What are the methods and technical key points for scientific cattle farming?
Judging from the cattle market situation in recent years, cattle farming, especially beef cattle farming, is undoubtedly a good way for farmers to get rich, but to promote cattle farming and obtain high benefits, scientific feeding and fine management are necessary. Below, the editor of Qiannong Network introduces how to raise cattle scientifically.
Ensure a good growth environment
In cattle farming, the first thing is to do a good job in building cattle sheds, and build cattle sheds that are warm in winter and cool in summer according to local conditions. In winter, heat preservation should be done well, keeping the inside of the shed above 5°C. Remove manure at fixed times every day, ventilate at noon, brush the cattle's bodies, and regularly lead them outside the shed to bask in the sun, so as to strengthen their physique and help them gain fat.
Be sure to select and raise improved breeds of cattle
Choosing excellent breeds of cattle for farming is the key to obtaining good benefits, because improved breeds of cattle not only have good meat quality, fast growth, high feed conversion, and good market appearance, but also have a low incidence of disease. It is necessary to change the long-standing practice of carrying out progressive crossbreeding, and actively introduce breeds such as Limousin and Simmental for three-way crossbreeding, continuously improving the improvement effect and economic benefits. Never assume that local cattle are already excellent and therefore neglect breed improvement. The breeds being raised must be continuously improved. When cattle prices are high, breed improvement should be carried out, and when cattle prices are low, breed improvement should be carried out even more. Where conditions permit, the new technology of frozen semen breeding should be promoted as much as possible. In particular, it should be noted that hybrid bulls must not be used for breeding, because although hybrid bulls are tall and powerful, their heredity is unstable, and they very easily cause inbreeding, degeneration of offspring, and low economic benefits.
Scientific feeding technology
1. In cattle farming, cattle should as much as possible eat well and be full on green forage, while also being supplemented with other necessary nutritious feed. To improve cattle farming benefits, we must start with calf rearing, especially doing a good job in supplementary feeding during the first and second winter-spring housing periods, so that they reach a body weight of about 300 kg and are marketed at 18 to 24 months of age, or after short-term intensive fattening reach a body weight of more than 500 kg and are marketed. After ammoniation, the crude protein content of rice straw and wheat straw can be increased, which can not only reduce feeding costs but also improve the economic benefits of cattle farming. Therefore, new straw treatment technologies such as straw silage, semi-dry storage, and ammoniation should be vigorously promoted and popularized, and straw-based cattle farming should be promoted.
2. Adding urea is an effective way to solve the shortage of protein feed in our country. Urea phosphate and monensin can increase daily weight gain and feed conversion rate by 10%-15%, and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can increase feed utilization rate by more than 12%. Urease inhibitors developed and promoted in recent years also have a good weight-gain effect.
In addition, additives such as multivitamins, minerals, and trace elements can all be selected for use.
Doing a good job in deworming and disease prevention is key
1. When cattle graze, because they eat forage and come into contact with the ground, they are often infected with various parasites internally and externally, such as Haemonchus contortus, Bunostomum, and Oesophagostomum, which very easily appear in the cattle digestive tract; cattle are very easily infected externally with parasites such as mites, ticks, lice, flies, and maggots. These parasites absorb nutrients and release toxins, hindering the growth and development of cattle, and can reduce daily weight gain by 35% and feed conversion rate by 30%; cattle warble fly maggots reduce hide prices by more than double, and severe parasitism can cause death. It can be seen that deworming is an indispensable and important part of cattle farming. Farmers raising cattle can carry out deworming twice, in spring from March to May and in autumn from September to October, and fattening cattle should be dewormed at the start of fattening. At present, there are many types of deworming drugs, and levamisole, trichlorfon, and others can all be used, but their antiparasitic spectrum is narrow and the effect is not satisfactory. Avermectin (Chongkexing) is the first-choice deworming drug. This drug is a broad-spectrum, high-efficiency, low-toxicity, new-type antiparasitic veterinary drug developed and produced in recent years, and can simultaneously expel internal nematodes and external parasites such as mites, ticks, lice, and fly maggots in livestock and poultry. The dosage forms include injection, tablet, capsule, and powder, four types. Among them, the powder is moderately priced and convenient to use. Usage and dosage: administer orally or mix evenly into feed for feeding. Use 1 gram per 10 kg of body weight; deworming is best arranged in the afternoon or evening, so that the parasites are expelled during the daytime the next day, making it convenient to collect and handle them. Before administration, it is best to stop feeding for 6 to 12 hours, giving only drinking water, to improve drug efficacy. After thoroughly expelling various internal and external parasites from the cattle, the effect of scientific feeding and fattening is remarkable.
2. Preventing cattle diseases is also one of the keys to obtaining relatively high benefits in cattle farming. If disease prevention is not done well, scientific feeding will be completely wasted. To prevent cattle diseases, in addition to doing a good job in cleaning, sanitation, and disinfection of cattle sheds and cattle bodies, ensuring the hygiene and safety of cattle feed and drinking water, and deworming, if there is insufficient veterinary technology, it is also necessary to maintain regular contact with local veterinarians and do a good job in epidemic prevention and disease treatment.
Finished cattle should be sold in a timely manner
Cattle being raised should be sold in a timely manner once they reach a certain specification; otherwise, the feeding cost will be too high and the gains will not be worth the losses, reducing cattle farming benefits or even resulting in no benefits at all.