Beef Cattle Lab Flashcards
1
Q
Black Angus
A
- black coat
-excellent mothering ability
2
Q
Red Angus
A
- always red and polled
- homozygous recessive for red coat color
3
Q
Hereford
A
- horned or polled
- red body, white face
- well-suited for extensive range conditions
- highly fertile
4
Q
Shorthorn
A
- red, white, or roan
- polled and horned
- dual-purpose breed
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
6
Q
Brangus
A
- 5/8 Angus, 3/8 Brahman
- now considered purebred
- heat tolerant Black Angus
7
Q
Limousin
A
- golden
- muscled
- from France
8
Q
Charolais
A
- white
- horned or polled
- from France
- muscled
9
Q
Simmental
A
- white face w/ red and white coat (red from dark red –> yellow)
- horned or polled
- rapid growth rate
10
Q
Longhorn
A
- multicolored w/ long horns
- hardy under harsh conditions
11
Q
Chianina
A
- white, black eyes
- tall, large
- mature bulls weigh >3,000 lbs
12
Q
Gelbvieh
A
- red, golden
- known for growth and muscling
13
Q
Bos indicus
A
- hotter climates
14
Q
Bos taurus
A
- cooler climates
- Europe, Asia, Africa
- Limousin, Charolais
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)
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
17
Q
Dehorning
A
- to protect animals, humans, and prevent meat bruising
- use local anesthesia to avoid major distress to animal
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
19
Q
Cow-Calf Operations
A
- breeding, gestation, calving, weaning
- 6-8 mo
- ## based on range and pastureland
20
Q
Yearling-stocker Operations
A
- cattle enter at 225 kg, exit at 400 kg
- gain 1 kg a day
- extensive systems
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
Q
Calf
A
- young bovine (male - bullock, female - heifer)
26
Q
Steer
A
- male castrated before sexual maturity
27
Q
Stag
A
- male castrated after sexual maturity
28
Q
Flight Zone
A
- 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
Q
Anatomy of a Steer
A
- see lab manual pg. 36
30
Q
Ruminant Digestive Tract
A
- see lab manual pg. 37
31
Q
Breeding
A
- generally natural service
- 5-10% artificial insemination
32
Q
Puberty
A
- bulls: 9-12 mo
- heifers: 9-14 mo
33
Q
Weight at Puberty
A
- ~300 kg (660 lbs)
34
Q
Estrous Cycle
A
- 19-23 days (avg 21 days)
- polyestrous (more than 1 estrous cycle/yr)
35
Q
Estrus Period
A
- 12-20 hrs
36
Q
Signs of Heat
A
- stands to be mounted, may mount other cows, highly vocal, nervousness, mucus discharge from vulva
37
Q
Ovulation
A
- 12-15 hrs after onset of estrus
38
Q
Gestation
A
- avg 281 days
- longer in larger breeds
39
Q
Applied Nutrition
A
- 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
Q
Feeding
A
- 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
Q
Housing
A
- 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
Q
Health
A
- vaccines and drugs overseen by Vet Feed Directive and highly regulated
- only medically important antimicrobial drugs are administered to livestock
43
Q
Grass Tetany
A
- magnesium blood serum levels are low due to magnesium deficiencies in feed (pasture or forages)
44
Q
Footrot
A
- swelling and lameness due to sub- or acute necrotic disease in at least one foot
45
Q
Calf Processing
A
castration, dehorning, and branding occur at early age (around weaning)
- grouped to alleviate stress of handling
46
Q
Hybrid Vigor
A
- breeding strategy to increase performance advantage of animals by introducing crossbreeding
47
Q
Alfalfa, Soybeans, Peas, Clover, Beans
A
- 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
Q
Hay
A
- moisture content has to be low enough to avoid fungus and mold
- avoid bacteria that causes spontaneous combustion and hay fires
49
Q
Swather
A
- 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
Q
Raking Hay
A
- 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
Q
Baling
A
- done at night
- need dew to soften it and keep leaves (most valuable part of alfalfa)
52
Q
Compacting Hay
A
- hay goes into baling chamber that compacts it very quickly and densely’
