Finishing cattle is a specialised system of production. It operates on fine margins that require a high level of technical performance if it is to stand a chance of returning a positive margin. Attention to detail is critical in the finishing shed.
Think of a successful finishing operation as a three-legged stool. These elements are:
Genetics: determines the animal’s overall ability to perform.Animal health: treatment of worm burdens, liver fluke or preventing pneumonia. Also, the animal’s environment, including ventilation, lying space and feed space.Nutrition: this is the diet provided to the finishing animal. As well as it being central to putting on kilos of liveweight, finding the diet that is the most cost-efficient per kilo carcase gain is key.While this article concentrates on nutrition, it is just one leg of the stool. The stool, or production system, is merely as strong as its weakest leg.
With regard to nutrition and delivering the optimal diet on a consistent basis to the finishing animal, the following aspects should be carefully considered.
1
Ration formulation: energy is the key component in finishing diets. The energy of a finishing ration is expressed on a UFV basis where 1UFV is the energy content of a kilo of air dried barley. Finishing rations should have a UFV of 0.94/kg fed or higher. Crude protein levels are less of a concern for finishing cattle. Typically a 12% ration is sufficient. However if you are feeding young bulls, a 14% protein ration is recommended. Currently finishing rations are costing between €245 and €260/tonne for bulk deliveries.
When feeding ad lib meal it is recommended to include a buffer such as Acid Buf in the ration. This helps reduce the incidences of acidosis and laminitis and at a cost of around €5/tonne is a good insurance policy. Adding 0.5% Acid Buf to the ration will supply 50g/day to animals eating 10kg of concentrates.
Minerals in a finishing diet are important so go for a decent spec mineral mix. Key minerals for finishing cattle are; copper for animal thrive, selenium for the immune system and to help fight infection and zinc to harden the wall of the hoof and help minimise lameness issues.
Sample rations:
Ration 1: 67% rolled barley, 17% soya hulls, 11% wheat distillers, 2.5% molasses, and 2.5% minerals. UFV 0.94, 12% crude protein.Ration 2: 34% rolled barley, 34% maize, 20% soya hulls, 7% soya bean meal 2.5% molasses, and 2.5% minerals. UFV 0.95, 12% crude protein. Ration 3: 30.5% rolled barley, 32% maize, 20% soya hulls, 12.5% soya bean meal, 2.5% molasses, and 2.5% minerals. UFV 0.95, 14% crude protein.2
Water intake: clean water is as important as feed in the finishing shed. An animal’s water intake will double going from a grass-based diet to ad-lib meal or a high-concentrate diet. Drinking troughs need to be checked morning and evening when on ad-lib meal to ensure constant access to fresh clean water. If water intake is inhibited in any way due to dirt in the drinker, it will have a negative effect on feed intake. This will reduce liveweight gain, increase the number of days to slaughter and increase the total finishing costs.
3
Fibre source: many farms will use straw as a fibre source when feeding ad-lib meals. When feeding ad-lib meal, we just want enough long fibre in the diet to keep the stomach right.
Sometimes it can be hard to get cattle to eat sufficient levels of straw. Make sure you are using good-quality bales. Barley straw is better than wheat straw for feeding. Molasses can be poured over straw initially to help improve intakes.
Grass silage can also be used as a fibre source for ad-lib meal feeding. However, you will need to restrict the amount available to the animal to maximise meal intake. We want finishing cattle to eat between 1kg DM and 1.5kg DM of the fibre source per day. This translates to around 5kg fresh weight silage/day. Silage quality in this instance is not overly important, as it is just needed for a fibre source and not for its energy value.
4
Manure: an animal’s manure can tell you a lot about how well the animal is performing. First of all, you want the consistency of the dung to be correct. If it is too loose, it suggests there is not enough fibre in the diet. This may mean that the passage rate of the diet is too quick and concentrates will not have time to be fully digested. At the same time, we do not want the dung to be too hard either. An animal making manure should sound like a very slow hand clap.
Where safe to do so, walk into the pen and check for any meal coming through in the dung undigested. Be aware that you may see grain husks or the skin of the grain coming through, but this can be quite normal. If the grain within the husk has been digested, then there is nothing to be worried about. Where you see whole grains in the manure, either the grain has not been rolled sufficiently – unlikely if purchased from a feed mill – or there is an issue with a lack of fibre in the diet.
5
Weighing: weighing cattle is the only sure way to know if they are performing. When you are looking at animals day in and day out, it can be hard to know if they are thriving. A weigh scales is a must for any farm serious about finishing cattle.
Firstly, it will help to avoid sending overweight animals to the factory, which can be hit with costly price penalties. It also allows you to monitor performance and see first-hand the effect a management decision has had on animal performance.
At the very least, have a start of finishing period weight and slaughter weight. This will allow you to calculate liveweight gain over the finishing period. This can help to make decisions in the future or help to put more realistic figures into budgets for next year.
Try to take variables out of the equation when weighing. A finishing animal’s weight could fluctuate by as much as 40kg between having a full stomach and being empty. Over a 100-day finishing period, this could leave your liveweight gain figure off by as much as 0.4kg/day. To overcome this, weigh at the same time of the day each time you weigh them. Also, weigh the day after you clean out the feed trough or top up the meal feeder.
6 Feed consistency: it is important to keep the diet consistent throughout the finishing period. Cattle are sensitive to even the slightest change in their diet.
Where this is ad-lib feeding, it means always having an adequate supply of feed in front of the animal at all times. This should always be fresh. Do not place new feed on top of soiled, wet or stale feed.
Where buying concentrates in bulk, make sure your meal bin or silo never runs out. Changing the ration for a couple of days while you wait for a feed delivery is not acceptable.
Have a way of checking the bin or calculate your daily usage and calculate when you will need your next delivery.
7
Transition to ad-lib meal feeding: the buildup to ad-lib feeding needs to be carefully managed. Feeding too much meal too soon can cause acidosis and stomach upsets. Start cattle on 3kg/day. Increase this by 1kg every second day.
When you go over 4kg/day being fed, it is important to split feeds into morning and evening so that you do not overload the rumen with too much meal at one time.
For example, if you are putting 480kg bulls on ad-lib meal, they have the potential to eat around 10kg concentrates/day. Starting at 3kg/day would mean a 15-day transition period to ad-lib feeding.
Finishing cattle is a specialised system of production. It operates on fine margins that require a high level of technical performance if it is to stand a chance of returning a positive margin. Attention to detail is critical in the finishing shed.
Think of a successful finishing operation as a three-legged stool. These elements are:
Genetics: determines the animal’s overall ability to perform.Animal health: treatment of worm burdens, liver fluke or preventing pneumonia. Also, the animal’s environment, including ventilation, lying space and feed space.Nutrition: this is the diet provided to the finishing animal. As well as it being central to putting on kilos of liveweight, finding the diet that is the most cost-efficient per kilo carcase gain is key.While this article concentrates on nutrition, it is just one leg of the stool. The stool, or production system, is merely as strong as its weakest leg.
With regard to nutrition and delivering the optimal diet on a consistent basis to the finishing animal, the following aspects should be carefully considered.
1
Ration formulation: energy is the key component in finishing diets. The energy of a finishing ration is expressed on a UFV basis where 1UFV is the energy content of a kilo of air dried barley. Finishing rations should have a UFV of 0.94/kg fed or higher. Crude protein levels are less of a concern for finishing cattle. Typically a 12% ration is sufficient. However if you are feeding young bulls, a 14% protein ration is recommended. Currently finishing rations are costing between €245 and €260/tonne for bulk deliveries.
When feeding ad lib meal it is recommended to include a buffer such as Acid Buf in the ration. This helps reduce the incidences of acidosis and laminitis and at a cost of around €5/tonne is a good insurance policy. Adding 0.5% Acid Buf to the ration will supply 50g/day to animals eating 10kg of concentrates.
Minerals in a finishing diet are important so go for a decent spec mineral mix. Key minerals for finishing cattle are; copper for animal thrive, selenium for the immune system and to help fight infection and zinc to harden the wall of the hoof and help minimise lameness issues.
Sample rations:
Ration 1: 67% rolled barley, 17% soya hulls, 11% wheat distillers, 2.5% molasses, and 2.5% minerals. UFV 0.94, 12% crude protein.Ration 2: 34% rolled barley, 34% maize, 20% soya hulls, 7% soya bean meal 2.5% molasses, and 2.5% minerals. UFV 0.95, 12% crude protein. Ration 3: 30.5% rolled barley, 32% maize, 20% soya hulls, 12.5% soya bean meal, 2.5% molasses, and 2.5% minerals. UFV 0.95, 14% crude protein.2
Water intake: clean water is as important as feed in the finishing shed. An animal’s water intake will double going from a grass-based diet to ad-lib meal or a high-concentrate diet. Drinking troughs need to be checked morning and evening when on ad-lib meal to ensure constant access to fresh clean water. If water intake is inhibited in any way due to dirt in the drinker, it will have a negative effect on feed intake. This will reduce liveweight gain, increase the number of days to slaughter and increase the total finishing costs.
3
Fibre source: many farms will use straw as a fibre source when feeding ad-lib meals. When feeding ad-lib meal, we just want enough long fibre in the diet to keep the stomach right.
Sometimes it can be hard to get cattle to eat sufficient levels of straw. Make sure you are using good-quality bales. Barley straw is better than wheat straw for feeding. Molasses can be poured over straw initially to help improve intakes.
Grass silage can also be used as a fibre source for ad-lib meal feeding. However, you will need to restrict the amount available to the animal to maximise meal intake. We want finishing cattle to eat between 1kg DM and 1.5kg DM of the fibre source per day. This translates to around 5kg fresh weight silage/day. Silage quality in this instance is not overly important, as it is just needed for a fibre source and not for its energy value.
4
Manure: an animal’s manure can tell you a lot about how well the animal is performing. First of all, you want the consistency of the dung to be correct. If it is too loose, it suggests there is not enough fibre in the diet. This may mean that the passage rate of the diet is too quick and concentrates will not have time to be fully digested. At the same time, we do not want the dung to be too hard either. An animal making manure should sound like a very slow hand clap.
Where safe to do so, walk into the pen and check for any meal coming through in the dung undigested. Be aware that you may see grain husks or the skin of the grain coming through, but this can be quite normal. If the grain within the husk has been digested, then there is nothing to be worried about. Where you see whole grains in the manure, either the grain has not been rolled sufficiently – unlikely if purchased from a feed mill – or there is an issue with a lack of fibre in the diet.
5
Weighing: weighing cattle is the only sure way to know if they are performing. When you are looking at animals day in and day out, it can be hard to know if they are thriving. A weigh scales is a must for any farm serious about finishing cattle.
Firstly, it will help to avoid sending overweight animals to the factory, which can be hit with costly price penalties. It also allows you to monitor performance and see first-hand the effect a management decision has had on animal performance.
At the very least, have a start of finishing period weight and slaughter weight. This will allow you to calculate liveweight gain over the finishing period. This can help to make decisions in the future or help to put more realistic figures into budgets for next year.
Try to take variables out of the equation when weighing. A finishing animal’s weight could fluctuate by as much as 40kg between having a full stomach and being empty. Over a 100-day finishing period, this could leave your liveweight gain figure off by as much as 0.4kg/day. To overcome this, weigh at the same time of the day each time you weigh them. Also, weigh the day after you clean out the feed trough or top up the meal feeder.
6 Feed consistency: it is important to keep the diet consistent throughout the finishing period. Cattle are sensitive to even the slightest change in their diet.
Where this is ad-lib feeding, it means always having an adequate supply of feed in front of the animal at all times. This should always be fresh. Do not place new feed on top of soiled, wet or stale feed.
Where buying concentrates in bulk, make sure your meal bin or silo never runs out. Changing the ration for a couple of days while you wait for a feed delivery is not acceptable.
Have a way of checking the bin or calculate your daily usage and calculate when you will need your next delivery.
7
Transition to ad-lib meal feeding: the buildup to ad-lib feeding needs to be carefully managed. Feeding too much meal too soon can cause acidosis and stomach upsets. Start cattle on 3kg/day. Increase this by 1kg every second day.
When you go over 4kg/day being fed, it is important to split feeds into morning and evening so that you do not overload the rumen with too much meal at one time.
For example, if you are putting 480kg bulls on ad-lib meal, they have the potential to eat around 10kg concentrates/day. Starting at 3kg/day would mean a 15-day transition period to ad-lib feeding.
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