Beef Cattle Fattening Feed Formulas and Key Points of Fattening Sheep Feeding Management

In the breeding industry, beef cattle and mutton sheep are relatively short-cycle, higher-profit breeding projects, so what are beef cattle fattening feed formulas? What work needs to be done for fattening sheep?

1. What are the beef cattle fattening feed formulas

1. Silage corn-based feed formula (wet weight): silage corn 80.8%, corn 17.1%, cottonseed cake 2.1%.

2. Distillers grains-based (wet weight) feed formula (taking a growing beef cattle weighing 300 kg as an example): corn 1.5 kg, fresh distillers grains 15 kg, millet straw 2.5 kg, urea 70 g, salt 30 g, additive premix 100 g. Because the crude protein degradability of distillers grains is low, it easily leads to insufficient degradable nitrogen in the rumen, reducing the digestibility of crude fiber. If a certain proportion of urea is added to the distillers grains ration, better results can be achieved.

3. Formula for beef cattle under 300 kg body weight on large-scale cattle farms: corn 61 kg, wheat bran 15 kg, cotton (mixed) cake 20 kg, salt 1 kg, bone meal 1 kg. 100 g premix per head per day, 2 kg concentrate, and roughage allowed for free intake.

4. Fattening formula for beef cattle over 300 kg body weight on large-scale cattle farms: corn 70 kg, wheat bran 13 kg, cotton (mixed) cake 15 kg, salt 1 kg, bone meal 1 kg. 100 g premix per head per day, 3-3.5 kg concentrate, and roughage allowed for free intake.

2. What work needs to be done for fattening sheep

1. Prepare the pens

For house-fed mutton sheep fattening, pens and exercise yards must be prepared. The sheep farm should be built on high, dry, wind-sheltered, sunny ground, with good drainage nearby, far from residential areas and main traffic roads, and there must be no slaughterhouses, chemical plants, etc. nearby, but traffic convenience is required for easy feed procurement and mutton sheep sales. The sheep house must have heat protection and cold protection functions. The area of the sheep house should be determined according to the number of mutton sheep raised. Generally, the floor area per adult sheep is 0.8-1.2 sq m; breeding rams and ewes can occupy a larger area, and lambs can occupy a somewhat smaller area. The sheep house is generally 2.5 m high, the door width is not less than 1.5 m, and the height of windows from the ground is not less than 1.5 m to ensure sufficient light and good ventilation. In summer, cooling facilities need to be installed inside the house, and in winter, heating facilities must be set up to maintain a suitable temperature inside. An exercise yard should be set up near the sheep house. The area of the exercise yard is usually 2-4 times that of the sheep house, with fixed water troughs and feed troughs placed around or in the middle of the exercise yard. In summer, a sunshade can be built in the exercise yard, and tall trees can be planted around the exercise yard to serve the functions of isolation and heat protection and cooling.

2. Prepare sufficient forage

House-fed mutton sheep fattening requires sufficient stored forage, which is the foundation of mutton sheep fattening. Local feed resources should be fully utilized, and long-distance feed transport should be avoided as much as possible to prevent increasing breeding costs. The climate in our region determines that green feed is in short supply in winter and spring, which easily causes mutton sheep to lack nutrients such as vitamins and trace elements. Therefore, house-fed mutton sheep breeding requires prepared silage. In addition, feed sources should be expanded, and a variety of feeds can be widely used for house-fed mutton sheep fattening, including by-products such as distillers grains and tofu residue. Farms with the conditions can also grow various high-quality forage grasses themselves to raise sheep, which can reduce feed costs.

3. Select breeds

Good breeds are the foundation for raising good mutton sheep. When selecting breeds, attention should be paid to selecting excellent breeds suitable for the local climate and breeding conditions, with high production performance, high feed conversion, short feeding cycle, good meat quality, and significant breeding economic benefits. Generally, our region mostly selects crossbred offspring of excellent introduced foreign breeds such as Charolais and German Mutton Merino crossed with local sheep for breeding, and the fattening effect is relatively good.

4. Choose a suitable fattening stage

Lambs mainly grow muscle from 1 to 8 months of age, so lambs gain weight faster than older sheep, and the fattening effect is also better. Therefore, choosing lambs for fattening produces meat products of good quality and relatively high breeding economic benefits. For this reason, house-fed mutton sheep breeding generally groups the lambs by sex, body weight, etc. for fattening after weaning, except for those kept for breeding. For adult sheep fattening, culled sheep are selected and grouped by age and body weight for fattening.

5. Castration, disinfection and deworming

Male lambs are easier to manage after castration, and the meat quality is improved and the flavor is enhanced. Before moving groups for fattening, thoroughly clean and disinfect the pens. Also carry out the removal of internal and external parasites from the sheep flock to ensure a good fattening effect.

Fattening beef cattle or mutton sheep requires large-scale operation to see returns. It is recommended that farmers decide whether to breed only after doing preliminary investigation, so as not to lose money due to impulse.