BEEF CATTLE REARING

By Mushiba Simuyuni

Before one decides to venture into cattle rearing, they must be aware of the challenges they may face as well as the requirements of being successful in this type of industry.

If the farmer intends on rearing the cattle for sale, they must have a clear understanding of the type of breed, health and maintenance of the animals. Whether on a feedlot or range improved pastures, beef cattle productions are most economic when feed is used effectively.

However, cattle rearing come with great challenges such as parasites and diseases. If the health of the herd is not carefully monitored, the farmer can suffer a great loss as some diseases are severe, fatal and spread quickly.

Diseases and parasites that can affect the cattle include;

Foot and Mouth Disease(FMD), a severe and highly contagious viral disease of cloven-hooved animals. The disease is rarely fatal in adult animals but the mortality rate can be high in young animals, and is not a zoonotic disease(means the disease can not be transmitted from the animals to human beings).

FMD is caused by a virus which comes in 7 different types. Each of the types has the same symptoms and is only distinguishable in a laboratory. However, Immunity to one type does not protect an animal against the other types and the air borne spread of the disease can take place under favorable conditions.

In addition, Animals can pick up this virus by coming into direct contact with an infected animal or by contact with food stuffs that have been contaminated by such an animal.

FMD disease has symptoms such as fever, a drop in the production of milk, blisters in the mouth and on the feet, weight loss, a loss of appetite, quivering lips and frothing of mouth, cows may develop blisters on teats and lameness.

Nonetheless, there is no treatment given simply because the affected animals recover. However, because of the loss of production and the infectious state of the disease, the infected animals are usually culled.

Another disease that could affect the herd is corridor. Corridor disease in cattle is very severe and can usually cause death. This disease is also known as buffalo disease simply because buffalos carry the disease and the cattle gets infected when they are bitten by ticks that have fed on infected buffaloes.

It is important to note that Corridor can only occur in cattle grazing pastures where buffaloes have recently been present or where buffaloes are in site. The presence of a single buffalo even just for a relatively short amount of time may cause a serious outbreak of the disease among the cattle.

The symptoms of Corridor are; decreased milk production, a loss of appetite, watery discharge from the eyes, weakness, difficulty in walking, suppressed cough, frothy fluid coming from the nose just before death and the animal may show nervous signs such as walking in circles or paralysis.

When it comes to treatment, the disease has a very quick progression hence treatment is usually not possible. However, when an outbreak occurs, the cattle are moved to uninfected pastures and a strict tick control is introduced.

In order to prevent the disease, the farmer should prohibit buffalo contact with cattle by movement control and fencing between cattle and game areas. Buffaloes can only be introduced into farming areas if they are proven free of infection through a blood test.

Once the farmer is certain the herd is healthy and free of infection, he then takes up measures to ‘grow out’ or fatten the cattle before sale or slaughter. Some of the common practices for this include; Planted pastures. This practice has good growth rates. In some cases, the weaned cattle go onto ryegrass pastures in autumn so that they can be market ready by December.

Feedlot Is another way in fattening cattle before slaughtering it. A feedlot is an area where livestock are fed or fattened. Most cattle that are marketed through abattoirs come from feedlots. In a feedlot on the farm the young cattle are fattened in pens using either feed that is bought-in or home-grown.

The most common finishers of beef are commercial feedlots. In this case the feedlot owner buys animals specifically for the feedlot. Therefore, the ownership of the animals and the risk that is associated with feeding them becomes his responsibility. Howeve4r, in a custom feedlot, the operator of the feedlot does not buy in animals. Instead, the owner of the animals sends them to the feedlot for fattening and usually retains any risks that may be incurred.

After the fattening of the cattle, they are then sent to an abattoir for slaughter. Different abattoirs have different sanitation methods.

At the beginning and at the end of the day, powdered chlorine or any antiseptic or anti bacterial liquid is added to water in a large dish. The solution is then used to sanitize the whole abattoir before they begin slaughters and after the last slaughter everyday.

In some abattoirs the solution goes all the way to the po9nds therefore also disinfecting the ponds. The knives are usually sanitized using hot water. This is done everyday before slaughtering.

The septic tanks are treated with either Germ Guard. To ensure there are no flies, Agita is sprinkled. This is a powdered substance that attracts the flies which then eat the agita and die. The sanitation process in an abattoir is generally straight forward.

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