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ANS 41 > Beef Introduction > Flashcards

Beef Introduction Flashcards

1
Q

General Features of Beef Cattle

A
  • highly adaptable
  • limited agility
  • gregarious social structure
  • ruminants
  • herbivorous
  • promiscuous males (multiple females to one male)
  • extroverted receptivity display by females
  • precocial development of young (young grow up quickly because many behaviors are hardwired and don’t need to be learned)
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2
Q

Production Stages

A
  • breeding
  • gestation
  • calving
  • weaning
  • growing
  • finishing
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3
Q

Breeding

A
  • mostly naturally (cow-calf op)
  • 20-50 cows; bull inseminates females over time
  • can also collect semen for AI in purebred ops
  • rangeland: natural service
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4
Q

Gestation

A
  • mama cows and calves together on pasture until calves weaned at 400 lbs
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5
Q

Weaning

A
  • can put flap rings in calves’ nose that stops them when they try to get to teats
  • in the past, used fenceline weaning – physical separation of cow and calf by fence, but very stressful for calf (vocalizing, separation anxiety)
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6
Q

Beef Calves vs. Dairy Calves

A
  • beef calves can stay with moms; dairy calves can’t
  • likely bcs of microbial situation
  • dairy: more manure contamination; higher stocking density
  • beef: low stocking density on ranch; manure dispersed, so unlikely to lie down in feces and contact pathogens
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7
Q

Cow Calf Operations in US

A
  • 740,000 ops
  • 50 mama cows and their calves on avg
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8
Q

Feedlot Operations in US

A
  • 1400 feedlots
  • tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of cattle
  • want to finish them
  • prepare for slaughter by putting on IM fat, not SQ fat
  • marbling of meat for flavor (higher marbling = higher grading)
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9
Q
A
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10
Q

Grading

A
  • lowest level = select (burgers); least marbling
  • then choice
  • top level = prime (most marbling, lot of taste
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11
Q

Meat Tenderness

A
  • determined by muscle fibers and their age
  • if animal fully marbled and young –> tender, high grade meat
  • if bull 10 yo is slaughtered, muscle fibers thick –> tough meat
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12
Q

Average Lifespan of Beef Cattle

A
  • 14-16 mo
  • animals still young –> tender
  • animals fully marbled –> taste
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13
Q

Grass- vs. Corn-Finished Beef

A
  • both types spend 2/3 of their lives on pasture
  • grass-finished are older because it takes them longer to grow (tougher meat)
  • corn-finished beef has better taste, tenderness, appearance (fat looks white instead of yellow)
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14
Q

Stocker Operations

A
  • grow frame and muscle
  • growing stage
  • pasture
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15
Q

Finishing

A
  • feedlot
  • intramuscular fat
  • 80-90% concentrates (leads to change in marbling)
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16
Q

Cow-Calf Operation

A
  • seed stock (purebred breeding animals) or commercial ops that produce calves
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17
Q

Background Operation

A
  • growing calves on forage for placement in feedlot
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18
Q

Stocker

A
  • recently weaned calf grazing forage prior to feedlot entry
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19
Q

Feedlot

A
  • cattle fed a high energy finishing diet
  • pretty concentrated in terms of animal numbers
  • they choose to bunch up and not spread out, but they do have a lot of space in dirt floor corrals
20
Q

Range and Pasture Systems

A
  • 2/3 of beef life on pasture, whether corn- or grass-finished
  • 1/2 of CA land is grazing land, mostly for beef cattle
21
Q

Feedlot Systems

A
  • corn-finished
  • last 4 mo of life in feedlot
22
Q

Range and Pasture

A
  • soil quality and climate determine forage grown
  • wide range of conditions in CA; varies w/ season, pasture or range type, and stocking rate
  • change in seasonal quality of forage will cause flux in body condition
  • locally accepted standards of available forage and stocking rate should be considered
  • grazing beef cattle should be provided w/ supplements for nutrients that are deficient in pasture and range forage
23
Q

Feedlot Systems

A
  • intensive management systems
  • indoors
  • open lots w/ or w/out shelter
  • vast majority
  • dirt floor corrals
  • 130 sq ft space allowance
  • they don’t use that much space
  • 100-200 animals per pen, generally bunched up
24
Q

Thermoregulation

A
  • facilities should give cattle opportunity for behavioral thermoreg depending on local climate
  • windbreaks, shade (dome-like structure best), mounds, roofed shelter –> for temp reg
  • need shade to reduce heat stress, maintain feed intake, have higher grade of meat, and finish as fast as possible, as well as have lighter meat
  • costs $18 per head to put in shade
  • shade more common in western states
25
Q

Manure

A
  • manure pack is formed in dry lot corrals
  • scraped out after animals leave feedlot in 4 months and sold
  • 3% slope of dirt floor to avoid water accumulation
  • rainwater directed to retention pond
  • stocking density in pen: 100-200 cattle
26
Q

Floor and Ground Area

A
  • affected by type and slope of floor or soil surface, weather, group size, feeding method
27
Q

Feedlot Diet

A
  • 80-90% concentrate
  • 10-20% roughage
  • minerals, vitamins, etc.
28
Q

Feedlot Feeding Process

A
  • pick up trucks do bunk calls to see how much feed leftover
  • feed trucks drive by pens and feed according to bunk call
  • pen riders on horses check on horses for signs of injuries, disease, coughing, behavioral aggression/discomfort
29
Q

Unwanted Behaviors

A
  • steers and heifers riding each other - form of bullying
  • dominance hierarchy behavior; bullying behavior
  • animal being bullied is taken out of pen and put into bull-off pen
  • sick animals brought to hospital pen, where vet oversight present if needed
30
Q

Agnostic Behavior

A
  • fighting out dominance
  • injuries, causes dust-ups
  • unwanted behavior
31
Q

Slick Bunk System

A
  • want bunk to be almost empty
  • not a lot of feed leftover from day before, not wiped clean
  • info from bunk call goes to feed driver
32
Q

Dirt Floor Pens

A
  • manure turns to dust during hot dry weather
  • manure turns to mud during wet weather
  • appropriate drainage, use mounds
  • clean pens every 3-4 months
33
Q

Nuisance

A
  • condition that people might find objectionable
  • gas production in feedlot systems might make neighbors complain
34
Q

Dried Manure Dust

A
  • animals step on dust, becomes airborne
  • nuisance and unhealthy (airborne pathogens)
  • need to prevent that dust/mud manure pack and limit manure runoff
35
Q

Odors, Dust, and Flies

A
  • driven by moisture
  • more dry = more dust
  • more wet = more odor
  • more wet = more microbes (which generate odorous gases)
  • flies only breed under ideal moisture conditions (20-30% moisture in egg-laying medium)
  • control moisture to control dust, odors, and flies
  • can also use predator wasps (lay their eggs inside fly eggs; flies die) and/or poisons to control flies
36
Q

Hard Surface Pens

A
  • durable
  • easily cleaned
  • provide adequate footing
  • manure can be handled wet (liquid manure) or dry (w/ bedding)
  • manure disposal can impact biosecurity
  • manure mounds implemented for dry ground
37
Q

Solid Manure Management System

A
  • feedlots
  • use box scraper or front end loader to get out dry manure
  • put that manure in mounds (long, not tall)
  • turn the manure every week – stock piling manure (for oxygen to get in)
38
Q

Compost

A
  • N and C at right ratio to optimize aerobic microbe growth (18 C to 1 N)
  • huge microbial growth incr temperature of compost
  • pathogens die in incr temp, weeds die
  • compost is NOT fertilizer
  • compost IS soil stabilizer
  • livestock and horticulture linked
  • horticulture needs soil stabilizers
39
Q

Fertilizer

A
  • manure is perfect bcs it has N, P, K in exact ratios needed for crop growth
  • organic farms must use organic fertilizers, but the places that they get this manure from not necessarily organic
40
Q

Social Environment and Behavior

A
  • mixing, crowding, group composition, and competition for limited resources are part of confinement social environ
  • don’t like to mix different groups of different origins to minimize fighting
  • crowding animals is not good
  • feedlot animals use only ½ of space provided, but if only provided ½ the space, performance goes down
  • certain cattle experience these circumstances as stressful and show unwanted behaviors (fighting, bullying, agonistic behaviors)
41
Q

Handling and Transport

A
  • cattle shouldn’t be overcrowded during transport
  • anti-slip floors, water provided
  • all vehicles used to transport cattle should provide for the safety of personnel and cattle during loading, transporting, unloading
  • abrupt sharp turns or stops should be avoided
  • adequate air circulation should be provided and varies w/ climatic condition
42
Q

Non-Ambulatory Cattle

A
  • downed or non-ambulatory cattle must not be dragged
  • specialized slide boards, carts, sleds can be used to transport injured cattle to treatment areas
  • downed cattle w/ an unfavorable prognosis should be euthanized using an approved method
  • niche market
  • only slaughtered non-ambulatory animals
  • unethical
  • Harris Ranch called the CEO of this place
  • self-policing
43
Q

Cattle Health/Vet Care

A
  • treatment administration
  • subcutaneous (SC)
  • side of the neck (lateral)
  • intramuscular (IM)
  • intravenous (IV) - jugular
  • Oral
  • IM injections can cause injection site lesions and abscesses
  • if drug can be administered IM or SC, use SC
  • give SC injections in neck – avoid damage to valuable meat cuts
44
Q

Pain

A
  • sensation of discomfort that may lead to distress and feelings of urgency resulting from stimulation of specialized nerve endings
45
Q

Signs of Pain and Distress in Beef Cattle

A
  • lethargy, restlessness
  • lack of appetite
  • incr vocalizations
  • incr aggression
  • guarded posture
  • good at hiding injuries
  • incr/shallow respiration
  • abnormal appearance or behavior
  • grinding of teeth
46
Q

Respiration

A
  • incr or shallow during summer when hot
  • measure by looking at flank movements, counting for 15 seconds *4 = resp rate
  • summer resp rate: 100-150 –> animal stressed, needs to cool down
  • open-mouthed breathing: emergency situation, put water on cow or air on cow
47
Q

Painful Experiences for Cattle

A
  • lameness due to swollen joints, broken bones, hoof damage
  • physical injuries
  • infectious diseases
  • rough handling
  • handle cattle quietly
  • certain research procedures
  • certain management practices
  • castration, dehorning, branding – painful for at least 1 day
  • every animal has to have hot iron brand to prevent cattle rustling (theft)
  • done to young calves
  • dehorn otherwise injuries
  • castrate bcs feedlots don’t want intact cattle

ANS 41 (7 decks)

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