How many years does it usually take to raise cattle before they can be slaughtered?

Cattle are useful domestic animals that can provide high-quality meat, milk, leather and other products, and can also serve as labor in agricultural production. Raising cattle can increase farmers' income and promote the development of the rural economy. So how many years does it generally take to raise cattle before they can be slaughtered? Let’s take a look below.

1. How many years does it usually take to raise cattle before they can be slaughtered?

The time when cattle are slaughtered varies depending on factors such as species, feeding method, growth environment and feed . Beef cattle are usually raised for 1-1.5 years, while dairy cows need to continue to be raised after calving. Reasonable feeding methods and feed combinations, as well as suitable growth environment and climatic conditions, can help shorten the time to market.

2. Cattle breeding technology and feeding methods

1. Breeding environment: It is best to choose a place with flat terrain, sunny and ventilated environment and rich green fodder for breeding cattle. Also, choose healthy cattle with bright eyes and loud voices for breeding. Cattle consume a lot of water during breeding, so the selected place should be close to the water source to prevent the cattle from getting sick due to lack of water.

2. Select fattening cattle: It is best to select Piedmont, Limousin, Charolais, Simmental, etc. with obvious body shape and meat characteristics, as well as hybrid mutton calves or feeder cattle for staged fattening, calves (within 6 months of age), growing cattle (6-12 months of age), and feeder cattle (12-22 months of age).

3. Processing and conditioning of feed: Forage hay is mainly based on ammonia decomposition, corn straw is ensiled, and green hay is immediately stored in a thatched house after drying to avoid exposure to the sun and rain. Before feeding various concentrated feeds, remove dust, fine wire, laminated glass, gravel and other dirt.

4. Prepare sufficient forage: 3-10 kg of hay (ammonia-hydrolyzed hay, silage corn straw, alfalfa hay, etc.) per head per day and 1.5-4 kg of concentrated feed.

5. Feeding and drinking water: Feed twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, with an interval of 12 hours, so that the cattle have enough time to chew the cud and rest. The feeding order is coarse food first and then fine food, dry food thoroughly and wet it thoroughly, feed less and add more frequently. When mixing grass with feed, it should be mixed dry in winter and wet in summer. Do not feed moldy, mildewed or spoiled grass. Drink water 2-3 times a day, 3-4 times in summer, and the water temperature should be around 0℃ in winter.

6. The shed should be sunny, dry and ventilated: each adult cow occupies an area of ​​3m2, and the shed should contain feeding troughs and water troughs, and the external equipment should be shaded, tied up and have drinking troughs facing the sun.

7. Keep the pen utensils clean: Clean the excrement inside and outside the shed every day, put 5-10 cm long hay on the cow bed to prevent laminitis, disinfect the utensils inside and outside the shed with 0.3% Lysol every half a month, clean the trough thoroughly before feeding, disinfect it with 2-3% caustic soda (sodium hydroxide solution) solution once a week, wash the trough frequently and clean it in time. Brush the cow's body 1-2 times a day to maintain daily cleanliness.

8. Maintain adequate exercise: Keep quiet and move less during the fattening stage, try to create an environment that is conducive to chewing and resting. Calves should be castrated for fattening. The living environment of the exercise venue should be quiet, dry, and spacious, with enough space for standing or exercising.

9. Disease prevention and control: In order to enhance the immunity of cattle, vitamin pills or antibiotics can be mixed into the food to reduce the probability of cattle getting sick. Cattle should be cleaned on time to reduce the damage caused by mosquitoes to cattle. When the weather is fine, cattle should be dragged out of the barn to be exposed to the sun to kill germs.

10. Regular cleaning: Cattle are very resistant to disease, but they are very likely to get sick if they are kept in a dirty and messy environment for a long time. When raising cattle, the pens should be cleaned once a day to clean up the excrement and food residues, and the cattle's feed troughs and waterers should be cleaned to allow the cattle to grow up healthy.

That’s it