Ventilation is of outmost importance. Majority of pneumonia cases can be traced to excessively warm and humid interior and sudden changes in temperature. Allow a 0.5 to 1 feet clearance between floor to wall and wall to beam to create an adequate circulation and to lower draft. It is desirable to maintain an interior temperature of 28 to 30°C. It has been established that above 30°C ruminants are inhibited from eating.
Lighting may also be provided in the barns during the night. Goats consume up to 30% of the day’s intake during the night when light is provided.
Other Options:
4.1. Housing System for Cow-calf Operation
Cow-calf operation in smallhold farms is usually done using simple methods and facilities. The animals are usually tethered during the day and kept inside the shed during the night. The shed is built from native materials like wood and bamboo frames and enclosures; nipa and cogon for roofings. Feeding and watering troughs can also be made out of locally available materials such as used tires, used and halved drums. The shed is usually built near the house of the farmer.
4.2. Housing System for Fattening Operation
In this type of operation, the animals are raised in individual stalls with a space about 1.5 m x 4 m/head. Each stall can accommodate one animal during the entire fattening period. The shed is built three (3) meters high to allow good ventilation. Bamboo, lumber, or ipil-ipil poles can be used for frames; nipa or cogon for roofing materials although galvanized iron roofing may be used for durability. Concrete and sand should be used as flooring to prevent mud from accumulating. This will facilitate cleaning.
Guide in Selecting Stocks Based on Physical Appearance
A. Selecting Cows and Heifers for Breeding
A1. Milking Ability and Feminity
A cow should have a mild maternal face with bright and alert eyes, good disposition, and quiet temperament. Its udder is of good size and shape, soft, flexible and spongy to touch. This characteristic is expected to secrete more milk unlike an udder that is fleshlike and hard.
A2. Age
In general, beef cows remain productive for 13 years if they start calving at three years of age. They are most productive from four to eight years of age.
A3. Breeding Ability and Ancestry
Cows that calve regularly are desirable. Calves from cows that do not take on flesh readily do not give much profit. In buying heifers for foundation stock, select those which belong to families which have regularly produced outstanding calves.
A4. Types and Conformation
An ideal cow has a rectangular frame. Should be of medium width between the thurls and pins to have necessary frame on which to hang profitable beef. The rump must be long and smooth.
B. Selecting a Bull
B1. Physical Appearance
A fairly good middle or barrel indicates a well-developed digestive system and healthy vital organs such as the heart, liver and lungs. Likewise, a full heart girth, broad muzzle, large nostrils, muscular cheeks and jaw, well-rounded thighs and a full loin, make up a good constitution. A bull with these qualities is desirable.
The legs of a bull should be strong enough to carry its own weight and to carry him around to look for cows that are in heat and to search for food when necessary. Successful mating of cows is ensured when a bull has strong legs.
B2. Sex Character
Well-developed sex organs are characterized by fully descended testicles, deep wide chest, and broad head. These qualities indicate virility and good reproduction.
C. Selecting Cattle for Fattening
C1. Age
Young animals have striking advantages over older cattle. They need less feed for every unit gain in weight because they can masticate and ruminate thoroughly and can consume more feed in proportion to their body weight. Their increase in weight is due partly to the growth of muscles and vital organs. In older cattle the increase is largely due to fat deposits.
On the other hand, older animals as feeder stock also have advantages. Generally, a two-year old steer will require a shorter feeding period than a calf or a yearling because the latter grows while it fattens.
Calves are choosy when given coarse and stemmy roughage, while two-year old steers utilize large quantities of roughage to produce fat primarily because they have a better capacity to digest. In most cases, they readily relish the feeds ordinarily rejected by the calves.
C2. Disposition
An active yet mild, quiet, and easily-handled steer usually grows fast and fattens easily. Restless, nervous and erratic cattle waste too much energy when they panic even at the slightest provocation.
C3. Constitution and Vigor
These are determined by the size and quality of the vital organs. A large feeding capacity, strong appetite, a large heart girth, well-sprung ribs and a wide, deep and full chest show good constitution and vigor.
C4. Sex
In general, more steers than heifers are available for fattening because some heifers must be retained as herd replacements.
If fed for the same period of time, steers gain about 10% faster than heifers and require 10 to 15% less feeds with equal weight gain. On the other hand, young bulls have 20% greater gain in live weight and require 22% less feed to produce a leaner carcass which is nearly of the same quality as that of steers.
C5. Health Considerations
A healthy animal is active, has a soft and smooth hair coat, bright eyes and moist muzzle. Special attention should be given to unsoundness and defects in conformation when selecting feeders. Animals that are blind, lame or with crooked legs, rough skin, and evidence of ectoparasite should be avoided.
Directory of Cattle Producers and Farm
Breeders:
Ansa Genetic, Inc. / ANSA Cattle & Crop Farm, Inc.
Batangas Farm: San Isidro (Sapac), Lipa City
Mobile 0917.690.2575
Email: edwin.sanchez@ansagroup.org
NCR Office: 15 Abelardo St., San Lorenzo Village, Makati City
Tels: (02) 817-5259 / 815-0992
sources: themodernreligion.com, www.bar.gov.ph, photo from seeknomore.blogspot.com
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2010 · All Rights Reversed ·
gulo bakit pag dating sa breeding naging kambing yung baca :(
@Tristan, thanks for pointing that out, article already rectified.
thanks Leo ask lang ako san ka ba connected? may farm kc ako sa bicol and i want to improve it need ko help.
@Tristan, yung mga bagong technology sa pagbabakahan ay nandito sa UP Los Banos, Laguna, o kaya dito sa Central Luzon State University, pwede ka mag inquire sa kanila directly. Sorry, small time farmer lang ako, I’m only sharing these info from brochures I got from trade fair and expo.
ok :) btw may typo uli ata dun sa cattle housing, “A fenced loafing area beside the goat house must be provided (100 to 150 sqm/250 head)”
thanks tol sa info. so anu ba farm mo grazing ba or confinement? ako kc gusto ko convert to full confinement.
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@Tristan, backyard raiser lang. meron akong maliit na grazing area (0.5ha) for my native goats. I started last year with 9, now i think it’s around 30+ na silang lahat, almost zero-maintenance.