Trying to understand cattle

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Suzie Q - I didn't understand your post :shock:
Halfy, I also have a hard time following your questions. First, a bull calf (baby boy) gets castrated, and he is called a STEER. A steer will play, visit, frolic with all the other calves & cows. He "should" only suck milk from his mother (a COW) from birth to around 7 months old.
Are the cattle near you cows with nursing calves? or are they weaned calves (past the nursing stage & taken from their dam - like weaning a nursing human baby)?
Once a bull calf has been castrated, his only purpose in life is to be used as meat (well, "some" are used as oxen - very few in this country). The heifers (young females) can be fed out for harvest (meat) or raised for breeding. A select few bull calves are left "in tact" and are used for breeding bulls.
Weaned steers (usually weaned around 7 months old) can be raised on grass or put on hay with grain to be finished for harvest (butcher). Grass fed steers usually will be closer to 2 years old or older when they are finished. Grain fed can be harvested anywhere from 12 months of age to maybe 18 months. (these are average ages - but, there are many backyard programs that will vary tremendously.)
Lameness can be caused by too many things for even the owner to know why an animal is limping. If it is an injury or rock lodged in the foot, the area above the hoof will start to swell. If there is no swelling, he could have pulled a muscle or been slammed by another animal. Just like humans, we sometimes hurt but it isn't serious. If there is no aparent swelling, there isn't much an owner can do, except maybe give him aspirin for the discomfort. But, many times it's more harmful to catch them to treat them than to leave them alone.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Suzie Q - I didn't understand your post :shock: .

I suppose there is a blood test for tick borne deceases?

 

[Halfy]

Hi Jeanne - Thank you so much for your explanation and apologies if I've caused you any confusion. There are no little calves, as I mentioned earlier all the cows and steers are between 12 - 18 months old.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Sorry for missing that. So there are 3 heifers and 12 steers. A bull will be put in with them in June to breed the 3 heifers. Got it!

 

[andybob]

There is no stiff sickness here in the UK we did have a strain in the bushveld ecosystem, but the exotics were more prone to infection than the local Sanga cattle. Most lameness in the UK would be a sprain or injury, here on the chalk downs we have a large percentage of flints in the soil which cause split hooves,as the flints can be literally razor sharp (very wearing on tyres). Laminitis is common in dairy herds, and bacterial footrot in heavy soils that don't drain very well. All are treatable if caught early enough.

 

[Suzie Q]

Is it 'blooded' you didn't understand. A vaccine that we get from the DPI. You can get it for 1 strain or for 3 strain, so you are better off getting the 3 strain of course. It is to vaccinate against tick fever.

3 day sickness you can get a vaccine for but it is a bit like the common cold. If it mutates slightly then the beasts can still get it. If they do get it they have natural immunity against it for a while. If bulls get it they can be sterile for a while. Some beasts that get it only look lame. Others will lie down.

They can also strain themselves if going through thick mud to get to water.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Thanks Suzie for the interpretation. Little language gap :lol:

 

[Halfy]

Well, you all amaze me - I never realised there was so much to know about looking after cattle and I'm wrapped! After reading other threads, I have to ask you where you learn all this information. Is this something you pick up as you go along by working with those experienced, or do you go to college to learn everything? I like the idea of asking my local farmer if I can help him to see what I can pick up; but there again as you say, I shouldn't get too attached to his cattle because one day they'll have to be slaughtered.

 

[Suzie Q]

I have had horses all my life and new nothing about cattle.

I bought 4 heifers and a too young to work bull so as I could get used to them without being afraid.

We had mentors who helped us, starting us off with getting us quiet dairy cattle and teaching us how to put new calves on to cows. The former owner also came and helped us with the first pull of a calf out of a cow.

Plus you can learn all about the vaccinations and stuff from places that sell them. You will find everyone helpful and that everyone does it differently.

 

[Roadapple]

Suzie Q..Why are grass clippings a no-no. I've fed my clippings to my horses for yrs. and never had a sick one. Do the same with cows. I don't see a lot of difference whether they chew it off or I cut it off. Enlighten me. Thanks.

 

[Halfy]

I have had horses all my life and new nothing about cattle.

I bought 4 heifers and a too young to work bull so as I could get used to them without being afraid.

We had mentors who helped us, starting us off with getting us quiet dairy cattle and teaching us how to put new calves on to cows. The former owner also came and helped us with the first pull of a calf out of a cow.

Plus you can learn all about the vaccinations and stuff from places that sell them. You will find everyone helpful and that everyone does it differently.

Thanks Suzie - I am very tempted. Where do you keep the pregnant cows during cold winter months? Are they strong enough to remain outside, or is it more adviseable to have a barn for them to keep warm?

 

[dun]

Where do you keep the pregnant cows during cold winter months? Are they strong enough to remain outside, or is it more adviseable to have a barn for them to keep warm?

Most places cows are better off outside then in a barn during the winter. Their digestive system is such that it acts as a furnace and keeps them generally warm. A windbreak and a little back fat is about all they need.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I never thought to even ask the farmer whether he minded us petting them - they do seem to enjoy it and try to lick our hands while we're stroking their faces. I'm getting so interested in these animals now that I want to get to know the farmer more, but I don't want to become a nuisance so I can't ring him again, unless of course I feel something is wrong.

Welcome to the forum. Your interest in cattle is appreciated.

I am one of those folks who get fighting mad when someone pets a cow of mine. Pet cows kill folks. Cows need to have a bit of fear. If they don't, you've got yourself a mess going on when one of them has a calf etc.

When I was a little boy my Dad also taught me about petting dogs. It is an ethics thing. If someone has a pup to become a watch dog, the worst thing in the world is for that dog to look forward to strangers coming up and scratching its neck. I don't trust folks who try to befriend my dogs. I don't understand why folks want to pet my animals.

 

[Suzie Q]

With a lawn mower with the deck underneath. The fuel etc goes through the clippings. It is okay if mown with a slasher behind a tractor then the fuel is going into the air from the tractor and not into the grass underneath.

 

[Suzie Q]

Halfy I am on the other side of the world to you. In Winter we do get frosts over night, but that disappears when the sun comes up. We do not get snow here. The start of Winter was the day before yesterday for us on the 1st of June.

Barns are an American thing. We do not have them here. We have hay sheds. The cattle stay out all year and only have trees for shade. Our bull is out with them 24/7 as that makes for a quieter, happier bull. (JMHO) and we have calves all year round.

Our cattle have big ears, that is so they can dissapate the heat.

The 'bigger guys' only have one calf crop and pull their bull, so as they can get help in for the castrating, dehornig, etc, only once a year; however we are only small and it is nothing for me to have 3 or 4 calves being weaned several times throughout the year. Eventually if it worked out right it would give us an income throughout the year instead of only once.

 

[Halfy]

Dehorning - never heard of it. Do people actually remove their horns - why :shock:

Well anyway, I've spoken to the farmer and his mate and I was invited to go into the field with the cows if I wanted - while they were there. But I declined - because as much as I'd love to they are sooo big and I'd rather "talk" to them over the fence. They do seem to show fear though ... if I hold out one hand to stroke them they allow me to, but if I try to hold both hands out then they back off. Strange creatures but I love 'em. :lol:

 

[dun]

Dehorning - never heard of it. Do people actually remove their horns - why :shock:

Briefly, there are several methods of removing horns. 1) Using a homozygous polled bull so that geneticly they are polled(hornless), 2) removing them as horn buds either with acid paste, hot iron, saw or scoops, 3) after the horns have erupted, cutting them of with a saw or scooping them.
Horns are removed for safety, both the people handling the cattle and the other animals, so that there is less bruising in a feeding environment which would lower the quality of the meat and os that they are less destructive to equipment.

 

[Halfy]

Thanks Dun, I'm learning something new every day.

 

[Suzie Q]

You also have dehorners which look a bit like bolt cutters. There is an artery in there. The blood will pump all over you and everything.

 

[djinwa]

With a lawn mower with the deck underneath. The fuel etc goes through the clippings. It is okay if mown with a slasher behind a tractor then the fuel is going into the air from the tractor and not into the grass underneath.

Are you talking about the exhaust? Maybe lawn mowers are different in Australia. In the U.S. the exhaust exit is up above and cannot get under the deck to go into the clippings. Like Roadapple, I've been feeding clippings from the lawn mower for over a decade with no problems. Cows start crying as soon as the lawn mower starts up.