The proper feeding of cattle so as cheaply to produce good beef, is an object of great importance to the farmer seeing that no agricultural produce in the kingdom is so steady and remunerative in produce as fat stock.
Feed is the largest single cost of producing beef. Producers who have access to alternative feeds often have economic advantages due to the lower costs of production.
However, alternative feeds can present challenges due to variable consistency, variable supply, potential toxicants and unusual composition.
Adequate consumption of feed ensures survival and productivity of the animals, so an understanding of factors affecting feeding behavior of farm animals is critical.
Cattle with high intake generally have a higher feed efficiency than those with lower feed intake. The amount of feed intake that cattle consume is related to:
*the energy level of the ration
*the weather
*feed palatability
*feed processing
*degree of finish on the cattle
Beef generally decrease feed intake in hot weather and increase feed intake in cold weather. At temperature above 93° F, cattle on full feed will reduce feed intake by 10 to 35 percent.
The cost-effective way to feed cattle is on pasture. Pasture and harvested roughages are the base feeds of the cattle industry. Common roughages used for beef cattle including grasses, hay, silage and other crop residues.
In a large farm, the cattle feed is normally mixed from ingredients such as hay, straw, grain, alfafa and trace nurients at the mixing plant, and is stored in 5 or 6 large holding bins from where it is dispacthed to the cattle pens sometimes by trucks.
Typically, feedlot cattle have three major periods of feeding activity, closely associated with sunrise, sunset and the middle of the night.
Cattle feeding may be considered the antithesis of dairy farming in the same area: feeding involves relatively large scale operations, dairying much smaller: feeding offers chance of big gains or big losses, dairying is a secure spruce of a moderate income.
Feeding the cattle
