thanks, I'm in Indonesia also, and see such in Kediri ranch, the average weight only about 350 - 500 Kgs. New ranch will be open in East Kalimantan, so wondering how to get more "meat".
> thanks, I'm in Indonesia also, and
> see such in Kediri ranch, the
> average weight only about 350 -
> 500 Kgs. New ranch will be open in
> East Kalimantan, so wondering how
> to get more "meat".
Contact the J. D. Hudgins ranch in Hungerford, Texas --- consider buying semen from some of their top notch Grey Brahman bulls and then artificially inseminate your cows. You can visit their website and see pictures and get informative data on about 40 different bulls at: <A HREF="http://www.jdhudgins.com" TARGET="_blank">www.jdhudgins.com</A> After you ENTER their site click onto SEMEN SALES to see the pictures and data on their bulls. This is a premier Brahman breeder and I'd bet their bulls could add a lot of meat to your calf crops and give you some good replacement heifers. They should do well in your climate.
meat is the beggist problem with Nelores, or Ongole as they are called in Indo. the low weight of only 500kgs comes from bad feeding in Indonesia. all we do is feed ongole crossed with limousin the same type of food that we feed in europe (sillaged corn, sillaged grass, beets, cassava and some corn gluten) and they get easily to 700kg at 24 months (even the holsteiner bulls from the dairy).
i personally believe this is the only problem indonesia has when it comes to cattle. most cattle owners don't produce their own feed, so they buy the cheapest, low quality stuff, and their cattle just don't grow.
another very important factor in growth with feedlot cattle is housing. make sure that the bulls are housed to have enough room, no draught (wind blowing through the stables) and that the air inside is dry. we accomplished this by building stables of 10m high and we have installed "top airing", which means there are overlapped openings in the roofs where the hot air can escape through. make sure a growing bull has at least six sq m of individual space, and if you house them in groups of five or six, they are happy and content. bedding inside stables is also a big problem in Indonesia, we solved this with rice-straw and with sawdust for the freshly calved cows.
