Key Technical Points for Spring Feeding and Management of Working Cattle

Spring is the busy season for working cattle, yet forage is scarce as the old supply runs out before the new comes in, and the cattle's physique has declined after a long production period. If feeding and management are not strengthened and nutrition not increased, it can easily affect spring plowing and delay farm work. Therefore, doing a good job of spring feeding and management for working cattle is crucial. To do a good job of spring feeding and management for working cattle, the following points must be noted.

1. Effectively carry out feeding and management before work. If a working cow is not well maintained in spring during the production period, it cannot be remedied by supplementary feeding during the working period; supplementary feeding during the working period can only prevent further weight loss but can hardly achieve weight gain. Therefore, all thin plowing cattle must have their nutrition increased 1 month before work; generally, after the Beginning of Spring, feed should be gradually increased until the Awakening of Insects and the Spring Equinox, when they enter the working period.

2. Pay attention to balancing work and rest, and avoid overworking. Cattle ruminate 6-8 times a day and night, and up to 10-16 times in some cases, requiring about 7-8 hours in total, accounting for 1/3 of the whole day, of which about three hours are during the daytime. Working cattle do not ruminate while working, so certain rest time must be arranged for cattle to ruminate. After each feeding and a period of work, there should be more than one hour of rest time for the cattle to rest and ruminate. The daily working time should be flexibly controlled according to the cattle's physical strength, health and other conditions; generally, the daily working time should not exceed eight hours. During work, the cattle's behavior should be observed at all times. If during plowing the cattle show drooling, rapid breathing, swaying movements, stretching the neck and arching the back, frequent urination, and after work show listlessness, preference for lying down and refusal to eat, and little rumination, these are all signs of overwork, and rest should be given immediately or the work should be reduced.

3. Pay attention to preventing ingestion of foreign objects. During the working period, plowing cattle eat more and eat quickly, but are poor at selecting food. Therefore, feed must be sifted to keep it clean and fresh, and strictly prevent the mixing in of foreign objects such as wire, iron nails, chicken feathers, clods of earth and plastic film that could cause the cattle to ingest foreign matter.

4. Pay attention to drinking water. Spring is windy and the climate is dry; moreover, working cattle produce more sweat during work, so their water requirement is greatly increased compared with winter. Sufficient drinking water must be supplied every day, 4-6 times a day, and 20-50 grams of salt should be added to the drinking water to increase appetite and replenish salt loss.