Average Amount F Animals for Beef Herds

Raising beefiness cattle for profit can be a satisfying enterprise. Even so, there are a number of direction skills that each beef producer should take to be successful. Each livestock enterprise has dissimilar resource: land, labor, upper-case letter, feed, and management. To raise beef cattle sustainably, you must manage these resources.

In addition to managing resources, new producers must ask themselves, What do I need to get started? This question involves considerations for the type of animals a producer wishes to heighten likewise as where to notice these animals, how to select them, and what equipment will be needed for the operation. Producers as well need to consider how they will feed their animals and what health care practices they volition use to keep the animals healthy. Savvy producers will let markets place the type of animals they should raise in order to generate a profit. This fact canvass may be used as a guide for beef cattle producers just getting started in the industry to acquire:

How to decide what type of animate being you should raise
About the different breeds and how to select the right one for yous
Where to buy your animals
What to expect for every bit the ideal characteristics
What equipment you'll need to raise your animals
How to breed and heighten your beef cattle
What to feed and how to treat your animals' health
What information technology takes to market your animals

What Type of Animals Should I Raise?

The first thing to determine when starting a new beef cattle enterprise is what type of animals to raise. This decision should straight reflect the markets a producer has available to sell beefiness cattle and consider the resource available on the farm and the producer'due south individual goals.

Beef cattle may be used to produce meat or generate seedstock (convenance animals). The intended markets may dictate what breed or breeds are best suited for the operation. Some producers choose to breed females to produce calves to sell for breeding stock or marketplace animals. Other producers may prefer to purchase weaned animals, too known as feeders, to raise to market weight.

Producers should first by determining if they wish to raise purebred or commercial stock. A purebred functioning typically raises animals of one brood. Ofttimes a purebred operation will have all registered animals that can likewise be sold through purebred sales. A commercial operation may have unregistered purebred animals, or they may have crossbred animals. Crossbred animals have the benefit of hybrid vigor, which is simply the ability of crossbred offspring to increment in productivity over the average of the breeds that were part of the cross. This means that a crossbred calf could abound faster, or a crossbred female person could produce more milk for its offspring.

Selecting a Breed

Each livestock breed has different traits for which they are recognized. Breed associations tin can provide information on those traits and help y'all narrow your decision regarding what breed or breeds fit best with your operation. Beefiness cattle breeds are frequently divided into maternal (cow) and concluding (sire) breeds. Maternal breeds are typically moderately sized and recognized for their ability to raise salubrious calves. Terminal breeds are mostly a fleck larger in their size and commonly used for meat production. In addition to these two classifications, composite breeds of cattle also exist.

Composite breeds are cattle breeds that are generally made upwardly of maternal and final breeds and oftentimes combine genetics for specific environments or markets. While many producers use both maternal and terminal breeds in their systems, blended breeds accept been established and are recognized by their pedigree. Many breeds exist in the United States. The more than common breeds are listed in the table below.

Maternal

Angus
Hereford
Shorthorn
Ruby Angus

Last

Charolais
Gelbvieh
Limousin
Simmental
Maine Anjou

Composite

SimAngus
Maintainer
Braford
Beefmaster
Limflex

Angus Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Hereford Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Group

Photo credit: Dave Hartman, Penn Country Extension

Where Can I Purchase Animals?

Animals can be purchased through several different ways. Many sales are held across the country throughout the year and may offering only i breed, a multifariousness of breeds, or even crossbreds for auction. Another option would be to locate reputable breeders and purchase direct from their farm. A broad variety of animals may be available at a local auction befouled; however, allow the buyer beware. Animals sold through this venue are more than likely to have health problems.

Choose breeding males that will complement the outstanding traits in your females and improve their weaknesses. Always use the all-time bull yous tin can afford to improve the genetics in your herd. The male has a great influence on your herd because his offspring could remain in the herd for a number of years.

Be conscious of selecting and keeping good productive females that will produce and wean i calf per year without assistance and maintain their body condition without becoming overly thin or fat.

Choice Principles

There are two methods to select livestock: animal performance and visual appraisement. Animals should outset be selected on performance (due east.g., how well calves grow or how much calves weigh at weaning), and then the higher-performing animals should be evaluated visually.

Functioning selection principles evaluate measurable traits such every bit nativity weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, or meat yield and quality.

Producers who evaluate growth traits should adjust weaning weights to account for the sex activity of the calf, historic period of the dam, birth weight, and weaning weight. Weaning weights are typically adapted to 205 days of age.

Progressive cattle producers with registered animals tin enroll their herd in breeding association databases to obtain expected progeny differences (EPDs). These EPDs use genetic linkages to assess genetic merit for growth, carcass, and maternal traits. EPDs allow producers to evaluate brute genetics without ecology influences.

Commercial producers can utilise performance information when selecting a new bull. More information on expected progeny differences can be establish past contacting breed associations.

Visual animal appraisal evaluates aspects such every bit structural correctness, muscling, body capacity, and breed character. Evaluating structural correctness allows producers to identify animals with defects that are not credible through performance evaluation.

Purebred producers who raise registered stock should get familiar with breed characteristics associated with the breed they raise, such as:

ear length and shape
colour and distribution of colour
polled status
defects that disqualify animals from registration

These depicted bulls exhibit the ideal characteristics of breeding males .

Angus bull. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Grouping

Hereford bull. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beef Producers Working Grouping

Equipment Needs

Later the advisable animals are called for the operation, the equipment necessary to maintain those animals must be gathered. Beef cattle operations tin be depression input simply notwithstanding demand a variety of equipment. Basic equipment includes feeders, water tubs or watering systems, and health care equipment. Because rubber is a concern when managing these big animals, beef cattle operations should also have equipment for treatment cattle.

Feeders

Feeders should be used to prevent animals from eating off the ground. Well-designed feeders will also prevent animals from wasting feed by spilling information technology onto the basis. There are potential health concerns when cattle eat off the basis, including parasite infections; however, feed costs represent the master input price on whatever beef cattle operation and as such, feed waste is a driving factor for feeders.

Feeders can exist simple similar racks to hold circular bales. Photo credit: Bigstock.com

Many dissimilar sizes and styles of feeders are available for beef cattle. Some feeders can accommodate feeding both hay and grain, while others may be designed to feed just hay or simply grain. Producers should be sure that all animals have access to the feeder if feeding at specified time frames. If animals have free-choice access to the feeders throughout the day, smaller feeders can be used.

Feeders may also include uncomplicated troughs to agree supplemental poly peptide, energy, or minerals for grazing cattle. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beefiness Producers Working Group

In confinement finishing systems, beefiness cattle may be fed a more complete mixed ration in a bunk. Photograph credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beefiness Producers Working Group

Beef cattle of all classes should ever have access to a good-quality mineral mix formulated for their product needs. About producers provide beefiness cows and grazing cattle free-choice minerals when on pasture, while others limit-feed minerals daily in a grain mix.

Fenceline-style feeders permit producers access on 1 side to identify feed and grain into the feeder while animals access their feed on the other side. Walkthrough feeders allow producers to walk down the middle of the feeder. Grain can be placed in a trough on either or both sides and hay is shared in the central walking area. Producers should be careful not to contaminate feeders with manure-covered footwear.

Larger operations often feed hay in the course of large round or square bales. Many styles of hay feeders exist, but the inverted-cone-way feeders are ofttimes recommended for beefiness cattle as they usually waste product the least amount feed waste.

Water

H2o is possibly the most important nutrient because it impacts feed consumption. Poor-quality water or non enough water tin can subtract feed intake and result in decreased animal performance. Producers can supply water using anything from buckets to troughs to automatic watering systems. As with feeders, many unlike styles are available. The key is that water should be fresh, make clean, and bachelor at all times.

Automatic frost-gratis waterers may be used on pasture or in solitude for cattle. Photo credit: Betty Cameron, Bedford County Sheep Producer

Permanent spring improvements can provide a year-circular water supply for beefiness cattle on pasture. This system has boosted crushed stone around information technology to prevent excess mud accumulation in the area. Photo credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn State Extension

Simplistic float tank trough systems can exist easily moved depending on cattle location. Photograph credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn State Extension

Pasture Systems

Many beef cattle, peculiarly mature cows and bulls, graze pastures throughout the leap, summer, and autumn. Producers should pay close attention to pasture height in an attempt to maximize fodder utilization. Pastures should be subdivided to provide an acceptable amount of forage for the grazing time, ofttimes four to five days. Animals should be moved to a new section of pasture by the time forage has been grazed downward to 4 inches in height. Rotating pastures ensures the nutrients from manure are spread out and that cattle employ available resources efficiently. Continuous grazing can cause forage stand damage in overused or high-traffic areas and encourages weed growth in other less-desirable areas of the pasture.

A adept-quality perimeter fence contains livestock inside the pasture and keeps predators out. Many producers prefer high-tensile fencing with some wires electrified. Subdivision fencing divides larger fields into smaller areas to meliorate manage forage growth. Subdivision fencing for beef cattle tin can often be a single strand of polywire with stride-in posts to reduce input costs. Most cattle will respect one strand if it is electrified.

Pastures should also provide access to water. This ranges from temporary systems that motion with the animals to permanent systems. Many producers choose to install underground systems that tin be accessed throughout a pasture system to reduce the labor of hauling water. Depending on the system and region, it may be necessary to admission electricity to rut waterers in cold months.

Health Care Equipment

Routine health care employs practices to forestall disease. Common practices include tagging, vaccinating, dehorning, castrating, and deworming. These practices require bones equipment such as tags and tagging pliers, syringes and needles, elastrator bands, a band expander tool, and a drench syringe or drench gun. Tagging is considered a health care piece of equipment because tagging is important to identify treated animals.

Producers may likewise wish to dehorn their cattle to prevent horn growth. This is often performed with an electric dehorner shortly after the horn buds break through the skin. Dehorning prevents future injury to other animals and handlers.

Hoof trimming is some other wellness care equipment item. Hoof trimming is non considered routinely necessary in about beef cattle operations. In addition, near beef cattle must exist put in a tilt table in social club to accept their hooves trimmed for the safety of both the trimmer and the animal. Therefore, many beginning cattle producers volition contact a professional should hoof care be necessary.

A bander can exist used to castrate young males. Photo credit: Michelle Kunjappu, PA Beefiness Producers Working Group

Other Types of Equipment

Larger equipment may be used by beef cattle operations to permit producers to handle or manage animals more efficiently. Producers tin can utilize a scale to monitor animal growth performance at weaning and other times throughout the twelvemonth. A calibration should also exist used to weigh animals to calculate the correct dosage for medication treatments. Three types of scales are often used by livestock producers: axle, punch, and digital.

Equipment for beefiness cattle production should include these items necessary to maintain herd health, like this drench for deworming animals. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Virtually feeder calves and finished cattle are bought and sold on a weight basis. Therefore, considering the economic science in beef systems are based on pounds of dogie to sell or weight of finished cattle, scales are an important office of cattle operations. Scales can also assistance monitor weights at critical times throughout the year, such equally breeding, weaning, and so on. All scales should be tested to ensure accuracy. Simple scales can exist placed in line in a handling organization.

Treatment system equipment allows producers to more than efficiently handle animals. It functions past gathering animals into a group pen and then funneling them into the chute. Animals walk single file down the chute, where they are held for routine health care or sorting. Gates at both ends of the organisation contain the animals while producers perform tasks. Gates can office past sliding back and forth or up and down like a guillotine.

A head catch in the chute restrains the cattle for necessary procedures, while ensuring the safety of both the cattle and the man handlers. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

If the beefiness cattle operation intends to use implants to increase growth performance of market animals, a treatment system should exist used. In improver, if the operation desires to breed using artificial insemination, a handling arrangement is a must.

An alley allows the beef cattle producers to move several cattle at a fourth dimension, making cattle treatment easier and more efficient. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn Country Extension

Reproduction and Breeding Seasons

Gestation length for beef cattle is about nine months, varying slightly amidst breeds and sires. Still, the typical gestation length for most cows ranges from 282 to 288 days.

Cattle volition wheel throughout the year. Notwithstanding, managing a defined breeding season will help amend the efficiency of the cow herd and marketability of the calves. Virtually productive cattle operations maintain a single convenance season. While many operations breed animals to calve in the spring when weather is warming upwards, some may choose to calve in the autumn to take advantage of a less saturated calf market. Purebred cattle used for seedstock are ofttimes bred to calve early in the twelvemonth, Jan or February, then that those animals can enter the breeding herd at heavier weights.

Estrus cycles and historic period at puberty vary slightly amid breeds. If breeding heifers (females that have not calved before), they should weigh at least 65 to 70 percent of their mature weight by the get-go of the breeding flavour with a target of 85 percent of their mature weight at calving. Generally, it is expected that heifers volition meet this weight and be ready to breed betwixt 11 and 15 months of age. It is besides advisable to brood heifers one cycle alee of mature cows so that they have additional fourth dimension to rebreed the following flavor.

Some producers volition take this a step further and synchronize their females so that they are sure to brood the heifers at the desired time and the rest of the cows come into rut, or cycle, at the aforementioned time about a month afterward. This synchronization is necessary for an efficient and constructive bogus insemination procedure and is most ofttimes accomplished with the use of a CIDR, although feed additive protocols exist for heifers. The CIDR contains hormones and is inserted vaginally into the females. Many protocols are available for synchronization and start producers are advised to work with their veterinary to establish their ain on-farm protocol.

In most instances, cattle give birth outdoors and, thus, calving flavor is timed to start when weather warms upwardly and grass is available on pasture. However, some producers adopt to breed earlier in the convenance season in society to market place at specific times in the summertime or fall. In other situations, producers may breed earlier and then that calves are older and heavier while on pasture.

Producers wishing to calve earlier may demand to house animals in a barn, such as a banking company befouled, depending on the climate. Calving indoors tin help prevent ears from freezing and ensure calf viability in colder temperatures.

Signs of Impending Calving

Equally a cow nears her time to give nascence, she exhibits several signs that the birthing process volition begin. Presently before calving, the udder volition begin to tighten. This tightening is the udder filling with colostrum. Colostrum is the first milk and it contains antibodies that aid protect newborn calves from disease.

When the moo-cow is ready to give nascence, the muscles around her hips will brainstorm to relax and may appear as if they are sinking. The vulva changes color and is most apparent with lighter skin colors. For case, a light pinkish color will change to a darker pinkish colour. Mayhap more noticeably, the vulva volition corking. The udder will experience full and tight at this signal. The cow will also decline feed and movement away from the herd.

The first sign that the female is in labor is the appearance of the h2o bag. Inside a short period of time, the front feet and olfactory organ of the newborn should announced. This will progress as the female pushes to expel the newborn. Once the calf is born, the mother should begin licking to dry out off the newborn and encourage the calf to stand and nurse.

A visible water handbag or feet indicate impending calving. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Typically, almost beef cows calve on pasture and crave piffling assistance. If aid is required, inexperienced producers should consult a veterinary or an experienced producer for assist. Assistance may exist required if a calf has not been delivered inside six hours of the water pocketbook appearing or if the cow is found straining and the water purse appears to accept already been ruptured. E'er use caution when trying to piece of work with or around laboring cows or cows that have recently delivered. Dams will defend their immature well against predators but may plough this aggression on an unsuspecting human trying to tag or examine a new calf too.

Pay shut attention to newborns for the showtime couple days after birth. Mothers should be attentive to newborns and willing to stand for newborns to nurse. Newborns should stretch when they stand up and appear alert. Newborns that cry for their mother or blitz to nurse every bit shortly as they get up likely are not receiving plenty milk. Weak calves may require feeding with a tube. Consult a veterinary or an experienced producer for assistance.

A practiced beefiness cow should immediately tend to her calf without interference. Photo credit: Wendall Landis, Penn State Beef Befouled Director

Feeding and Nutrition

All animals require water, protein, carbohydrates and fats (to provide free energy), vitamins, and minerals in their daily nutrition. These may come from a variety of sources but should be balanced to meet nutritional requirements. Nutrient requirements change throughout an animal's lifetime and reverberate its stage of production: growth, maintenance, breeding, pregnancy, or lactation (milk production).

Forages such as pasture and hay oft meet requirements for mature animals, but they may non meet requirements for fast-growing animals. Therefore, additional poly peptide or energy sources may need to be added to the ration to meet requirements of young, chop-chop growing cattle.

Additional poly peptide requirements may be met with ameliorate quality hay or through sources such as soybeans, soybean meal, or distillers grains. Additional energy requirements may be met with a diversity of grain sources, but cattle are most normally fed corn because information technology is often the cheapest energy source.

In most cases, pasture provides the nearly economical feed source for mature cows. Cattle should rotationally graze pastures to yield the best quality and quantity of grazing days. In general, animals should enter a pasture when forages are vi to 10 inches tall. Animals should rotate out of a pasture by the fourth dimension the forage has been grazed downwardly to iv inches. This non only provides high-quality feed for the animals but also helps maintain healthy plants.

Grain supplements are most oftentimes used for growing cattle or in times of pasture shortage. Feeding grain to growing cattle increases weight gain. One common grain feeding do is creep feeding, the practice of supplying good-quality grain and/or hay to immature calves while they are nursing. This boosts weight gains and body condition, or level of fatness.

Health Issues

A expert indicator of good for you cattle is their body condition. Torso condition for beef cattle is scored on a nine-bespeak scale with one being emaciated and nine being obese.

Breeding females should exist maintained at an average body status score of five to six. Animals with decreasing body condition scores, or that are losing weight, betoken a potential health upshot.

The first pace to keeping animals good for you is to forestall diseases from inbound the farm. Implementing biosecurity practices can aid keep diseases off the farm. Any new animal that arrives at the farm—and animals that get out the farm and return—should be quarantined from other animals for three to four weeks. In improver, changing shoes and clothing subsequently visiting locations where you had contact with other cattle tin can assist prevent bringing diseases to your farm. Visitors to the farm should be asked to either disinfect their shoes or habiliment plastic disposable boots.

All producers should grade a relationship with a veterinary. This veterinary-customer-patient relationship allows the veterinarian to become familiar with your farm management practices and your animals and to more quickly accost whatsoever health bug within your herd.

Internal and External Parasites

While most beefiness cattle systems exercise not experience production losses straight equally a result of parasites, it is partly considering they are very easy to treat and forestall in beef cattle. Broad-spectrum antiparasitics can be applied every bit a pour-on or an injectable production. Many beef cattle producers cull pour-on products because they are easy to apply and fairly constructive.

Additional internal parasites that may touch beef cattle include worms and coccidia. External parasites that may touch beef cattle include flies, ticks, and lice. Consult your veterinarian for more than information on private parasite species and their treatment.

Cattle should be treated for internal and external parasites to continue them healthy. Photo credit: Melanie Barkley, Penn Land Extension

Abortion Diseases

Perhaps more than disquisitional than the parasites themselves are the impacts they may have on reproductive operation. Several parasites that affect cattle can cause abortions. For example, anaplasmosis causes an anemia and so severe that cattle may arrest. Information technology is near commonly spread by bitter insects like ticks; even so, because it is a bloodborne disease, humans may play a part in infecting cattle by reusing contaminated needles and castration and dehorning equipment.

There are other ballgame diseases that are acquired by sexually transmitted diseases. These tin include chlamydia and trichomoniasis. Buying bulls and replacement females from reputable farms or brokers and request about the history of venereal illness can assistance preclude the spread of these disorders to your farm.

Several other diseases may also cause abortions in cattle. Some of the mutual diseases that cause abortions tin be prevented with a vaccine for viruses like bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR). Work with your veterinarian to establish a good vaccination programme for your beef cattle herd.

Pes Health

A major reason for implementing biosecurity measures is to forestall highly contagious, difficult-to-eradicate issues such as hairy heel wart, also known as digital dermatitis. Many beef cattle producers are noting an increase in the prevalence of digital dermatitis in herds beyond the country. Digital dermatitis is difficult to eradicate and can cause astringent lameness. If your herd becomes infected, information technology is time consuming and expensive to care for infected animals and eradicate the affliction. Handling requires hoof trimming and antibiotics, thus veterinarian oversight is required.

In addition to digital dermatitis, human foot health can be impacted by poor nutrition. Cracked hooves or curved (sometimes chosen spooned) hooves are often a sign of a mineral deficiency. Ever provide a good-quality mineral to beef cattle and feed according to the characterization instructions.

Marketing

A number of markets are available for beef cattle. When choosing a market, y'all must decide whether your operation volition focus on selling live animals or marketing meat. Many producers in the eastern United States focus on straight marketing of their beef cattle as freezer beef or retail beef cuts due to the access to consumers. Alternatively, many larger producers may focus simply on selling finished cattle to a large meat packer.

Left: Many beef producers choose to sell beefiness by the side or the quarter. Photo credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Right: Steaks are a pop consumer choice, but selling private cuts requires a proper license. Photograph credit: Dr. Tara Felix, Penn State Extension

Keep in mind that state laws prohibit a producer from selling meat unless the animal was processed in a USDA-inspected facility. Therefore, the producers often sell calves alive and the customer would brand cutting arrangements with the processing facility. Many producers also provide the service of delivering the animals to a local processing facility.

Other options for beef cattle include marketing breeding stock, feeder calves to the feedlot, or market animals for junior shows. Breeding stock are typically purebred animals and may be marketed directly from the farm and through a registered sale. Many states operate a balderdash test, allowing producers to pay to accept their bulls adult aslope other young bulls and enter a larger auction at the finish of the examination. Work with your local extension educator to determine the best markets for your operation.

Conclusion

Raising beef cattle can be a rewarding farming enterprise. Very few beef cattle operations are identical to one some other, allowing producers a variety of opportunities to develop a program that uniquely suits their lifestyle and farming enterprise. This brief introduction just touches on a few of the aspects to call back about when considering a beef cattle enterprise. Before beginning your own enterprise, seek the advice of your extension educator or experienced beef cattle producers in your area.

For more information well-nigh beef cattle, visit Penn State Extension Beef Cattle

Many opportunities exist for beefiness cattle producers. This publication covers bones concepts related to raising these animals. New and beginning producers should seek further information on not simply basic production practices but also nutrition, reproduction, and wellness in lodge to produce loftier-quality, healthy animals.

And then Yous Want to Raise Beef Cattle? This fact sheet may exist used as a guide for beef cattle producers just getting started in the industry to learn:

How to make up one's mind what type of animal you should raise
About the different breeds and how to select the right one for you lot
Where to buy your animals
What to await for as the ideal characteristics
What equipment you'll need to raise your animals
How to brood and heighten your beefiness cattle
What to feed and how to care for your animals' health
What it takes to market your animals

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Source: https://extension.psu.edu/so-you-want-to-raise-beef-cattle-print