BE E F
These soon to calf heifers were keen to check out the new calf.
Animals go through growth stages depending on their breeding, sex and level of nutrition. Bulls grow faster than steers, and heifers do not grow as rapidly as bulls or steers. Bulls are prone to behaviour problems as they get older. Well-fed animals and females tend to lay down fat sooner than poorer fed steers and the testosterone in bulls increases muscle growth and delays fattening. Calves tend to grow lean muscle and frame and their carcass will be lean unless fed a very high energy diet – their meat is tender but lacks fat for most tastes. Yearlings start to accumulate fat and fat is very energy dense, so feed conversion efficiency drops as animals get fatter. Some breeds like Wagyu are favoured for the very marbled beef they produce but the commercial market does not want over-fat animals, so generally it becomes less profitable to put too much weight on animals. If aesthetics are not your primary concern, putting some weight on cull dairy cows can generate income with flexibility. Free from the stresses of milk production and life on a commercial dairy farm, cows which are otherwise healthy but just failed to conceive in time can bloom when retired to a smaller unit. Timing when to buy and when to sell can be an important factor in the profitability of finishing operations, ideally taking advantage of when dairy farmers want to offload stock but meeting a rising beef schedule when finished.
Farmlands Lifestyle Guide
When buying livestock look for active, healthy animals with good appetites that have done well relative to the system in which they have been kept. Try to avoid poor doers even if they are cheap, because they may have underlying genetic limitations or health issues that will impact on how well they do. Beef cows can be kept with the aim of producing one calf per year from the age of two. Beef cows can be of a beef breed, in which case their offspring will be very beefy, a beef cross or dairy breed. Cows of a dairy type will generally produce more milk than a beef cow and can most likely generate more milk than one calf requires. Such cows can be milked to provide milk for calves and possibly some for the house, pigs or chickens. Alternatively, calves can be fostered onto cows – the nature of individual cows can determine how well they adopt extra calves but some people make it work using stalls if necessary, which restrain the cow whilst the calves suckle if she will not accept them readily.
if cows are in poor condition, baleage or compound feed could be offered. With a 9 month gestation and a 21 day breeding cycle cows are normally run with a bull from October or November, depending on the location and expected earliness of spring. Alternatively, cows can be artificially inseminated. This may give access to better quality bulls but handling facilities are required for the technician and application of spray paint or mounting indicators, which show when cows are being mounted by other cows, is needed. With only one calf to feed, excess weight gain can be a problem with beef cows but some condition can be useful to carry animals through a feed pinch. Calves are normally weaned from 5 to 7 months of age – later weaned calves will be heavier but cows may need better feeding if they are to enter the winter in good condition. Condition scoring is recommended, to identify when beef cows need more or less feed e.g. at calving time, thin cows can be given additional grazing or supplements.
Spring is a good time to calve beef cows, because increasing grass supply meets their increasing need for milk production. Cows must be fed well after calving to achieve high calf weaning weights and a high conception rate at re-breeding. Good quality pasture supplemented with minerals will normally suffice but in a hard spring, or
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