Courtesy Laura B. Courtesy Janell J. Cows have so much to offer our farms, and we love them for that! That's why for Cow Appreciation Day, we asked you to share your photos of you and your cows.
Courtesy Joe G. Head over to our Facebook page through the month of April, where we'll be talking about all things baby livestock. As we continue our celebration of Baby Animal Month on HobbyFarms.com, we hope these photos from our readers' hobby farms...
Get Some Hybrid Vigor If you're interested in beef production over breed conservation, look at crossbred cattle. Breed standards are important, but there is great variation between different lineages of beef cattle within the same breed.
(See steps 6 and 7 for proper technique.) Stripping allows you to remove dirt and bacteria from the teat as well look for signs of infection, such as clumps, clear milk and blood, any of which could indicate mastitis.
Health Fall calves and lambs again have the benefit of warm days and cool but not usually frosty nights, depending on your geographical location. A trade-off between extra feed in the winter versus increase prices for animals in the spring and summer...
As I cleaned off my equipment, I had to ask Grandma: how does one cook testicles? Typically tight budgets and a feast-versus-famine roller coaster of resources dictates that you use what you have on hand.
Cattle eat during the cooler times of day, then deposit their manure (aka their homemade fertilizer) in the tree line. Your other option is to provide access to a waterer, which might be a rather large expense depending on where you live.
The dotted line shows the pathway of the cattle through the facility. V-shaped chutes work well for younger cattle handled in feedlots. Some commercially available one-way backstop gates are designed so that they can be opened easily and then held open.
This honeycomb-like structure catches any larger chunks of food or foreign objects the animal may have swallowed, such as gravel, hardware (found in hay more often than you'd expect), or whole grains that are too large to pass to the next compartment,...
Sustainable dairy and beef production dictates that animals are not given hormones and steroids (of course, these cattle produce steroids and hormones naturally in their own bodies), that there be a plan to safely use or dispose of the animals' waste,...
Sometimes herds were immense. Zebus were another story. Wild native cattle were theirs for the taking. Other Pineywoods, among them representatives of the Ladiner and Hickman strains, were tall and rangy cattle.
Ultimately, Cook believes it's important to find ways to limit immune response. So essentially, vaccinating a newborn can interrupt its growth and health, and without those elements, they can be more susceptible to illness and disease.
Energy requirements will increase with wet, windy and cold conditions. If you're unfamiliar with how to collect or send in a sample, contact your local extension office for assistance.
Feeds grown in deficient soils might be short on copper, selenium and other vital trace minerals. A baby calf gets adequate protein from milk. As ruminants, they have four stomachs, the largest of which is the rumen.
“That's a lot of grass,” he admits. “We'll bounce around pastures, trying to chase the freshest, most nutritious forage that's available,” Lemke says. You'll learn to care for the land first, and the cattle will follow.
It takes a certain amount of strength and agility to tame and train a bovine. Cattle-oriented mailing lists put new owners in daily touch with helpful cattle keepers from around the globe.
For example, alfalfa hay is a good source of protein. (See a list of dairy terminology below.) At calving, most cows require more energy than they can consume and consequently lose body condition.
More dramatically, she may fall and have trouble getting back up. A cow suffering from milk fever will at first act wobbly and have trouble walking. Somewhat counterintuitively, the best way to prevent milk fever is to provide a diet before lactation...
The sides can drop down and the calf can have access to her udder.” Protective Strategies Our injuries in the process of helping a calf nurse were accidental; the cow wasn't really kicking at us but at the calf.
Warm Chilled Calves Despite your best efforts, a calf might be born in a cold, wet situation and become chilled. Protect Shy Mothers Some cows are shy or nervous about calving around other cows.
“Thin cows do not have the necessary reserves to cope with increasing lactation. They likely need to be managed and fed separately from mature cows. Often instead of reading fat around bones and ligaments, farmers will look at belly girth, says Graham.
Get more advice about keeping cows on HobbyFarms.com: Milk Cows Once a Day 7 Heritage Cattle Breeds to Raise With Your Children Body Condition Scoring For Cattle Tags dairy cow , Lists , milk
Furthermore, the cows may be listed with the Belfair Miniature Cattle Registry and the International Miniature Cattle Breeder's Society and Registry , where the breed is officially listed as Belmont.
So for the initial four to six weeks, we continued to milk her completely out twice a day, knowing that her baby would get plenty between milkings. Or milk at noon—cows don't care, as long as you're consistent.
When crossed with Jerseys they produce the ideal dual-purpose family cow. “We live outside of Tampa Bay in a small agricultural area,” she says. Miniature cattle have become a hot livestock property.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2015 issue of Hobby Farms. Purchase From Healthy Herds Cattle can be carriers of abortion-causing diseases, including campylobacterisosis and trichonomiasis , without showing any signs.
Chianina faces are long and straight, topped by short, graceful horns that curve forward. Use: Chianinas are not only outstanding beef producers by and of themselves, they are wide employed as sires to produce composite breeds like the Chiangus and Red...
