Expected Weight Gain from 500kg Store Bullocks

locky76

Hey folks,
I housed cattle in mid November at 500kgs each (limousine bullocks)
They're on good silage but with no meal.
What sort of weight gain could i expect by the time they come out, mid March, they'll be housed for approximately 120 days.

bob charles

locky76 wrote: »

Hey folks,
I housed cattle in mid November at 500kgs each (limousine bullocks)
They're on good silage but with no meal.
What sort of weight gain could i expect by the time they come out, mid March, they'll be housed for approximately 120 days.

.5 kilo a day would be pretty good on silage only. dont get too hung up on weight gain during store period, its called "store period" for a reason, they will make up for it in compensatory growth when they hit good grass

Tipp Man

bob charles wrote: »

.5 kilo a day would be pretty good on silage only. dont get too hung up on weight gain during store period, its called "store period" for a reason, they will make up for it in compensatory growth when they hit good grass

agreed

locky76

bob charles wrote: »

.5 kilo a day would be pretty good on silage only. dont get too hung up on weight gain during store period, its called "store period" for a reason, they will make up for it in compensatory growth when they hit good grass

So they'll be coming out at 560kgs with plenty scope, I'm slaughtering in June so they'll have another 100 days, would it be reasonable to expect a weight gain of 1.2kgs per day for this period? I.e. a finished weight of 680 kgs? And a kill out weight of 385kgs? I give them meal for the last 6 weeks to tighten them up.

Farmer Pudsey

locky76 wrote: »

So they'll be coming out at 560kgs with plenty scope, I'm slaughtering in June so they'll have another 100 days, would it be reasonable to expect a weight gain of 1.2kgs per day for this period? I.e. a finished weight of 680 kgs? And a kill out weight of 385kgs? I give them meal for the last 6 weeks to tighten them up.

I think that you might be a bit optmistic there you are allowing for them to KO in the region of 57%. Like Bob said .5kgs/day at best. So they may only be 540 comimg out of the shed, when they go to grass will they all gain 1.2kgs/day. You might be averaging 650/660kgs. I think that 55%KO would be a good KO so 360 kgs might be more realistic. Also they may not have a high level of finish on them in June off grass even with meal, they will grow a lot at grass during April and May. The first cattle that come fit off grass are AA, and HE bullocks and it is usually july before these have flesh on them

NewBeefFarmer

ok, here is my guess. .. .
i reckon min 580kgs, max 620kgs

do we get to find out if we are right?

locky76

NewBeefFarmer wrote: »

ok, here is my guess. .. .
i reckon min 580kgs, max 620kgs

do we get to find out if we are right?

Of course you do, hence the thread, I'll resurrect the thread in june and put up the individual weights, at housing, at turnout, the night before they go to slaughter and their kill out weights & grades. It should make for interesting reading...
P.S. someone pm me if I forget:-)

1chippy

locky76 wrote: »

Of course you do, hence the thread, I'll resurrect the thread in june and put up the individual weights, at housing, at turnout, the night before they go to slaughter and their kill out weights & grades. It should make for interesting reading...
P.S. someone pm me if I forget:-)

well locky?

locky76

1chippy wrote: »

well locky?

Good timing chippy as the last of the bullocks went on Thursday last, I'll dig out the figures in the noting and post them up...

locky76

1chippy wrote: »

well locky?

10 Limosine Bullocks, home bred sucklers,
Average DOB- 26th June 2011
24th October Weight- 540kgs
9th February Weight- 566kgs
26th April Weight- 608kgs
Slaughter Date- 30th May
Slaughter Weight- 660kgs
Average Daily Gain since birth- .9kgs per day
Store Period Gain- .4kgs/day:(
Dead Weight- 370kgs
Killout %- 56%
Grades- 4xR+, 3xR=, 3xR-
Fat Scores- 2x3-, 2x3=, 4x3+, 1x4-, 1x4=

bob charles

locky76 wrote: »

10 Limosine Bullocks, home bred sucklers,
Average DOB- 26th June 2011
24th October Weight- 540kgs
9th February Weight- 566kgs
26th April Weight- 608kgs
Slaughter Date- 30th May
Slaughter Weight- 660kgs
Average Daily Gain since birth- .9kgs per day
Store Period Gain- .4kgs/day:(
Dead Weight- 370kgs
Killout %- 56%
Grades- 4xR+, 3xR=, 3xR-
Fat Scores- 2x3-, 2x3=, 4x3+, 1x4-, 1x4=

when did they go to grass? looks like they were doing well in the last couple of month of their life and putting on the cheaper weight gain. why did you slaughter them so quick? I see they were 15kgs lighter than your initial expectations that is €70 a head

locky76

bob charles wrote: »

when did they go to grass? looks like they were doing well in the last couple of month of their life and putting on the cheaper weight gain. why did you slaughter them so quick? I see they were 15kgs lighter than your initial expectations that is €70 a head

They went to grass late March
They were slaughtered so quickly for a number of reasons:

• as I normally have angus and slaughter them then to stop them going overfat
• I've no silage reserve so i was anxious to stop as much land for silage as quickly as possible, finishing the cattle early reduced my demand and allowed me stop more ground
• also cashflow issues were presenting themselves so i was getting them out the door as the bills were coming in;)

Yeah that final 15kgs can be the difference between profit & loss...
Thanks to Bob & Pudsey for the advice last backend, ye were both in around the mark.
I must say the weigh scales really gets your eye in for the finer points with finishing cattle...

Farmer Pudsey

Was away for a few weeks I missed all the action (I did not pop my clogs) one thing this year most farmers are struggling for grass and are letting cattle into grass earlier than they normally would so are gaining weight faster than normal.

In a normal year these cattle would be eating grass that was heading out for the last few week this year this is not the case cattle are being moved faster so are preforming better where grass supply is adequate.

56% K/O is quite good how were they weighed with regard to when they last had fed.

locky76

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Was away for a few weeks I missed all the action (I did not pop my clogs) one thing this year most farmers are struggling for grass and are letting cattle into grass earlier than they normally would so are gaining weight faster than normal.

In a normal year these cattle would be eating grass that was heading out for the last few week this year this is not the case cattle are being moved faster so are preforming better where grass supply is adequate.

56% K/O is quite good how were they weighed with regard to when they last had fed.

They were brought in off grass an hour before the truck came to take them away and were weighed- bit of division then with the KO weight and Bob's your uncle;)