1

Planning

The most important aspect of finishing cattle is to have a proper plan in place. It is not as simple as putting cattle into the shed and feeding them concentrates at random. First of all, it should be decided what age you plan on slaughtering your animals and, as the current markets dictate, the younger the better. Best practice is to work out the target slaughter date and work backwards, planning for regular weighing and dietary adjustments along the way.

2

Measure

It is vital to constantly monitor the performance of the cattle being finished. The first step in doing this is to measure the weight gain of the animal. The target weight gain per day for animals during the finishing period is 1.9kg in bulls, 1.3kg in steers and 1.1kg in heifers. After this, measuring the amount of feed taken in by the animals is another worthwhile measurement to take. While measuring accuracy can be difficult, being aware of the amount of feed being given to an animal, less the amount of feed left behind by the animal (if any), will give a pretty good indication.

3

Facilities

Ad-lib feeding should take place indoors at all times. It is not possible to get animals on a full ad-lib diet if they are at grass. Having animals indoors allows for the controlled feeding of concentrates and roughage. There are certain characteristics that a shed must have. First and foremost it needs to be safe and secure. Animals on ad-lib, particularly bulls, are very strong and very heavy. Penning and gates should be strong to prevent damage to people and to other animals if they mix. Facilities should also keep cattle clean. There is increased pressure coming from factories to have clean animals, so whether it is slats or straw bedding being used, the pens need to be dry and free from large amounts of dung. Animals also need space. Overcrowding will negatively affect an animal’s performance, as they cannot lie out to thrive. However, too much space is also an issue in some sheds, as animals have too much room for activity. Finally, any ad-lib facility should be bird-proof, or at least the feed face should be bird-proofed, to prevent feed spoilage and risk or harmful feed contamination.

4

Overall diet

On average, animals will eat about 2% to 2.2% of body weight per day. The five components of an ad-lib diet are energy, protein, fibre, minerals and water. The ad-lib system is suitable for short finishing periods of approximately 60 to 90 days for steers and heifers and up to 180 days for bulls. After this length, the weight gain in animals can drop off.

5

Ration

The best ration for a farmer to buy is not necessarily the cheapest – it is the feed that is going to make an animal reach its performance targets and keep the animal healthy. The two key components to look out for in an ad-lib finishing ration are energy and protein. Energy intake is the main determinant of live weight gain of cattle. Therefore, maximising energy intake is important. In terms of protein, for finishing steers, heifers and bulls, the aim is for 11% to 12% CP/kg diet DM. A ration must also contain buffer and yeast in the mix to help prevent rumen problems. If self-mixing a ration, it is important to remember these key components and a specialist diet should be drawn up. It is also vital to ensure the mix is consistent each day.

6

Water

The most important component of a healthy diet is water. Water is the number one negative on Irish farms when it comes to ad-lib finishing. When talking about water, there are two factors; the cleanliness of water and the availability of water. A finishing animal eating 14kg to 15kg of dry matter will drink up to 60l of water each day. Drinkers should be big enough so cattle can stick their mouth in and drink freely – small bowl drinkers are not sufficient.

7

Straw

While concentrates are the main component of a finishing diet, they would be useless without the correct inclusion of straw in the diet. When feeding meals ad lib, ensure that animals receive at least 10% to 15% of their dietary dry matter as straw, hay or grass silage in order to maintain rumen function. Ideally, straw should be chopped to a length of 5cm and included daily in a consistent total mixed ration (TMR) to reduce sorting, if a diet feeder is being used.

8

Minerals

The inclusion of minerals is something that should be considered. Minerals can have a significant impact on the performance of finishing animals, with the potential to gain an extra 60g/head/day. The three major benefits are that they produce beef cheaper, produce better carcase weights and they maximise live weight gain. There has also been research to suggest that the effect of antibodies, administered through vaccinations, is amplified with the use of minerals in an animal’s diet.

9

Health

If an animal is not healthy, it will not thrive, regardless of how much feed is being given. When addressing animal health, prevention is always better than the cure. A health plan should be put in place before housing. Clipping backs and tails and using a lice pour-on is necessary. After this, several options must be considered with your local vet. Dosing for worms is recommended at housing and a booster for clostridial diseases is common practice. Where animals are being purchased in, vaccination for pneumonia should also be strongly considered.

10

Diet changes

When talking about rumen health in a finishing animal, the main thing to avoid is acidosis, which is caused by a rapid lowering of the pH in the rumen caused by a dietary problem. The pH within the rumen should be kept above 6. Best is to avoid sudden changes of diet. However, for many farmers, the diet alteration period can actually be too long. A feed introduction and build-up period should no longer than three to four weeks.