The meat consumption per capita in the world is growing steadily every year. A healthy lifestyle and the recommendations of nutritionists dictate their own rules, and despite the fact that pork lovers are not getting smaller, the popularity of beef as a lean and rich in nutrients product is steadily increasing. Farms cannot cope with ever-increasing demand.

In world livestock raising, there is a question of shortage of beef and high purchase prices for it. High prices are largely due to the cost of maintaining and feeding the bulls. Nevertheless, the breeding of gobies of meat breeds can be very beneficial if you adhere to certain technologies and rules.

Basic rules and norms of fattening

In order to properly organize fattening (the process of bringing livestock to the necessary weight condition), you need to remember about the features of the development of young cattle:

• the younger the goby, the higher its growth rate. Compared to cows, they gain weight faster. A sufficient amount of feed accelerates growth and improves meat quality;
• a lean diet leads to low weight gain, and prolonged underfeeding of the animal after 6 months can significantly reduce meat productivity. Moreover, not only the live weight is reduced, but also the number of the most valuable parts of the carcass (fillet, back, thigh, rumps, rump, sternum);
• It is necessary to raise bull-calves for meat, taking into account slaughter at the age of one and a half years, plus or minus 2 months. Sometimes slaughter has to be done earlier, for example, due to lack of food. Early slaughter of spring calves is disadvantageous due to the fact that they can be inexpensively fed in the summer on pasture;
• at least two months (ideally six months), the calf should be fed with milk and dairy products;
• ideally, the weight of a bull by the year should increase by 8 times. If there is no feed deficit, but the animal remains thin, then there is some kind of malfunction in his body.

Types of Fattening

There are two types of cattle fattening: fast (intensive) and stall. Consider how they differ from each other.

Did you know? The largest breed of bulls is Kyanin (porcelain bull). Her representative, nicknamed Donneto, lived in Switzerland in the middle of the twentieth century and weighed 1740 kg.

In a quick way

It is used to gain muscle mass in young animals, especially meat gobies. The basis of the diet in this case is corn silage, rich in starch and fiber. Concentrated feeds act as protein supplements. Concentrates are responsible for the juiciness of meat, but you can’t overdo it with them, 2 kg per day is enough. The quick way is considered very effective due to the fact that it is the muscles that develop, and not the fat layer, and the meat from such animals is dietary and tasty.

The minimum feeding period lasts 4 months, while the calves gain up to 1 kg per day, and the longest - 8 months. Consumption rate is 7-7.5 feed units per day.

Stall

This method is suitable for both young and adult individuals. During the stationary period, the diet includes:

• beet pulp (dried beet chips - a waste of beet sugar production) with a high content of nitrogen-free substances and easily digestible fiber;
• distillery (waste from the production of ethyl alcohol), rich in protein with essential amino acids;
• potato pulp (the remains of crushed potato after starch extraction);
• chalk (to replenish calcium reserves in the body) and salt (to maintain electrolyte balance and prevent parasites);
• concentrates;
• roughage (hay).

Adaptation to the pulp should not take less than a week. In general, stall feeding is divided into three periods (month, forty days and twenty days). If the first 70 days of calves can be fed with inexpensive feeds, then in the final period you need to add high-quality concentrates.

The disadvantage of the stall method is possible metabolic disorders due to abundant nutrition and low mobility, and, as a result, fat deposits in animals.

Diet for gobies

The process of growing meat gobies is conditionally divided into milk and dairy-free periods. In this regard, the diet of animals is compiled according to the following principles.

Up to six months

The dairy period lasts 6 months. Gobies are fed first with colostrum (5-6 times a day, at least a liter per feed), and then milk (whole and nonfat). The norm of milk consumption is 8 liters per day. Up to 10 days, the calf drinks mother's milk, and then milk from any healthy cow. To hay, the best bean, begin to accustom from 10-15 days of age. Juicy feed (finely chopped beets and carrots, boiled potatoes) is given after the first month of life.

Important! It is necessary to monitor the drinking regime of gobies and drink them at least 3 times a day. The rate of water consumption depends on the age of the calves (at 2 months - 7 liters, after 5 months - 13 liters). The lack of water affects the development of the scar.

Up to two months, the calf should drink boiled water (from special glass bottles or mugs with a pacifier), and even better diluted serum. Then you can give raw water. After two months, the calves are driven out to pasture (in summer) or fed grass from the feeder.

After six months

Six-month-old calves are removed from suction and transferred to dairy-free cultivation. In winter, meat gobies are fed:

• hay;
• silo;
• compound feed;
• root crops;
• herbal flour.

In summer, the diet must include green grass, rich in vitamins. A feeding method such as feeding animals is used (animals are transferred from one pasture to another, providing them with a variety of food).

Find out what is the average life expectancy of cows and bulls.

Technology for fattening gobies for meat

To properly feed the calf, you must follow the regime. Three times feeding is traditionally recommended, but twice as often gives a good increase, in some cases even higher. This is due to an increase in the resting time of the gastrointestinal tract and the deposition of nutrients. Regular walks in the fresh air are necessary to ensure good appetite in calves. The method of growing bulls under the name of "cold keeping" is widely known (in unheated cowsheds or hangars, which contributes to a strong immunity, healthy appetite and active weight gain).

Weight gain during fattening During feeding, it is important to graze animals for at least 12 hours a day. Each meal in gobies should take place in order and consist of three “dishes”: first give mixed feed and cereals, then succulent feed (silage, vegetables, fresh grass) and finally coarse feed (straw, hay). The table below shows the amount of feed required for calves at different ages:

Age group (months)	The amount of feed per day (kg)
2	one
6	8.5
9	9.2
12	eleven

Three months before slaughter, you need to increase the diet, focusing on concentrates. During this period, it is important to keep the bull on a tight leash, as it becomes very irritable and aggressive.

Feed additives

Modern veterinary pharmacology offers various supplements to accelerate growth and weight gain in calves. Regarding the use and safety of these supplements, a lot of information is disseminated, which is not always true.

Read more about how to feed a cow after calving at home.

Antibiotics

In addition to medical practice, antibiotics are actively used in agriculture, greatly simplifying the work of farmers. In the diet of gobies in small doses for a long period of time include such antimicrobial agents as:

• tetracyclines;
• bacitracins;
• grisin;
• monensin;
• lasalocide;
• laidlomycin.

This stimulates the growth of animals (additional weight gain from 4–5% to 9–12% when used during the month), reduces the cost of feed per unit of growth, and reduces the fattening period. The use of antibiotics in animal husbandry causes a lot of controversy.

On the one hand, the amount of substance in meat products is so scanty that it does not have a pronounced effect on the human body. On the other hand, some studies have shown an increase in human resistance to a number of antibiotics used to feed animals. In this regard, scientists urge farmers to abandon the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and those that are part of the therapy for serious diseases.

Important! The maximum result can be achieved by adding the drug to the food of gobies. Injections and infusion of drugs through the mouth are not so effective.

Prebiotics

In the first six months, the calf has not only active growth, but also the formation of the immune and digestive systems. In order to increase the digestibility of the diet and restore the digestive tract after taking antibiotics, special prebiotics are added to the feed.

Among the most popular:

• Biocrint produced by Biochem (contains a strain of live yeast, stimulates the development of anaerobic bacteria in the rumen);
• Acid Lac from a Belgian manufacturer (a combination of fumaric, lactic, propionic, formic and citric acids, as well as silica) helps to increase the secretion of enzymes and inhibits the development of pathogenic bacteria;
• Cormomix is a complex of mannano-oligosaccharides and beta-glucans that improve systemic immunity and release the inner surface of the digestive tract for the development of beneficial microflora;
• Agromix is a mannanoligosaccharide yeast prebiotic (made in Great Britain).

Important! Prebiotics, unlike probiotics, are indigestible carbohydrates, the purpose of which is to support the natural intestinal microflora and stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria.

Cereal

Grain additives (muesli-starters made from oats, barley, corn) have a beneficial effect on the development of masticatory muscles, teeth, and the secretion of digestive juices. During the breakdown of easily digestible carbohydrates, volatile fatty acids are released, which are very important for scar formation.

The main requirements for cereal starters are a good taste, nutritiousness and coarse grinding. Since they absorb moisture well, they need to be distributed in small portions twice a day. Popular muesli:

• Vilofoss;
• Calvophyte;
• Calvostart;
• Solan.

Biostimulants

Meat productivity can be increased with the help of biologically active hormonal preparations with anabolic effects (estrogens, androgens, gestagens, hypoglycemic substances). Due to the effect on the nervous and endocrine systems, hormones can increase weight gain by 5–20% and reduce feed intake by 5–12%.

The use of such additives in animal husbandry is constrained by concerns about the accumulation of hormonal substances in meat. The best option would be to use natural hormones (for example, phytoestrogens), but this is very costly.

Meat Care

For the bulls to display productive qualities effectively, it is important to observe the rules of keeping and caring for animals:

• the presence of a spacious corral with good ventilation and dry litter;
• the calf should contain bulls of about the same age and complexion;
• daily cleaning of waste and contaminated bedding;
• regular washing of drinking bowls and change of water;
• availability of special yards for walking;
• avoidance of drafts;
• heating in winter (special lamps are used for newborns, for older calves - blankets and vests).

Did you know? St. George (Yuri, Yegoriy) was revered among the people as the keeper of livestock. It was on Yegoryev’s day (April 23, according to the old style) that the cattle was driven out to pasture after wintering. Shepherds were also honored on this day.

The effect of castration on fattening a bull

Traditionally, gobies are advised to be castrated before feeding. Usually the procedure for removing the gonads is carried out in 5-6 months. The meat of castrated animals is more juicy, tasty, with a large number of fatty layers (marble). Care of castrates is easier, they are calmer. Uncastrated gobies must be kept on a leash. However, they have higher gains (by 7–8% by one and a half years).

Growing gobies for meat is a fairly expensive livestock industry, but you should not save on feed and food additives. Proper care and plentiful feeding, the principles of which are discussed in this article, will lead to high-quality meat products and a good income.