Beef Cattle Lab Flashcards

1
Q

Black Angus

A
  • black coat
    -excellent mothering ability
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2
Q

Red Angus

A
  • always red and polled
  • homozygous recessive for red coat color
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3
Q

Hereford

A
  • horned or polled
  • red body, white face
  • well-suited for extensive range conditions
  • highly fertile
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4
Q

Shorthorn

A
  • red, white, or roan
  • polled and horned
  • dual-purpose breed
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5
Q

Brahman

A
  • heat tolerant
  • light coat, dark skin, sleek coat = good for heat
  • shoulder hump, droopy ears, excess skin in throat and dewlap
  • from India
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6
Q

Brangus

A
  • 5/8 Angus, 3/8 Brahman
  • now considered purebred
  • heat tolerant Black Angus
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7
Q

Limousin

A
  • golden
  • muscled
  • from France
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8
Q

Charolais

A
  • white
  • horned or polled
  • from France
  • muscled
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9
Q

Simmental

A
  • white face w/ red and white coat (red from dark red –> yellow)
  • horned or polled
  • rapid growth rate
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10
Q

Longhorn

A
  • multicolored w/ long horns
  • hardy under harsh conditions
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11
Q

Chianina

A
  • white, black eyes
  • tall, large
  • mature bulls weigh >3,000 lbs
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12
Q

Gelbvieh

A
  • red, golden
  • known for growth and muscling
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13
Q

Bos indicus

A
  • hotter climates
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14
Q

Bos taurus

A
  • cooler climates
  • Europe, Asia, Africa
  • Limousin, Charolais
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15
Q

Crossbred Animals

A
  • used in commercial beef production
  • Hereford (hardy) x Angus (temperate); also called “black baldy” (better milkers, more productive under avg conditions)
  • Brahman x Hereford (hot areas)
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16
Q

“Terminal Sires”

A
  • larger European breeds used to increase growth rate or muscling of calves
  • Charolais, Simmental, Limousin
  • some heifers kept as cows – larger calves produced
  • cost more to feed, less hardy
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17
Q

Dehorning

A
  • to protect animals, humans, and prevent meat bruising
  • use local anesthesia to avoid major distress to animal
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18
Q

Beef Production Stats

A
  • largest segment of ag industries
  • 17% of all farm marketing
  • 38% total cash receipts from livestock and poultry products
  • TX leading in beef production in US
  • beef production decreasing in US, but increasing in developing world
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19
Q

Cow-Calf Operations

A
  • breeding, gestation, calving, weaning
  • 6-8 mo
  • ## based on range and pastureland
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20
Q

Yearling-stocker Operations

A
  • cattle enter at 225 kg, exit at 400 kg
  • gain 1 kg a day
  • extensive systems
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21
Q

Feedlot Operations

A
  • cattle are “finished”
  • exit operation at 650 kg
  • gain 1.4-1.8 kg/day
  • 14-22 mo
  • more intensive than cow-calf
  • utilize grains to finish cattle
22
Q

Beef Cattle Production Cycle

A
  • see lab manual pg. 35
23
Q

Bull

A
  • intact, mature male bovine
24
Q

Cow

A
  • mature female bovine
25
Calf
- young bovine (male - bullock, female - heifer)
26
Steer
- male castrated before sexual maturity
27
Stag
- male castrated after sexual maturity
28
Flight Zone
- minimum distance animal will maintain between itself and perceived threat - animal will move if in flight zone - flight zones are individual, can change over time - direction of movement dependent upon your location relative to point of balance - behind shoulder, she'll move forward - ahead shoulder, she'll move back
29
Anatomy of a Steer
- see lab manual pg. 36
30
Ruminant Digestive Tract
- see lab manual pg. 37
31
Breeding
- generally natural service - 5-10% artificial insemination
32
Puberty
- bulls: 9-12 mo - heifers: 9-14 mo
33
Weight at Puberty
- ~300 kg (660 lbs)
34
Estrous Cycle
- 19-23 days (avg 21 days) - polyestrous (more than 1 estrous cycle/yr)
35
Estrus Period
- 12-20 hrs
36
Signs of Heat
- stands to be mounted, may mount other cows, highly vocal, nervousness, mucus discharge from vulva
37
Ovulation
- 12-15 hrs after onset of estrus
38
Gestation
- avg 281 days - longer in larger breeds
39
Applied Nutrition
- ruminants - survive on roughages - mostly kept on pasture/range for cow/calf and stocker (bone growth) ops - feedlot: meat and fat dev --> grain used - don't need as high-quality a protein source bcs microbes are protein - ration hays: alfalfa, oat grains: corn, barley, supplements (molasses, minerals)
40
Feeding
- 2% body weight is fed as hay/day - silage: 3x hay (wet basis) - grazing: 4.5-9 gal water/day - fattening: 8-9 gal water/day - lactating beef: 10-25 gal water/day
41
Housing
- protect cattle from wind, rain, cold, heat - windbreaks in the cold - shade in summer, especially trees - cattle in feedlots need 30-50 sq ft of shade per cow - 40-50 sq ft for each mature animal - 20-24 sq ft of feed bunk
42
Health
- vaccines and drugs overseen by Vet Feed Directive and highly regulated - only medically important antimicrobial drugs are administered to livestock
43
Grass Tetany
- magnesium blood serum levels are low due to magnesium deficiencies in feed (pasture or forages)
44
Footrot
- swelling and lameness due to sub- or acute necrotic disease in at least one foot
45
Calf Processing
castration, dehorning, and branding occur at early age (around weaning) - grouped to alleviate stress of handling
46
Hybrid Vigor
- breeding strategy to increase performance advantage of animals by introducing crossbreeding
47
Alfalfa, Soybeans, Peas, Clover, Beans
- legume - can fix N2 out of atmosphere in ammonia - N used to make protein - makes legumes high in protein - some alfalfa plants can have 2-4 m roots (water content) - rizobium nodule to fix nitrogen - kept in crop for 3-5 yrs - optimal nutrient content: before flowering stage/ in the vegetative state - relative of clover - lot of structural material like lignin and stems -- hard to dry plant
48
Hay
- moisture content has to be low enough to avoid fungus and mold - avoid bacteria that causes spontaneous combustion and hay fires
49
Swather
- cuts alfalfa to make hay - rollers called conditioners crimped alfalfa to dry it for hay (50% water to 13%) - conditioners smash plant to dry it - 7 cuts of alfalfa - April to September; enough growth to survive winter
50
Raking Hay
- first thing in the morning bcs dried alfalfa brittle, leaves falling off -morning dew makes plant more flexible - also, breaking process brings material into single row to make baling process more efficient - raking brings alfalfa plants to top to dry undersides more thoroughly - if brittle, will break w/ cartwheeling motion
51
Baling
- done at night - need dew to soften it and keep leaves (most valuable part of alfalfa)
52
Compacting Hay
- hay goes into baling chamber that compacts it very quickly and densely'