Detailed Explanation of Feeding Methods and Technical Points for Fattening Cattle

????I. Feeding Methods:Two fattening methods: barn feeding and mountain grazing with supplemental feeding

1. Barn feeding fattening can be divided into continuous fattening and feeder cattle fattening. Continuous fattening is a method in which cattle, after weaning, are fattened continuously with a fattening diet until 15-18 months of age, reaching a live weight of about 350-400 kg before being sent to slaughter. The advantages of this method are a young slaughter age and good meat quality; the disadvantages are a long feeding period, high feed consumption, high cost, and low profit. It is rarely used in rural areas at present.? Feeder cattle fattening: generally, after weaning, calves are raised under a low nutritional level until 12-18 months of age, then given a diet with a higher nutritional level and intensively fattened for 3-6 months, reaching a live weight of about 400-500 kg before being sent to slaughter. This method is suitable for fattening feeder cattle produced by barn feeding in agricultural areas or year-round grazing in mountainous areas. Its advantages are low feed consumption, low cost, and it can increase the turnover rate.

2. Mountain grazing with supplemental feeding fattening: fattening cattle are raised to 18 months of age and reach a body weight of about 350 kg before being sent to slaughter. This method is simple and easy to implement, mainly relying on local natural grassland grazing, costing little and yielding high profit.

????II. Technical Requirements for Formulating Fattening Cattle Diets

1. The diet of fattening cattle mainly consists of concentrate and roughage. Based on the nutrient content of the roughage, calculated on a dry matter basis, the ratio of concentrate to roughage is 1:2-3.

2. The concentrate feed needs to contain 2-3 kinds each of protein feed and energy feed, and the roughage should contain at least 2 kinds.

3. The total amount of feed supplied to fattening cattle per day, calculated on a dry matter basis, is about 2% of live weight, while for feeder cattle it can be calculated at 2.4-3% of live weight.

4. Diet formulation: A diet refers to a set of mixed feeds consumed by one fattening cattle in a 24-hour period, generally including green feed, roughage, concentrate, and additive feed.

5. Fattening cattle diet formulation: Based on feeding standards, combined with local feed resources for flexible application, and revised as appropriate. On the basis of first meeting energy requirements, then consider protein, mineral, and vitamin requirements. The nutritional requirements of beef cattle are expressed as percentages: energy 86-93%, protein 6-12%, minerals and vitamins 1-2%.

6. The composition of the feed must conform to the digestive physiological characteristics of cattle, with reasonable matching, mainly roughage supplemented with a small amount of concentrate. The crude fiber content in the diet must not be less than 13%.

7. The composition of the diet should be diversified, with good palatability, conforming to the feed intake capacity of beef cattle, so that it can not only meet nutritional needs but also allow the cattle to eat well and eat their fill. The feed intake of beef cattle is 2-3 kg of dry matter per 100 kg of body weight per day per head. Feed should be obtained and produced locally as much as possible to reduce costs.

8. Principles and methods of diet formulation: First consult the nutritional tables and feed nutrient composition tables, and preliminarily determine the types and amounts of forage in the diet. Generally, 1-1.5 kg of hay and 3-4 kg of silage are given per 100 kg of body weight. Supplementation and balancing: subtract the nutrient amount provided by the forage from the nutritional requirements of beef cattle; the difference is the nutrient amount to be supplemented by concentrate, while also supplementing minerals and vitamins. If urea is used to increase the crude protein level of the diet, the amount used must not exceed 3% of the concentrate feed amount. After feeding, do not allow large amounts of drinking water immediately, to avoid poisoning and death.

9. Farmers use tethered feeding, with one cattle per trough or two cattle per trough, one cattle per post, limiting activity, reducing heat consumption, and promoting fattening and muscle growth.

????III. Feeding Methods for Fattening Cattle

1. Before barn feeding fattening cattle and before slaughter, intensive short-term fattening should be carried out, strictly following nutritional standards to formulate the diet and meet weight gain needs.

2. Adhere to clean grass, clean feed, clean trough, and clean water.

3. Adhere to feeding three times a day, with each interval not less than 6 hours, and divide the daily feeding amount evenly into portions. Feed at fixed times and in fixed amounts.

4. Fattening cattle should drink water at least 2 times a day, until they have drunk enough.

5. Order of feeding forage and feed: grass first, then feed, or mixed feeding of grass and feed. 4.1.3.6 When grazing fattening cattle in mountainous areas using natural grasslands, they must eat their fill; otherwise, supplement with hay and mixed feed. The supplemental concentrate feeding amount is about 1-2.5 kg per head per day.

????IV. Management of Fattening Cattle

1. Adhere to the "six cleans"

Clean grass: no soil, iron nails, wires, plastic film, or spoiled forage.

Clean feed: do not feed moldy or spoiled feed or feed contaminated by toxic pesticides, and it must not contain foreign matter such as sand, metal, or plastic film.

Clean pen: remove manure frequently to keep the barn air fresh.

Clean trough: adhere to daily cleaning, especially in summer, clean once after each feeding to prevent forage residue from fermenting or becoming moldy in the trough.

Clean cattle body: adhere to brushing 1-2 times a day to keep the cattle body clean. In summer, prevent and control external parasites such as cattle flies.

Clean water: drinking water should be clean, and water tanks should be cleaned regularly.

Note: Before fattening, internal parasites should be dewormed, and in areas where infectious diseases occur, vaccines should be injected promptly, and disease prevention and control work should be done well to ensure cattle health; during the fattening process, carry out the "five observations": first, observe the speed of eating grass; second, observe rumination; third, observe the shape of feces; fourth, observe mental state; fifth, observe walking gait. Two touches: first, touch the base of the ears; second, touch the nose mirror. If abnormalities are found, take measures promptly. Yuan Xingwu