Beef Cattle Flashcards
Purpose of the industry?
- produce young animals for slauhter
How are you successful in the beef cattle industry?
- High carcass quality = good price
- Good food conversion efficiency
- Maximum growth rates
What is the largest cost to the beef cattle industry?
feed costs for both breeding and growing animals = largest cost
How can you farm?
- intensively = rear quickly, lot of high energy cereal based feeds
- extensive route = cheapest food route = grass and rear slowly
What are the governing bodies?
- AHDB =England = beef and lamb: Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board
- QMS = quality meat Scotland
- Welsh beef
- all work to same purpose
What defines traditional British beef breeds?
- Small mature size = low maintenance
- Early maturing = reach fat stage earlier
- Hardy- climate and environment
- good suckler cow
e. g. aberdeen angus, welsh balck, belted galloway, beef shorthorn, hereford ,
Examples of continental breeds and difference vs british
- Large mature size (700-800kg cow)
- late maturing: fat deposition stage later = can push high concentrate diet
- More carcass
- really good terminal sire (offspring into foodchain)
continental = Limousin, charolais, belgian blue, british blue (origionates from belgum)
what must every beef cow have?
- passport: (online mostly now)
- when animal born
- breed
- dam and sire
- record movement
Suckler herd aims:
- low input
- mostly forage supplement with additional food in late gestation and early lactation
- aim: cow stable body condition: 2.5 (mature)/ 3 (1st/ 2nd calving)
What is the boggest problem for autumn calvers
- turned out onto good grass at spring when calf 6 months old = less demand
- stop get fat in grazing period
- need: high stock density and graze tightly
What makes a good suckler cow
- docile temperament = easy management
- milky dams with excellent mothering qualities
- longevity
- Grow fast and early sexual maturity
- excellent grass conversion ability
- Hardiness and adaptability
- Good modern conformation with length and width
When are calves weaned?
6-8 months
Target for efficient cow at point of weaning
- at point of weaning (about 200 days)
2. calf weighs half as much as she does
When does calving occur?
- spring calving
- autumn calving
- some e.g. east anglia moving to winter calving as grass all dried up in June
Pros and cons of calving in spring
- Cow only needs extra winter feeding in last month or 2 of pregnancy = not have to put much food into her as only maintenance requirements
- once calf born = fresh grass growth
- calf off in autumn, winter then 1 yr at spring it will utilise this for growth
- good summer grass = higher fertility when breed again
- outside when calving typically
- harsh winter can upset pattern if you can’t turn them out
Pros and cons to autumn calving
- cow good condition at point of calving as summer grass
- could be over conditioned which could lead to dystocia
- easy supervision as bring in typically for calving
- lactating over winter so higher winter feeding costs
- need to feed more over winter too to gain good fertility
- autumn born calves usually higher price
What is weaning good to control?
- Body condition score of your cow
- cow starting to get thin = take calf off early
- if cow too fat = take calf off late
Better to wean abruptly or over time?
- abruptly.
2. remember to keep a few fields away not just one or 2
Veal
- small market in UK
- Crates banned in UK, must be in groups
- Dairy bred males
- milk throughout, until slaughter
- must have access to hard feed and straw to address iron deficiency
- if not = anaemia
- slaughter at 6-7 months, 300 kg
cows with a white head have what breed in them?
Hereford
Rose
- reared as veal
- but not milk throughout
- wean off milk after few weeks and put onto starchy feeds (maize, silage, cereal and straw)
- slaughter at 10 months 400 kg
- must be group housed
selling and transport rules
- illegal to sell calf less than 7 days
- illegal to resale within 28 days
- illegal to transport less than 10 days
- illegal to transport less than 14 days old if distance greater than 8 hrs
- Navel MUST have healed
Creep feed
- start 1 month- 3 months before calf weaned
- helps reduce stress at weaning
- growth into calf
- pressure off cow lactating if grass bad if calf is eating food.
- conserved grass stores low after bad year = pressure off cow if low straw/ silage
orphan calf, what stage do you change milk: forage ratio?
as a rule of thumb: % weight gain from dam's milk 1. 1 month of life 100% milk 2. 3 month = 66% 3. 6 month = 33%
Intensive rules
- finish 12-14 months
- not allowed bulls outside if public footpath
- so usually insdie
Extensive rules
- slaughter at 18/24/30 months
- more concentrates 2 ish months before slaughter
- 30 months = niche markets = only grass fed
clean slaughter policy
- must be clean, especially on belly as this is where knife goes through. = usually reared on bedding to keep clean. otherwise can be rejected
if feeding on barley cereal what are key facts
- intorduce over 3-4 weeks to stop acidosis
- straw crucial
- mineral and vitamin supplements
- barley must NEVER run out must be truly ab-libitum = could cause acidosis if runs out and gorge
- safety = entire bulls = should never go into pen.
- must have warning signs in case someone comes on farm
- less popular as must invest specific safety precautions
What is bull steer problem?
- one bull bullied
- ridden by several other bulls
- pain, exhaustion, death, bruising
- remove the one that gets ridden
- keep group no larger than 20 cattle
- 4 m square per animal
Issues with barley ab lib
- carbohydrate overload: bloat, rumen acidosis, liver abscessation
- Hypovitaminosis A (blindness)
- Lameness (conc too high or run out) dermatitis if wet bedding
- Pneumonia
- abbatoir reports helps identify any issues
How much weight gain should you expect of a suckler calf? e.g. how heavy 6 month old calf
DOSE
- 40 kg birth
- 1 kg a day
- e.g. 6 month old: 40 kg birth, 180 kg = about 220
what are common finishing weights for heifers and steers
18 months: Heifer = 360 - 480Kg (autumn born = lighter weihgt Steer (bullock) = 530 kg 22-24 months steer: 560 kg
what do cobwebs and rust in a shed indicate?
- lack of air movement
2. rust = condensation = poor ventilation. tiger stripes = stipes of rust = water running down
Killing out perfect in beef animal
about 55% (just over half carcass weight
What factors influence killing out percentage
- Nutrition - high roughage diet = lower KO% as gut more full. close to slaughter = mroe concentrates
- Gender bull< steer = heavier skull and skin
Heifer> steer = greater fat content - Age older> young as more fat
- breed: traditional> continental> dairy cross> dairy
What section of the animal is Class A, B and C
- about 1/3rd each
- Class A = rump, loin, round
- Class B: ribs, chuck
- C = brisket, flank
