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Cattle Diets and Nutrition
Domestic bovines don't eat just grass: the diet of a bovine is surprisingly complex and involved with the variety of feeds in the form of forage, grain and byproducts available. But in order to determine the diet of a bovine one must understand the nutritional aspect of the bovine as well--an aspect that has its complexities and variations as well. If you are looking to learn and ask questions about the diets and nutrition of cattle, you've come to the right place.
1,811 Questions
Where can you purchase a medicated salt block?
You can purchase a medicated salt block at your local farm and ranch supply store. Tack and feed stores will also sell them.
Do cows ever get full of food?
Yes they do, more often than you might think. Cows don't eat all the time, they do get full and have to rest. During their resting period, they burp up partly digested, unchewed plant matter and chew it as cud. They won't chew cud if they're not full or still hungry.
What benefits does eating grass fed beef have?
Besides it being much healthier for you in terms of higher good-fat content, it also promotes a niche product where cattle are raised and finished on the very stuff they're made to eat: grass. They are healthier on grass, and because of that don't need other artificial inputs like hormones and antibiotics to keep them healthy until they're slaughtered.
A cow does not "drop the cud." That simply is not possible, and logically doesn't even make sense.
How much does medicated salt lick cost?
Bovatec blocks can sell between $20.00 to $30.00 each. Safe-Guard blocks are around $40.00 each.
Why did the cattle ranchers have to move to the north?
Cattle ranchers moved north due to factors such as cheaper land prices, better grazing areas, and lower competition for resources. The northern regions also offered more land for expansion and development of their cattle operations.
Why is it more efficient when cows are kept in sheds?
It really isn't, if you stop and think about it. It takes more fuel, labour, feed and fertilizer to grow, harvest, store and bring feed to cattle that are kept indoors than it does to just let the cows do the work themselves. Sure it takes less land to feed X number of cows in a feedlot versus grazing the same number of cows in a pasture environment as far as efficiency in land use is concerned, but it's not efficient as far as labour, fuel, feed and fertilizer costs are concerned. It's also inefficient when you have to use equipment (fuel and labour) to clean out the manure that has accumulated in the sheds every year.
But to answer your question, it's because you can hold a larger number of animals on a smaller piece of land and feed them higher-quality feeds in an intensive CAFO operation than you can with a pasture/grass-fed operation.
How do you know when a cows mouth is healthy?
If she's eating regularly, chewing food without trouble and not loosing weight, and her gums and teeth appear healthy, then her mouth will be healthy.
What type of crops benefit from Cow Manure?
Any type of crop that cannot sequester their own nitrogen. This refers to all cereal crops like barley, wheat, corn, rye, triticale, oats, rice, etc., as well as most vegetables like potatoes, carrots, lettuce, spinach, okra, etc.
What to feed a nursing momma cow?
A nursing cow should be eating 50% more than what she normally eats when she's dry. Her diet should be high in calcium, phosphorus, protein, and energy. She should also have a constant access to water and mineral suitable for breeder cattle.
What is the 1 stomach of a cow and what does it do?
Cows have one stomach with four chambers. Each of those chambers are called the reticulum, the rumen, the omasum and the abomasum. All four of these chambers, by working together, are responsible for the break-down and digestion of feedstuffs that the cow eats so that nutrients and minerals can be absorbed to be used by that cow's bodily systems.
What are the adv and disadv of backgrounding beef cattle?
Advantages:
- Makes use of excellent-growing areas/locations where forage is almost always of good quality.
- Can sell high and buy low
- Low labour costs because of no planning needed for calving, breeding and weaning
- Have the option of keeping back one or two animals for one's own freezer
- Have the option of selling after a few months (i.e., after grazing season) so one doesn't have to plan or buy/make feed for the winter
- Can buy as many as you want and sell as many as you want pretty well any time according to pasture health and growth season
- For cow-calf producers, have the option of retaining offspring and backgrounding them until the markets are right.
- Lower feed costs as far as amount of feed to feed is concerned.
- Lower stocking rate for pasture: can have twice as many stockers for a pasture than you can with cows
- Great option for farms who rely on cash crops for primary income who don't need the extra worry and labour associated with cow-calf
Disadvantages:
- Not much income is made because often you can be buying for as much money as you are selling them
- Cannot be raised in areas where there is naturally poorer quality forage
- Stockers are growing animals and require good, nutritive feed all the time they are living on the farm
- Risk of death loss and illness after buying animals from stockyard
- Often there is no health record that comes with these animals, so one has to vaccinate for everything applicable to that area and deworm as soon as they come to the farm.
- Can be quite noisy for a week or so since most calves that are being backgrounded have just been weaned
- Risk of finding a bull or two in the herd--extra cost and effort of having to find those bulls and castrate them.
- You cannot control the personality of the animals you buy: you will end up with some animals that are more flighty and nervous than others.
- For some farms, one also cannot control how uniform a stocker herd is when first purchased.
- High feed costs as far as striving to have the best quality feed as possible.
- Not a good idea to raise when feed costs are high and cattle prices are low.
- Backgrounding steers can be too boring for some, especially if they like the idea of working to have a cow-calf herd and the joy of seeing baby calves playing in the corrals and pastures, as well as the planning process that comes with having a cow-calf herd.
- Must sell the herd when prices are right--when to sell can be affected by external threats like international markets turning away from your country's beef market, a sudden herd health concern like BSE that has the potential of affecting all beef herds, etc.
Hermetic manure refers to a method of anaerobic fermentation used to preserve organic waste, typically animal manure, in a sealed environment. This process promotes the breakdown of organic materials without exposure to oxygen, resulting in a nutrient-rich fertilizer that retains its beneficial properties. The hermetic storage helps to minimize odors and pathogens, making it a more environmentally friendly option for waste management and soil enrichment.
How much does it cost to feed a beef cow to maturity?
A cow is already at maturity because cows, whether they're beef or dairy, are female bovines that have had at least two calves and are at least 4 years of age, which is the age of maturity for a cow. So the question is pretty much pointless. But if you were to ask about a beef heifer or steer or calf that is such-and-such months of age, that's a different story.
How many beef cattle can you have per 10 acres?
This depends on a lot of factors: size, weight and type of beef cattle you are raising, your location, soil type, and vegetation of your area, as well as what the 10 acres are going to be used for: pasture or drylot? So for that reason, this question cannot be completely answered without these additional details.
butter food is necter of flower
What does it mean if a bottle calf that has been treated with antibiotics won't eat?
Obviously it's very sick and could die within a matter of days. You will have to tube him to get some milk and electrolytes in him if he's not going to eat on his own. Also, see your veterinarian about what else you can do to help him recover. Chances are that you will loose this calf. Bottle babies are much more prone to illness and dying from illness than calves that are nursing from their mothers.
What happens when a cow eat a plastic bag?
the plastic bag will get get stuck in its oesophagus and if its large enough to choke the cow it will leave the planet.
land use changes and other economic activities have eliminated the open range.
