# For those who show cattle, I have a Question about BEER?



## ONThorsegirl (Apr 2, 2005)

Yes i have a question about beer, 

In our area people who show beef cattle feed beer to their stock to get them going, I was wondering if anyone else on this thread does so, and if you do how much do you feed?

Melissa


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## Sprout (Dec 28, 2005)

I have never heard of anyone giving their steers beer and I think it would give you the opposite effect. If you want to jump start thier appetite get molasses covered grain and mix in calf mana.


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## SmokedCow (Sep 25, 2004)

not beer, but kool-aid.....makes them put on water weight..its sweet so they like it...havnt done this myself..we arnt that big into cattle like we use to...Found there to much politics and to expensive. but we do have one...just for fun! I'll check into this beer...
AJ


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## lilsassafrass (May 13, 2002)

Beer has calories 
and will help to put on weight .. just ask any beer drinking man who has a toolshed  
However I think it would be cheaper to feed a good quality show feed and keep the beer for yourself if you are so inclined .. on the other hand my DH swears by a bottle of coke dumped in the water tank at the shows .... that though is used to get the cows to drink the water ... coolaide , molassas, etc all work


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## wilderness1989 (Feb 23, 2006)

I've used Coke but only at shows to cover the strange taste of the local show water when the cattle would not drink it. Kool-Aid and other flavors of soda pop should work as well. :cowboy:


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## ONThorsegirl (Apr 2, 2005)

Thanks everyone for the replies. I was looking it up on the internet last night and there is many articles on Kobe Beef, the most expensive beef in the world, China I beleive. They feed these Kobe cattle beer and other ingredients, they say it is a cheap feed and the beef is unbelivable. (I think I will stick to our cows but everyone to their own)  

I was talking to people we know and they say that one beer a day is what they use and they swear that it gains weight, several people in our area do it, we might try it and see what happens. I think I know why beer is used *brewers yeast*-which is found in showbloom, and yeast supplement for cattle and horses is also waht is used in beer and *brewers yeast* increases appitite and makes them eat food which in the end makes them gain weight. This is my little conclusion to the theory :nerd: .

I was thinking about he price of beer compared to feed and really I think the beer might be cheaper. For us to get a feed that is for show cattle would take for ever but really if I was to give 1 beer to the heifer every day it would end up only being 1.00 a day in beer as we have a brand of beer here that is 24.00 for a 24. What types of feed are out there for show cattle, I live in Canada and I know that many types of feed in the states are very hard to come by here in Canada.

Melissa


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## Sprout (Dec 28, 2005)

Beef is so expensive in china not because of it's great quality(acctually it's the fattiest low grade worst beef you could buy) but because of all the tests they have to do before they kill the d*mn thing because they are paranoid. Over there they test every animal for a whole array of tests before it can be slaughtered. Another problem they have is even getting the animal fat enough to eat, many of the cattle die of heart failure because they are extremely and fataly obesse. I would stay away from beer it's too expensive to feed enough of it to your cattle to see a high impact and that's taking a chance on wither the impact is good or bad.

As to brewers yeast that's the yeast high sugar mix that the alcohol was farted into, It has more calories than beer and more usable nutritive value. Humans and cattle can't really be compared gastronomicaly. If we had the flora that naturaly lived in their digestive tract we would be septic.


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## tatanka (Aug 3, 2004)

Many showman feed their show cattle beer in order to make them appear more full or rounded in the show ring. The idea is to soak their feed in the beer so that when they eat it they will sort of bloat a little for the show ring. This does help hide some small flaws or if the cow is a little under conditioned but it has to be timed just right and really isn't a good idea. 

Feeding the cows koolaid, coke, gatorade etc is to disguise the flavor of the water the animals are not accustomed to. Many times when you take an animal to a strange environment such as a show they won't drink the the water because it smells and tastes different than they are used to. If the animal isn't used to drinking the extra's in their water then it doesn't work either. You should always start the water extra's (gatorade, koolaid etc.) before you take them to the show then they are prepared and don't think twice about drinking the spiked water. It always works.

Marla


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## SmokedCow (Sep 25, 2004)

This is very interesting! I knew that Kool*Aid makes them like water cuz its sweeter..so they drink up..and then when weighed...weigh a lil more. then in the show ring,, they look good against the calves that wheigh what the class is! haha...i havnt done this..but ill drive with its..cuz it never fails, the water at our fair is sucky..
Have a GREAT and SAFE 4th of July!
AJ


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

I have heard that the Amish, feed beer to the cattle they butcher for there own table use, something about the Quality of the beef, And Kobe beef is Japanese, And its Not A breed it is how the beef is raised including. Saki ? and the other feed stuffs..


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## teletiger (Mar 19, 2006)

Maybe you could try brewers grains. It's whats left over after they steam and squeeze the malted barley. Cattle love it. Dried it contains 30%+ protein (50% of which is bypass protein.....the stuff that builds muscle) Some breweries give it away free, or sell it very cheap.
regards


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