Detailed Explanation of Key Points of Beef Cattle Feeding and Management Techniques

1. Nutrition and Feed of Fattening Cattle
1.1 The nutrition of fattening cattle includes energy, protein, minerals and vitamins, etc.
1.2.1 There are many kinds of cattle feed, mainly including concentrate feed, roughage, mineral supplement feed and vitamin supplement feed, etc.
1.2.2 Roughage includes crop straw, green hay, green grass, silage, root and tuber feeds and melon and vegetable feeds (such as sweet potato, potato, sugar beet, fodder pumpkin, etc., which contain much water and high dry matter energy, also called energy feed).
1.2.3 Concentrate feed includes legume seeds, such as soybean, black bean, pea and their cake residues, and grass family seeds, such as corn, barley, sorghum and bran, distiller's grains, vinegar residue, brewer's grains, etc. Grass family seeds and their cake residues are rich in crude protein, so they are called protein feed. Legume straw contains 8-10% protein, while grass family straw contains 4-6% protein; the common characteristic of both is a crude fiber content as high as 35-45%; crude fiber has an important nutritional role for cattle and is an indispensable nutrient, accounting for 13-17% of the diet.
1.2.4 Mineral supplement feed includes bone meal, shell meal, calcium carbonate, salt, etc. This type of feed mainly supplements the calcium, phosphorus, sodium and chlorine elements in the diet to meet the needs of fattening cattle. Bone meal and salt account for 1-2% of the concentrate amount in the diet.
1.2.5 Mineral supplement feed and supplements of vitamins, non-protein nitrogen (such as urea), anthelmintics, antibiotics, etc. in the diet are collectively called feed additives. The role of these additives is to improve the nutritional composition of the diet, increase feed digestion and utilization rate, promote cattle weight gain and prevent disease.
　　
2. Selection of Fattening Cattle
2.1 The selected cattle must have normal growth and development and be healthy without disease.
2.2 Select bulls or steers from the crossbred offspring of Simmental cattle, Danish Red cattle, Qinchuan cattle and local yellow cattle, and from the crossbred offspring of Holstein cattle and local yellow cattle.
2.3 Age and sex of fattening cattle: generally steers or cows can start at about 24 months of age; while bulls start at 13 months of age, and at the latest should be 18 months of age. Young cattle have good fattening results. Bulls are over 24 months of age, steers or cows 30 months of age.
　　
3. Fattening Period
3.1 The length of the general fattening period depends on the age, sex, age at slaughter and nutritional level of the cattle, and economic benefits should also be considered.
3.1.1 For older cattle, the fattening period should be short; generally about 3 months of fattening feeding is enough for them to be marketed; for cattle at 18 months of age or younger, when fattening begins, generally about 8 months of fattening period is required.
3.1.2 Bulls start fattening at about 12 months of age and can go through a 6-8 month fattening period; when bulls start fattening at 15-18 months of age, they should be marketed and slaughtered after a 4-6 month fattening period.
3.1.3 In the last two months of the fattening period, the nutritional concentration of the diet must be increased to improve the composition of the meat. Throughout the fattening period, when the nutritional concentration of the diet is high, the fattening period is shorter; when the nutritional concentration of the diet is low, the fattening period should be longer.
3.1.4 The suitable marketing or slaughter age is as follows: bulls about 18-22.5 months of age; cows or steers about 22-24 months of age.
3.1.5 Before fattening cattle start fattening, they must be dewormed, have their stomachs strengthened and be castrated.
Cattle over 10 months of age can also be fattened.
　　
4. Feeding and Management of Fattening Cattle
　　
4.1 Feeding of Fattening Cattle
4.1.1 Feeding methods: two fattening methods, namely house feeding in plain areas and grazing plus supplementary feeding in mountainous areas.
4.1.1.2 House feeding fattening can be divided into two methods: continuous fattening and feeder cattle fattening.
Continuous fattening is the method in which cattle, after weaning (5-6 months of age), are continuously fattened with a fattening diet until 15-18 months of age, and are marketed and slaughtered when their live weight reaches about 350-400 kg. The advantages of this method are a young marketing age and good meat quality; the disadvantages are a long feeding period, high feed consumption, high cost and little benefit. At present, it is rarely adopted in rural areas.
Feeder cattle fattening method: generally after calves are weaned, they are raised under a low nutritional level until 12-18 months of age, then supplied with a diet of a higher nutritional level and intensively fattened for 3-6 months, and marketed and slaughtered when their live weight reaches about 400-500 kg. This method is suitable for fattening feeder cattle produced by house feeding in agricultural areas or year-round grazing in mountainous areas; its advantages are low feed consumption, low cost and an increased number of turnovers.
4.1.1.2 Grazing plus supplementary feeding fattening in mountainous areas: fattening cattle grow to 18 months of age and are marketed when their body weight reaches about 350 kg. This method is simple and easy to carry out, mainly based on grazing on local natural grasslands, with low cost and high benefit.
4.1.2 Technical requirements for the formulation of feeding diets for fattening cattle.
4.1.2.1 The diet composition of fattening cattle is mainly concentrate and roughage. According to the nutrient content of the roughage, calculated on a dry matter basis, the ratio of concentrate to roughage is 1:2-3.
4.1.2.2 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.
4.1.2.3 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 (young cattle that have not been fattened after weaning) it can be calculated at 2.4-3% of live weight.
4.1.2.4 Diet formulation: A diet refers to a group of mixed feed consumed by one fattening cow in a day and night, generally including green feed, roughage, concentrate feed and additive feed.
4.1.2.5 Diet formulation for fattening cattle: based on feeding standards, flexibly applied in combination with local feed resources, and revised as appropriate. On the basis of first meeting the energy requirement, then consider the requirements for protein, minerals and vitamins. The nutritional requirements of beef cattle are expressed as percentages: energy 86-93%, protein 6-12%, minerals and vitamins 1-2%.
4.1.2.6 The composition of the feed must conform to the digestive physiological characteristics of cattle, be reasonably matched, with roughage as the main part and a small amount of concentrate feed added; the crude fiber content in the diet must not be less than 13%.
4.1.2.7 The composition of the diet should be diversified and palatable, conform to the intake capacity of beef cattle, and not only meet the nutritional needs but also enable the cattle to eat it and eat their fill. The feed intake of beef cattle is 2-3 kg dry matter per 100 kg body weight per day per head. Feed should be obtained and produced locally as much as possible to reduce costs.
4.1.2.8 Principles and methods of diet formulation: first consult the nutrition table and feed nutrient composition table, and preliminarily determine the types and amounts of forage in the diet; generally give 1-1.5 kg hay and 3-4 kg silage per 100 kg 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 supplemented by the 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, a large amount of water must not be drunk immediately, so as to avoid poisoning and death.
4.1.2.9 Farmers adopt tethered feeding, one cow per manger or two cows per manger, one cow per post, restricting activity, reducing heat consumption and promoting fattening and meat gain.
4.1.3 Feeding methods for fattening cattle
4.1.3.1 House-fed fattening cattle and those before marketing (2-3 months) should undergo concentrated short-term fattening, strictly matching the diet according to nutritional standards to meet weight gain needs.
4.1.3.2 Persist in clean grass, clean feed, clean manger and clean water.
4.1.3.3 Persist in feeding three times a day, with each interval not less than 6 hours, and supply the daily feeding amount in equally divided portions. Feed at fixed times and in fixed amounts. 4.1.3.4 Fattening cattle should drink water at least 2 times a day, drinking until satisfied.
4.1.3.5 Order of feeding grass and feed: grass first, then feed, or mixed feeding of grass and feed.
4.1.3.6 For grazing fattening (young cattle about 13 months of age that have passed their first winter and spring) in mountainous areas using natural grasslands for grazing, they must eat their fill; otherwise, hay and mixed feed must be supplemented. The supplementary concentrate feeding amount is about 1-2.5 kg per head per day.
4.2 Management of Fattening Cattle
4.2.1 Persist in the “six cleans”
4.2.1.1 Clean feed: do not feed moldy or deteriorated feed or feed contaminated by toxic pesticides, and do not contain foreign matter such as sand and stones, metal and plastic film.
4.2.1.2 Clean grass: free of soil, iron nails, wires, plastic film and deteriorated forage.
4.2.1.3 Clean pen: frequently remove manure and keep the air in the barn fresh.
4.2.1.4 Clean manger: persist in cleaning every day, especially in summer after each feeding, clean once to prevent grass and feed residues from fermenting or becoming moldy in the manger.
4.2.1.5 Clean water: drinking water should be clean, and the water tank should be cleaned regularly.
4.2.1.6 Clean cattle body: persist in brushing 1-2 times a day to keep the cattle body clean. In summer, prevent and control external parasites such as cattle flies.
4.2.2 Before fattening, internal parasites must be eliminated; in areas where infectious diseases occur, vaccines must be injected in time, and disease prevention and control work must be done well to ensure the health of the cattle; 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 ear; second, touch the muzzle. If abnormal conditions are found, take measures in time.