Buffalo Calf Fattening Methods

Introduction

In Pakistan the production of meat is the secondary farm enterprise but its potential is not fully exploited. The current system for the production of meat of the buffalo is traditional & inefficient. The gain in the live body weight is 1.87 Ib/ day to the 1 year & 1.46 Ib/day to the 2 year. So this gain in the weight is ordinary of the feeding & management. Out of the total population of the male calf the 50% are die during the 1st week of their life. So on the poor & unbalanced diets the some calves are rise & they reach weight of 60-80 kg & some reach to the 200 kg of their live body weight. The potential of the buffalo for the meat production is very large. The buffalo breeders are facing the problems which are calf survival rates are lover & the cost of feeding is high. The Calf fattening is all-inclusive activity, related to meet animal’s care, housing, medication, feeding and management. Which could be defined as such activities & aspects which related to the raising the calf for the purpose of meat. One should want to invest in the livestock farming he should make the decision carefully to analyze the associated risk factors. The buffalo calf fattening is the beneficial aspect of the business and also help to the poor farmers. It will decrease the poverty and make a tremendous development in the progress of the country.

Main Body

Buffalo calf fattening play a role of back bone in the economy of the country. The meat is use as a food & hide is use as a Leather industry. In this sector the family of farmer should be involved fully, devoted and hardworking. It is the major source of food for example Meat. It gives the Farmyard Manure as a source of fertilizer. Through the export it gives a better source of earning of foreign exchanges. In this sector the humen resource employ is so high. In this sector the loaning is secured, permanently.

But there are the many weakness which is discus as. The cost of production is high. The bulk feed which is produce is of low level. In a few cases the management level is poor. Keeping the record of pedigree is no or low & the application of research work is no or low. In Pakistan the animals which are kept social but not than the commercial reasons. In Pakistan there is no breed is registered for the production of beef. There is the lack of extension services & low interaction with farmers. The farmer is lack in skill and education. The sector is unorganized & the basic management of farm practice is unaware. In the cause of remote area there is the lack of transportation & market approach. The communication services are not available. The market information and farm/ market infra structures are lacking. The management of livestock farm job is very difficult. The major problem is the nutrition that is generally in livestock productivity & particularly in the production of meat. The demand of fattening calf is also higher in this respect that the demand of meat is increasing day & night. On the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eidul-Azha like occasions the demand is increases. The animals on such occasions are sold at higher prices. The business can be started before these occasions or any time throughout the year due to increase in sale price & farmer can get benefit on such occasions. A better production will be obtain if the cooperative farming is done.

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In the commercial calf fattening farm it is the modern aspect that work with the people & animal and utilize the resources in most efficient way. As the population of Pakistan is increasing day by day so the consumers are also increasing & the demand of meat as a food is also increasing this demand is favorable if the price of meat is also favorable so the beef industry is the major segment in the production of livestock. The consumption of meat Worldwide during 1983 for developed world was 74 kg & for developing countries were 14 kg and 11 kg for Pakistan. In 1993 the meat consumption was 76kg, 21 kg and 16kg for the three, respectively. The challenge for Pakistan to achieve 47 kg per capita consumption of meat up to 2020. There is the gap between the demand & supply curve.

The animals are purchase from the mandies & also from the rural area on the basis of live weight. In the country the animal are traded across the mandies of animals round the year. Which are operating on weekly basis. The other source of animal buying is through making an agreement with a supplier (middlemen/ beoparies). For purchasing the meat animals Government and private livestock farms are also the main sources. To control the waste products the calf are keep on the semi-confinement the calf are housed on the slatted floor. To eliminating the use of bedding material the urine & faeces is collected. In the feedlots system the fatten calf are kept on the concrete floors or in dry region on the area of unpaved.

If the shade is provided the more efficient growth should be obtained. The manure is collected daily store, dry in the feedlots which is removed & spread in the field. In the feedlot system the collection of urine is less with the slatted floor. Sheds of the animals should be airy with protection of the animals from extreme temperatures and strong winds. The animal housing should be facilitated with drinking water for animals. There should be proper drainage system to keep hygiene at the farm. It consists of a built up animal shed, a brick soling paddock for animals.

The other components are feeding manger, open paddock and water trough as the major housing requirement for the calves. The sheds of animals should be directed along north to south for getting the sunlight & face is away to the direction of falling winds whatever possible. The tree should be planted for providing the natural shadow & work as wind breakers. The dimensions of the water trough should be same to that of feed mangers & water should be available all the time. All the animals should be feed at same time & all animals drink also at same time.

The fattening of the calf is done when they attain the body weight of 100kg at the age of nearly 8 to 9 month of age. The fattening period is 90 to 150 & average is 120 days the final weight is 350 to 400kg & average is the 375 kg. Feed for the calf which is provided is the ration for Calf Fattening. In the operation of the finishing the proportion of the ration feed depends on the feed types which are produce locally & on the availability of feed to the weight & grades of the calf which is to be fattened. The range of ration is from high roughage low to high energy ration which consist of concentrates. For example the ingredients presents in the ration are

• Maize, maize silage, soya bean meal & urea
• Barley, maize silage, by-products feeding large feed lots
• Cottonseed hulls, alfalfa, sorghum grain, maize, straw & molasses.

In the fattening of the calf the ionophores, antibiotic feed additives & hormone like growth stimulators are also added in the feed which is common. The fodder for the calf is the green fodder which are the summer & winter fodder the summer fodder include the maize, sorghum, millet, mott grass & sadabahar, guar and the winter fodder are the barseem, alfalafa (Lucerne), oats, rye grass & sugarcane tops. The dry roughage are the rice straw, wheat straw and oat straw. There is no fixed fodder requirement for the calf but the calf requires the fodder as a rule of thumb of 10% of the live body weight. The following table shows the nutrient requirement of the calf the ADG range from 0.50 to Ib. In this table NEm, NEg, CP, Ca, and P which is require per day for the maintenance & growth.

One third of this DM will come from green fodder and 2/3 rd will met be supplemented by TMR in fattening calves to get maximum daily weight gains. According to these estimates, one calf of 80 Kgs body weight will consume 8-10 kgs fodder daily for 120 days (preferred if fed free of choice i.e. ad libitum). Since an animal needs daily feed equal to 4.5% of its live body weight on Dry Matter (DM) Basis. The 2/3 rd of this DM will be supplemented by TMR. For an animal of 80 kgs body weight, it will be 3.6 kgs per day (Preferred if fed free of choice i.e. ad libitum)

Calves can also be fed on TMR in feed lot system. The Crude Protein (CP) value of this ration should be 12-13 % with 65-70 % Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN). These feed ingredients when mixed according to feed formula will provide adequate energy according to energy and protein requirements of animal.

This is used as a feed supplement. It includes a mix of minerals (magnesium, iron, sodium and salts). Mineral mixtures increase the animal productivity to produce more lean meat. Urea Molasses Blocks can also be used to supplement the minerals.

Vaccination & medication is required to prevent any disease outbreak in the animal herd. Each new animal will be vaccinated before putting into the farm. Anthelmantics are used to treat the animals for internal parasites where as spraying and dipping with some disinfecting solution is used to eradicate external parasites. Nayzan Plus oral (Levamisole Hcl 1.5% w/v Oxyclozanide 3.0% w/v Cobalt Sulphate 0.382% w/v). Albasym Oral (Albendazole 2.5% w/v and 10% w/v). Ivotec injection (ivermectin).

Vaccines are produced at Veterinary Research Institute, Ghazi Road, Lahore. Vaccination is done against following diseases BQ, HS, FMD and Anthrax. For the new animals the quarantine yard should be made which consist of the vaccination, dipping & weighing etc. the animals which are purchase newly should be dewormed & medicated with proper vaccination. The animals which are disease free should be moved from the quarantine to the feedlot. The chance of the disease should be minimize in the quarantine which ensure that new animal should not carry the any disease. The quarantine period should be 7 days to stop the spreading of disease in the feedlot sheds. For a calf-fattening farm, manpower is required for performing different animal husbandry practices at the farm e.g. housing, feeding, watering, medication and care of animals etc. the 25 animals is handle by 1 person easily for the feeding & other management.

The period during which the animal puts on weight is the fattening period. These animals are called fattened animals. Generally the period is 90-120 days. Following are the desirable size and thickness of fattened animals. Large frame size with no.1 thickness is desirable.

Like all meat, beef is also very high in protein. The meat of the calf contains vitamin B & minerals which are the phosphorus, potassium & sodium. The liver is the good source of the vitamin D, C, A, B12, folic acid, iron & riboflavin. The moisture content of lean meat is 75-79 % where as the crude protein content is 18-22 %. There is a 5-6.5 % mineral content in it. The percentage of lean meat, bone and other tissues of carcasses of different breeds is given as under;

Conclusion:

Base on the above data it is stated that in the Pakistan the consumption of the meat is less & the availability of the meat per capita is less & our nation is deficient in protein consumption. The demand of meat is more than the supply. So to fulfill the protein requirement and to manage the supply and demand curve the such program are need for the requirement of the meat and also the research is needed and also help to the farmer to encourage and solve their problem. Through the better nutrition and management we increase the buffalo meat production and also increase daily weight gain to increase the meat production.