BACKYARD CATTLE FATTENING

Introduction:

Backyard cattle fattening has gained importance to the livestock industry of the Philippines. It is becoming popular because of the following advantages:

(1) It augments the farmer’s income;

(2) it requires minimum space for housing;

(3) it allows the use of cheap and plentiful farm by-products which ordinarily go to waste; and

(4) it helps meet the immediate demand for high protein foods in the diet of the Filipino people. Fattening cattle in backyard consist of buying young healthy stocks, feeding them properly and selling them at the proper time.

GUIDES IN THE OPERATION OF BACKYARD CATTLE FATTENING:

A. Suitability of the Area or Locality

Cattle production is sensitive to the changes in the quality and quantity of feed supply. They grow normally well when given the right feed. Adequate feeding is attained through grass pasture, grains, and roughages supplemented with protein, minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates and fats. It will be highly profitable if feeds are available in the locality. Feed ingredients such as rice straw, corn stover, copra meal, rice bran and molasses must be abundant. Grass should be enough for the cattle to graze throughout the year. Good quality feeder stock can be obtained from your neighbors, livestock markets and commercial ranches. Those that are well adapted to your area should be selected.

TIPS IN SELECTING FEEDER STOCK:

1. Have knowledge of the relative prices.

2. Know the weight of the animal

3. Know the quality of the animal

4. Consider the body conformation and physical appearance of the animal.

B. Housing

Proper housing and equipment are important in a successful backyard cattle raising. Cattle should be protected from extreme hot or cold conditions. Shade is necessary. The typical shed under Philippine conditions is constructed of light native materials. The roof is made of nipa or cogon mounted on either bamboo or ipil-ipil posts to protect the animals from extreme weather.

The flooring can be made of concrete or gravel and sand. The average floor area should be about 4 X 7 feet.

B. Selection of Fattening Cattle

To insure a profitable income from fattening cattle, these factors are to be considered:

1. Age- Younger animals require longer feeding period. Feed is utilized for maintenance, growth and fattening. Older animals take shorter time for fattening. Preferred age of cattle for fattening is 2-3 years old.

2. Sex- Steers (castrated males) are preferred than heifers due to their inherent capacity to gain weight, grow faster and easy to manage.

3. Disposition- An active yet mild, quiet and easily handled steer usually grow fast and fattens easily. Restless, nervous and erratic cattle waste too much energy.

4. Constitution- and Vigor- These are determined by the size and quantity of the vital organs. A large feeding capacity, a strong appetite, a large heart girth, well sprung ribs and a wide, depend fullchest show good constitution and vigor.

5. Breed- Improved breeds gain weight faster with less feed than native animals. The recommended breeds for fattening are:

a. Brahman - The color is silver gray, some with dark shade in front and at the rear. These animal is popular due to its resistance to diseases and heat and is a good beef type cattle.

b. Ongle or Mellore - The color is white, but bulls may be dark gray on the head, neck and hump. Knees and pastures may be black.

c. Indu-Brazil - The color vary from light to silver gray. Indu-Brazil and Zebu cattle originated from Brazil.

6. Health Condition of the Animal - A healthy animal is alert, with bright eyes, smooth hair coat and moist muzzle.

FEED REQUIREMENTS:

In the selection of feed, the ration should be adjusted to the requirements for fattening cattle based on the availability of feed materials in the locality. Cattle can be fattened on all roughage ration or a roughage-concentrate ration. In giving roughage, be sure to give good quality grass-legume mixture in the form of pasture herbage. These should be given in full feeding. Roughage-concentrate ration is the contribution of forage or farm byproducts and concentrates. Some common concentrates used are: rice bran, copra meal, ipil-ipil leaf meal corn by-products, plus meat and bone meal and salt. These concentrates are cheap an available in many localities. Force-feeding or drenching (supak) of this concentrate should be given twice a day.

https://ati.da.gov.ph/rtc10/sites/default/files/BACKYARD CATTLE FATTENING.pdf