What are the Management practices in fattening beef cattle?

Answer 1

Most cattle are held in a dry lot (or corral) to be finished. They have minimum exercise, which tends to help them gain weight easier and quicker and finish sooner. It is up to you if you wish to have them on a pasture as well or instead, if you want to minimize the work load that is involved in finishing beefers.

Herd health is one management practice that is important for finishing beefers. If you are feeding them a grain-based diet for a few weeks, keep an eye out for sickness like acidosis, bloat, founder, etc. Most folks that fatten beef cattle on a smaller operation than those large feedlots are able to feed hay and allow the cattle access to grass along with the grain, to minimize these illness issues. But be aware of them, as you will have to have handling facilities set up so you can run them through and medicate them with some medicine to prevent acidosis.

Grain-based diets include 85% grain like corn, oats, barley or wheat, and 15% forage. However, there's also nothing wrong with feeding your beefers 20 to 25 lbs of grain per day (for each animal), and allowing them full access to hay or pasture. Corn and barley are the best grains for fattening up beef cattle, if oats or wheat is too expensive or not available. The grains should not be fed whole, but should be cracked, rolled, or milled so your cattle can get the optimum nutrition from them to gain weight in a short period of time. Most feedlots feed the cattle grain to not only gain weight, but to get rid of the yellow tinge in their fat that has come from a grass-only diet, since the more conventional (and often uneducated) consumer won't buy beef that has yellow fat in it. As a smaller operator, this should be the least of your concern. Often the yellower fat is more healthier than the whiter fat that comes with grain finishing, and having a slight yellow tinge to the beef shouldn't hurt anything.

Besides the feed they are given, make sure they have access to water and shelter as well. Water is very important for them (as it is for all animal life), as well as shelter when inclement weather rolls through. A mineral block is also great for them to have, and highly recommended. Make sure they also have a high point for them to sleep or play on, like a big mound of dirt (called a cattle mound), because cattle love to be on top of hills. It also keeps them out of the mud and muck in the corral and offers them a dry place to sleep.

Feed the cattle according to the target weight gain you wish to achieve. Most commercial feedlots feed the cattle until they have reached around 1400 to 1800 lbs and have an over-conditioned look to them (they look quite round and fat, from the shoulders all the way to the hind quarters). You, as a smaller operator, can feed your cattle up to whatever weight you wish, keeping in mind the breeds you have you are finishing on. Continentals tend to finish at a heavier weight than British breeds, but take longer to put more fat on. British breeds gain fat quicker, and so have to be finished at a lighter weight. Those cattle that have Continental and British breeding in them tend to be in the middle of the road. A smaller operator tends to finish his cattle at a terminal weight of around 1000 to 1200 lbs. If you have a lot of mouths to feed, you may want to feed to a heavier weight.

Finally, manure management is also an important part of the management practices of finishing beef cattle. Manure accumulates over time in the corrals, especially if they are kept in the corrals for a few months before being sent to be "harvested," and needs to be scraped out with a loader bucket on a tractor or bush hog. Often you can scrape it into a pile so that your next set of steers or heifers to be finished have a nice place to solicit on, or hire manure spreader trucks to spread it out on your fields, or have someone buy the manure to have it spread on their fields. Either way, getting rid of all that excess manure build-up is important.

Answer 2

Pregnant cows require adequate feed, water, mineral and shelter (especially in adverse weather) in order to still live and take care of the baby calf growing in them.