minerals, Salt and Water ................................ 10 , |

Tips Worth Remembering ................................ 11

Published by The North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service

North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering of the University of North Carolina and the U. S.Department of Agriculture, Cooperating. N. C. Agricultural Extension Service, R. W. Shofiner, Director, StateCollege Station, Raleigh. Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914.

September, 1962 (Reprint) Club Series 99 ‘

ByJames W. PattersonAnimal Husbandry Extension Specialist

Love of life, pride of ownership, craftsmanship or taking pride in a job well done,are three things that lead to a happy and healthful life. A livestock project gives 4-HClub members a wonderful chance to have all three.

A highly competitive world greets you as a high school or college graduate whetheryou stay on the farm or try your luck in the city. The practical lessons of developinga good competitive spirit is one of the most valuable learned in preparing for life. Theselessons can be learned in a show ring as easily as on the football field. Junior livestockprojects will help you as it has helped prepare thousands of other youngsters for agri-cultural, business and professional careers.

4-H Livestock projects give you excellent experience in selecting, owning, feeding,managing and fitting cattle for shows and sales. You should look upon your livestock proj—ect as a business and a chance to make some money if you properly feed and manage yoursteer. Whether or not you plan to be a farmer or cattle feeder is not so important as isthe fact that you may learn not only how to do a piece of work, but to do it well.

Angus cattle are black in color and natural—ly hornless 0r polled. In size, the Angus isthe smallest of the beef breeds. In body, the

Breeds of Cattle

As a beginner you will frequently askwhich is the best breed of beef cattle? Actual—ly, no one breed seems to be best in all re-spects because all breeds of the beef type,Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn have beendeveloped to meet the same general require-ments. In choosing a breed, you should con—sider the popularity of the breed in yourcounty, the type and breeding which is avail—able at the price you can pay, and your per-sonal preference. For 4-H steer projects, re—member that the breed is not nearly so im-portant as‘ the type of the steer you selectwithin the breed.

Of the several breeds of beef cattle, onlythree are recommended for 4-H steer projectsin North Carolina. They are Angus, Herefordand Shorthorn. You can easily identify cattleof these breeds by observing some of theirfeatures.

Angus has a more cylindrical or round bodythan either of the other two breeds. Bullsweigh from 1600 to 2100 pounds and cowsfrom 1100 to 1500 pounds. The breed is knownfor its smoothness, uniformity and highquality.

Herefords can be easily identified by theircolor markings. The body color is medium torich red. The head, breast, belly, crest, switchand legs below the knee and hock are white.The body of the Hereford is compact, lowand blocky. The Hereford is slightly smallerthan the Shorthorn. Bulls weigh from 1800to 2200 pounds and mature cows from 1200to 1600 pounds. There is a horned and a polledstrain of Herefords.

Shorthorns may be red, white or roan. Theyhave a square, brick-shaped body. Maturebulls of this breed weigh from 1800 to 2400pounds. The cows often weigh from 1300 to1600 pounds. This breed has rather incurvinghorns with the exception of a hornless strainwhich was developed from calves that werenaturally polled or hornless.

Starting A Steer ProjectBefore you buy a calf you should consider

such requirements as the amounts and kindof feed available, cost of feeds that must bepurchased, the need of a suitable pen and4

exercise lot, good management and halter-breaking. Not fully understanding these re-quirements can result in a calf that is hardto handle and that does not carry enoughfinish to make the show and sale and there—fore will not return a profit.

If you wish to fatten a steer as a 4-H proj—ect, you need from 40 to 50 bushels of cornor other suitable grains or combination ofgrains. Grain grown at home is preferred topurchased feed because of the lower cost. Foreach steer, you also need 1500 pounds of goodquality hay and you should be able to buy 400pounds of a protein supplement. You need abox stall with plenty of room (10 ft. by 10ft.) straw or other bedding and a tightlyfenced outdoor exercise lot at least 20 ft. by20 ft. in size. Pen, feed and care for yourproject animals by themselves, not with theother livestock on the farm. Make sure youcan keep chickens out of the stall where youfeed.Most club shows and sales are held in the

spring. For spring shows, buy a 500 to 550pound steer calf in September so he will befat enough by sale time to grade good or bet—ter. Since at least a 200 day feeding periodis usually necessary to produce a choice car—cass, you need to feed your steer so he willmake gains of two pounds or more each day.To do this each steer must eat an averageof 14 to 16 pounds of grain a day.At best, beef projects require not only con-

siderable investment in a steer and feed, butconsiderable time, attention and work on yourpart. Unless you have the money, facilitiesand the full interest of your parents, youshould delay starting this project until allconditions are favorable.“The Eye of the Master Fattens the Cat-

tle,” is an old Scotch saying that means asmuch to cattlemen as the motto: “To Makethe Best Better,” means to 4—H Club mem-bers. Every member should strive to live upto the 4-H Club motto. Every member whofeeds steers should try to acquire the “Eyeof the Master.” This simply means you mustbe a close observer and take immediate actionon the smaller or finer points of feeding; suchas feeding the same time each day, keepingthe feed trough and waterer free from dirtand spoiled feed, and numerous small jobs.You learn “Know-how” by doing. But, it takeslots of doing to gain the experience necessaryto meet all the problems of the cattle feedingbusiness.

Type

Type is a harmonious combination oftraits of an animal which contributemost effectively to its usefulness. Inother words, type is the over all pictureof the steer as you see him.To look for type in an animal first

observe the animal from a distance.The animal should be wide, low set,

straight in top and bottom lines, deepbodied, broad and short in the head,short in the neck, full in the round, com-pact and thick in natural flesh andmuscle.

Head

The head should be broad between theeyes with the width carrying down tothe muzzle. An ideal head is one that isas wide between the eyes as it is fromthe eyes down to the muzzle. A long,narrow head is undesirable and is usual-ly associated with a tall, upstandinglong-legged, rangy animal.

Get All The Advice YouCan When You Select

The Individual

Selecting the individual within the breedis much more important than selecting thebreed. Good as well as poor quality animalscan be found in any breed. You must learnto select the correct type of steer that hasthe possibility of making a satisfactory proj—ect. Since generally the project starts withthe selection of a calf, give more attentionto type and quality than to the finish or fatthe steer in carrying. If possible, look at thedam (mother) and sire (father) of the calfbefore making final selection. They give'youa good idea of the calf’s possibilities as afeeder.

Neck And Shoulders

The neck should be short and blend insmoothly to the shoulders. A heavy,thick dewlap and a thick crested neckare undesirable and usually indicate thesteer was castrated at an older age.Undesirable shoulders are heavy andcoarse, open over the top with the bladesstanding out from the body. The desir-able neck and shoulder is one that issmooth and carries the thickness of therest of the body and should always bein balance.

Chest

The chest should be deep and full. Theforelegs should be well apart and out onthe corners of the body. Good width be—tween the legs emphasizes a strong con-stitution and general deep fleshing quali—ties. The bottom of the chest shouldcome down well between the forelegs.An animal with close set forelegs willalways be deficient in chest capacity andwill lack the‘balance needed for a showsteer.

Depth of Body

The ribs should be long and well sprung,giving depth and width to the body. Theribs should be close together so that thebody will be compact and the finish willbe put on smoothly. A flat ribs shallowbody animal is usually a poor doing in-dividual and is not suitable for a showsteer.

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Good

Poor

Round

The round should have indications ofdeveloping full and deep with meat closedown to the hock, a deep twist and along level flank.

Legs

The legs should be straight and setsquarely under the corners of the body.They should not be cow hocked or closeat the hock and not sickled hocked. Thecalf should have plenty of clean—cut flatbone showing lots of quality. Shortnessin the legs is a good indication of com-pactness as a finished steer.

Rump

The desirable rump carries out uni-formly and straight to the tail head,thus making the top line level and thefleshing smooth throughout. Good lengthof rump contributes to a nicer balancein the animal. Cattle with a short rumpare very often loosely coupled and lackbalance. A short rump or a droopingrump or a high tail head is objection-able.

Quality

Quality is usually expressed as the tem—ture of meat and bone and is indicatedby smoothness, general conformation'and fleshing of the animal as well assoftness of hair, and hide, a clean-cutappearance of the head and smoothnessof body lines. Too much refinement isnot desirable as it often indicates a lackof constitution and general ruggedness;rough shoulders, prominent hips, coarsejoints, coarse hair and thick, tight hidesare also undesirable.

Buying TheCalf

Usually, you can get steer calves fromvarious sources. In some communities breed-ers of purebred and high-quality grade herdsofl’er calves for sale. Another source is theannual feeder calf sales in which the Exten-sion Service, North Carolina Department ofAgriculture and the beef cattle groups co-operate to offer suitable calves for sale. Atthese sales Suitable steers in lots of severalhead or as individual animals are sold by thepound to the highest bidder.

You should always keep in mind that a fatsteer project is a cattle feeding enterprise ona small scale. The first principle of a success-ful cattle feeding operation is to make a goodbuy. You must pay conservative prices forthe steer, but get the best steer possible foryour money. Current market prices are goodas they closely represent the value of cattlefor commercial feeding. You must rememberthat most 4—H fat steers sell rather close toopen market value. There is only one cham-pion in each show, so buy your calf and feeda recommended ration Which will permit youto make a profit at market prices.

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Feeding AndManagement

A few days before you get your calf, checkto see if your facilities are adequate forproper handling and care.The stall should be clean, well bedded and

the hay rack and feed boxes in good condi-tion. A grain box should be about 8 inchesdeep, 12 inches wide, and 18 inches long.Check all doors and gates to see that they

fasten tightly to prevent your calf from get-ting out. Do your best to prevent your calffrom getting away because once he escapesyou are usually in for a hard job of breakinghim. Tie your steer with a strong rope halterfor a few minutes every day or so to get himhalter-wise while he is in the stall. After hebecomes halter-Wise, get your father or an-other adult to help you teach your steer tolead. A calf that will lead and is well trainedwill give you a lot of self satisfaction at theshow. DO NOT put training your calf off be-cause it is much easier done when the calf issmall and you have the time.

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Starting Steer On Feed

You have a good type steer now which isall your supervising agent and Father canhelp you do, the rest of the big job dependsupon the feed and care you give him. The beststeer money can buy may develop into anordinary steer if not properly fed. Feedinga steer means more than just putting a cer-tain amount of feed before him two times aday and forgetting him the rest of the time.It is here you start developing the “Eye ofthe Master.” Be sure that the little things aredone when they are needed and big items willtake care of themselves.The type of ration and amount of feed to

be used at the start depends upon the sizeof your calf, What grain and other feeds youhave on your farm and how your calf washandled and fed before you bought him. Theway he was handled before you bought himis very important. A calf that has been oncreep may be more easily and quickly placedon full feed.Many 4-H members who have fed blue rib—

bon steers followed the plan of starting thesteer on 1/2 pound of grain mixture for each100 pounds of a calf’s liveweight. For ex-ample; if your calf weighs 500 pounds, givehim 21/2 pounds of a grain mixture daily,about 1%, pounds in the morning and 1%pounds in the evening, along with 5 to 7pounds of hay, depending on quality. BESURE there is ALWAYS plenty of fresh,clean water, salt and mineral mixture beforeyour steer at all times. The grain mixture canbe increased gradually—not more than one—half pound every other day. By the end offour to five weeks your calf will be on fullfeed at this rate. Whenever your calf does notseem to have a good appetite and does notclean up his grain within two hours, miss thenext feed and drop back one pound on hisallowance. 'If he fails to clean this feeding up,gradually reduce ration to a point where hewill clean it up in two hours and then grad—ually work up to a full feed again.

Full Feed

Your calf eats from 11/2 to 21/2 pounds ofgrain mixture for each 100 pounds he weighs.A good rule of thumb to remember is fullfeed for your calf is 2 pounds for every 100pounds he weighs. For example; if your calf

weighs 600 pounds he should be eating atleast 2 pounds times 6, or 12 pounds of agrain mixture per day, 6 pounds in the morn-ing and 6 pounds in the evening. Before ex-ceeding this rate of feeding check with yoursupervising agent. There is danger of foun-dering calves having excellent appetites.With a young animal, the tendency of your

steer is to grow rather than fatten. Sinceyour problem is to get your steer fat, youshould feed a heavy grain ration. Here aretwo rations that are recommended:

RATION NO. 1This ration is calculated for one steer and shouldbe fed as a mixed teed.FIRST BATCH: ,Ground ear corn (corn, cob 8: shuck) 350 lbs.Coarsely cracked shelled corn 300 lbs.Beef Supplement (soybean orcottonseed meal) 100 lbs.Good Hay per day 5 lbs.SECOND BATCH:

Ground ear corn 350 lbs.Coarsely cracked shelled corn 400 lbs.Beef Supplement 100 lbs.Good Hay per day 5 lbs.

THIRD BATCH:—Feed this mixture for the re-mainder of the feeding period.

Ground ear com 350 lbs.Coarsely cracked shelled corn 500 lbs.Beef Supplement 100 lbs.

Good Hay per day 5 lbs.

RATION NO. 2Cracked shelled col-h 85 lbs.Linseed meal, Soybean

or Cottonseed Meal 15 lbs.Good quality hay 5 to 7 lbs.Note: This ration will put on fat rapidly as it

is very concentrated.

RATION NO. 3Cracked shelled corn ' 60 lbs.Rolled oats 20 lbs.Bran 5 lbsAlfalfa meal 5 lbs.Soybean meal, Linseed meal or

Cottonseed meal 10 lbs.Hay 5 to 7 lbs.Note: This ration should be used when no good

quality hay is fed.

Ration SubstitutionGround milo or other sorghum grains or

ground barley may be substituted for about40 per cent of the corn in your calf’s ration.On the average these grains have 90 per centof the feeding value of corn, pound for pound.Wheat is about equal to corn, but because ofits pasty nature should not replace more thanone—fourth of the corn.

If you feed corn and cob meal in place ofcracked corn, some adjustments should bemade because corn and cob meal is about 1/5cob by weight and is bulky. Therefore, tomaintain the actual daily corn consumption,increase the corn and cob meal ration 1/5.Even with this increase it is desirable to re-place the corn and cob meal with coarselycracked corn at least 1/3 of the feedingperiod. The ration should be changed grad-ually to prevent “knocking” the calf off feed.Some of you will experience difl'iculty in

keeping your calf on feed. Check to see thatyour feed is not ground too finely. If you con-tinue to experience trouble you may want tosweeten the ration to improve the palatability(taste). Mix a little molasses diluted withwater with the grain ration just before feed—ing. Caution! Do not mix feed ahead of feed-

ing time and remove old feed from the troughbefore feeding the new ration.

Feeding an expensive ration based on theexpectation of winning the championship ispure speculation. The cost of feed should beso that you can hope to pay out and have alittle profit at current prices after doing athorough job of fattening your steer. Yourgoal is to fatten your calf as cheaply and asquickly as possible, so you need a fatteningration rather than a fitting ration.

Minerals, Salt AndWater

A balanced ration based on home grain, agood quality green cured hay, a mineral mix-ture and free access to salt and water fur-nishes all the nutrients that your calf willneed. Water is very important and is requiredfor the calf’s health and to soften the feedand aid in digesting and utilization of thefeed. Minerals and salt are body builders andaid digestive processes. A good mineral mix-ture is one part finely ground limestone andone part steamed bone meal. A commerciallyprepared mineral mixture for beef cattle issatisfactory. You should feed crushed or loosesalt. Salt bricks are not recommended.

Tips Worth Remembering

Don’t waste a lot of time and effort decidingwhat breed of cattle to raise for your project.Remember, the type of steer within the breedis more important than the breed alone.

”The Eye of the Master Fattens the Cattle”is an old Scotch saying. This means you shouldpay strict attention to the finer points of feed-ing such as feeding at the same time each day,keeping the feed trough and waterer freefrom dirt and spoiled feed. You will developthe eye of the master by doing these neces-sary and important jobs.

Before buying your feeder calf, make sureyour facilities are in order for proper handlingand care.

When buying, get the best steer possiblefor your money.

Feed a recommended ration and you shouldmake a profit at market prices.

It is easier to train your calf while he issmall.

Fresh clean water, salt and minerals arenecessary nutrients your animal needs to growand develop properly.

To be successful, you must not only likeanimals but enjoy caring for them.

Remember you are privileged in the firstplace to live in surroundings where you canenjoy working on such projects. About 80 percent of America’s boys and girls in the 4-Hage group live where they can’t keep animals.