Cows – Page 3

October 9, 2013October 9, 2013

The Basics of Raising Cattle

The cattle business can be stressful, but getting into it can be worth it. Owning cattle has many benefits, and learning to raise them is a way of life for many farmers. Learning everything about how to raise cattle will take a lot of time and experience, so here’s a brief rundown on what you need to know before getting into the cattle business!

Planning

There are a few different reasons for raising cattle, so you have to decide what your purpose is. Are you raising them for show? For beef or for dairy? For personal use or for selling in mass? You also need to consider how devoted you will be to your business. What’s going to set you apart from the others? Is it the right time to start this business? Once you’ve thought this through, you need to develop a business plan. Then, you need to find the proper grounds. A lot goes into this – the right vegetation, proper fencing, proper shelter, etc. And be advised that cows don’t always need a top of the line barn. You can usually get away with a lot less – i.e., a very basic shelter. After that, you’ll have to purchase machinery (example: a feeding machine). You’re probably thinking that you need to shell out a lot of money before you even buy the cattle. Unfortunately, if you don’t already own a farm, this is true!

Buying

As we discussed before, cattle are raised for different reasons. Thus, there are different kinds of cattle, and there are always things you want to be aware of – like mothering ability and good conformation. When you study a cow’s conformation, you’re basically studying it’s structure. You want cattle with good depth of hearth girth, a fairly broad and wide forehead, and many other things. When just starting out, it’s not smart to buy a bunch of cattle at once. You’ll be in over your head. Choose a nice number of good, quality cows. Always go with a reputable breeder, and ask a lot of questions. Take a lot of photos of the cattle you’re looking to purchase, and study them in comparison to pictures of ideal cattle. Once you make a purchase, there’s an entire transferring process. You’ll need a trailer that is slip-free, and you’ll need to make the process from start to finish as quiet as possible. Disturbing the cattle is a big no-no.

Raising

A long time ago there was a computer game called The Oregon Trail, and you had to maintain cattle in order to keep them alive. And it was kind of a tedious process – you did one thing wrong and the cattle were done for. Aspects of that game ring true in real life. Raising the cattle can be difficult, but it can be very rewarding and fun! You’ll have to learn a lot on the technical side, but there are just a few basics you’ll need to know now. Keeping records should be a very high priority — everything from cattle health and vaccination records to purchases. You’ll need to keep up with cattle maintenance regularly – feeding, watering, and health checkups are the three main components. You’ll need to learn a lot about the large amount of water the cattle will drink, the types of food they will eat, etc. And during the whole process, you’ll need to know when it’s a good time to sell your cattle. If you’re raising cattle for personal use, you may not need to worry about that as much.

Sound like a lot of work? It is! But if you have the passion, it won’t even feel like work.

Lisa Podwirny is the owner of Ketchum Mfg. Connect with her on Google+!

The Benefits of Raising Farm Animals

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O! We’ve all heard the nursery rhyme and recited it a time or two. However, old MacDonald had the right idea, raising animals on his farm. Just imagine feeding your family wholesome eggs, milk and meat produced in your own backyard. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Agriculture truly is the foundation of our society. If it weren’t for farmers, we wouldn’t have the nutritious food we eat day in and day out. Here are the benefits of raising farm animals:

Chemical free eggs

Nothing compares to fresh, great-tasting eggs for breakfast, seriously! Raising your own chickens will ensure you have chemical free, exceptionally clean and healthy eggs each morning. Whether it’s over easy or scrambled, you can make breakfast with the healthiest eggs on the market.

Fresh raw milk

There are many benefits to collecting fresh, raw milk. Because raw milk contains certain proteins and compounds, it has been known to cure allergies and even eczema. Milk is also extremely important for developing brains and nervous systems of infants and young children. Raising milk cows is a great way to give your kids the best milk available.

No artificial cheese

Many commercial cheeses contain GMOs (genetically modified organism). You will be happy to know that homemade cheese contains no artificial ingredients. Don’t even worry about the cooking process either. Some of the best cheeses were made entirely by mistake. You can raise goats or cows, either way your cheese will be absolutely delicious!

Grass-feed meat

Loaded with minerals and vitamins, grass-fed beef is naturally leaner than grain-fed beef. It’s also a great source of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), which is a fat that can reduce the risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes, and a number of immune disorders. Whether you want to run a small backyard hobby farm or a large commercial ranch, your family can have grass-feed meat all year round.

In addition to fresh meat and dairy products, farming has many environmental benefits too. For example, farmers have an innate sense of loyalty and responsibility to the land on which they farm. Through sustainable agriculture, or the practice of farming ecologically, farmers can retain and protect their valuable farmland. They can also turn crop waste and animal manure into fertilizers. As a result, they can enrich the soil and reroute rainwater to fuel the irrigation system. Not only does sustainable agriculture save money, but it also conserves natural resources.

Lisa Podwirny is the owner of Ketchum Mfg. Connect with her on Google+!

Transfaunation in Dairy Cattle: What is it?

You may be thinking to yourself, “What the heck is transfaunation?” Or, perhaps you are already familiar with the term. If you have experience with a large dairy farm, you probably already know. I think a lot of us have seen cows (usually of the dairy variety) with windows into their abdomen at fairs and perhaps even at a farm you visited. Though the idea of putting a window in the side of a cow is cool enough on its own, it does actually serve a purpose. Before we explore that purpose, let me first explain a little about the stomach and the window.

The stomach of a cow is divided into four compartments. The rumen is the largest of these compartments, and I mean large. In a Holstein cow the rumen can hold over 40 gallons! The rumen can also be thought of as a holding and fermentation vat. Being prey animals in the wild, evolution has designed cows to go out and eat as much food as possible while it is safe. Obviously there isn’t time to properly chew your food if you are eating it as quickly as possible. This is why we see cows chewing their “cud” almost constantly when they are relaxed. They will regurgitate a wad of material from their rumen back into their mouths and chew it properly so that it can pass to the other stomach compartments and eventually into their intestines. The environment inside the rumen is not very acidic like it is in most other species. This is because the cow is constantly regurgitating the material and an acidic environment would injure their esophagus, and also because of the bacteria that live in the rumen and help break down the cow’s food. A very acidic environment would kill off the bacterial colonies and the cow would not be able to properly digest her food. So, what I really want you to take away from this whole paragraph is that the bacteria inside the rumen of cows is of utmost importance to their survival. Got it? Good.

Now, the window. A healthy cow is chosen by her owner to undergo this procedure and become the source of rumen material for any cow that may need it in her lifetime. A veterinarian will cut into the abdominal wall of the cow and into the rumen, from there a plastic cannula is placed in the incision site. This cannula is what holds the side of the abdomen open permanently. A plastic screw-in plug is usually placed in the opening that can be removed whenever needed. Cows recover well from the surgery and do not even notice their new accessory.

Ok, enough about all that. What is transfaunation?! Transfaunation is the transfer of one cow’s digestive flora into another cow. Digestive flora is the healthy bacteria, protozoa and fungi that live in the animal’s (all animals, yes, even humans!) digestive system and help break down food. If a cow is sick, she will very often stop eating and/or drinking. Or, if she has to be treated with antibiotics they can kill off the good and the bad bacteria in her system. Yes, it’s important to get rid of the bad bacteria that are making her sick, however, when the good bacteria are also killed off it will inhibit her ability to digest food and absorb all the nutrients she needs. For whatever reason a cow loses her healthy bacteria, it is imperative that she gets it back quickly or her health will continue to decline. That is where our cannulated cow comes in to save the day, and possibly the life of her barn mate. The farmer can simply reach into the rumen of the cannulated cow and take out some of the material in there. He will then feed it to the sick cow (cows will eat just about anything), or if she is not eating, they can force it into her with a stomach tube. This rumen material is filled with all the healthy microorganisms that our sick cow needs to have recolonize her rumen and make her a happy, healthy, milk producing cow again. So you can see, the job of the cannulated cow is very important, and the procedure of transfaunation can save a life.

Lisa Podwirny is the owner of Ketchum Mfg. Connect with her on Google+!