Beef Management Practices How do we need to take care of our cows?

Need a joke to start the day?

Objectives  Describe Four reasons that you would dehorn cattle.  Identify the three methods of dehorning.  Identify the three most common ways to mark cattle.  Identify the methods used to castrate cattle.  Identify the three ways to administer injections  Identify two ways of restraining cattle

What does it mean to dehorn?  Dehorn To remove the horns of cattle an animal

Why dehorn?  Horned cattle bring less money when sold  Less space in trucks and feedlots  Less damage to facilities  Less chance of animals injuring one another and people

Method of Dehorning # 1  Chemical Paste/ Caustic Stick Calves under 2 weeks of age Applied to the areas of the head where horns will start growing Stops the horns from actually starting to grow

Where will horns grow?

Danger of Chemical Paste or Chemical Problem?  Calves nurse and bump their heads on the cows belly  Paste gets on the cow and this kills the hair and can injure the udders.

Method of Dehorning #2 Hot Iron o Also used when calves are small o Hot iron is used to kill the surrounding tissue around the horn buds and thus, no horns will grow o Popular method because it is fast and almost no blood is lost

Hot Iron Dehorning

Method of Dehorning #3 Clipping or Sawing Used on calves that are bigger and have horns too large to use the other methods or on grown cattle  Both of these methods can be stressful because of loss of blood

Clipping Make sure animal is restrained.  Dehorning clipper is placed over the bud of the horn and then opened to cut through the tissue

How To Dehorn with Clippers

Clipper Dehorning

Sawing  Sawing is used typically on large animals

Which dehorning method do you think is best?

Marking Cattle – WHY??  Required in some states  Makes management easier Tell cattle apart Mark ones with vaccinations

Marking Cattle #1 - Branding  Hot Iron Oldest and most commonly used method

Hot Iron – How To  An actual metal brand is heated and burned into the animals hide  This causes the hide to not grow hair back and animal will permanently have the mark.

Marking Cattle #1 - Branding Freeze Brand Metal brand is prepared using liquid nitrogen and the brand is essentially done the same way as a hot iron.

Why Freeze Brand? Hair comes back white – becoming more popular because it is easy to see and easy to use.

Marking Cattle #2 – Tattooing/ Tagging  Tattooing Numbers are inked into the ears with a hand held apparatus that has needle- like teeth.

Marking Cattle #2 – Tattooing/ Tagging  Tagging Very common Tag is made of metal or plastic

Taggers – Like ear piercing

Marking Cattle #3 – Neck Chains  Not as useful with range herds but more common for purebred herds and dairies.  Technology actually keeps track of animals movements.

Why castrate?  Bull meat is worth less  Easier to manage steers than bulls  Not as many calves are quality enough for breeding purposes

Castration – What is it?  Removing the testicles of a male animal.

A little anatomy…  Testicles are the male reproductive organs that produce and store sperm.  The testicles are inside the scrotum.

When to castrate  The Younger, The Better At birth is the best time Going to feedlot? Before 3-4 months of age After 8 months and they will have a staggy appearance  Staggy – appearance of a mature bull

Castration Method #1 - Knife  Most widely used method  Not to be used with calves more than 3-4 months  Danger from bleeding and infection – management is needed

“HOW TO”  Basically, you remove the testicles completely with a knife.

Castration Method #2 - Burdizzo  Crushes the cords above the testicle  Popular because it is bloodless

Burdizzo Problem??  Not totally pinched off or in the right place?  Calf can show signs of “staginess”

Castration Method #3 - Banding  Use an Elastrator  Instrument is used to place a tight rubber band around the scrotum above the testicles

Banding  Basically, the blood supply is cut off from the testicles and they waste away from lack of blood

Calf getting castrated

Which method is the best?  Whats your opinion????

S – A – F – E – T - Y  What is Safety?  What does safety have to do with cattle?

Safety and Cattle  Protect yourself Keep safe distances Know your surroundings THINK.  Read all medications before administering. Three types of vaccinations? 1. Intramuscular (IM) 2. Subcutaneous (SC) 3. Intravenous (IV)

Safety and Cattle- Restraining  Safety for Cows Turn table

Safety and Cattle- Restraning  Squeeze Chute/ Head Catch

Cattle Management Vocabulary  Gestation- The length of time a cow is pregnant Gestation period of cattle= 274 days Gestation period of humans= 280 days  Parturition-The act of giving Birth Usually lasts around 8 hours  Dystocia- Problems during labor  Birth Defects- abnormality that is present at birth

Birth Defects in Cattle

Georges Calf

What is happening/has happened in the following Photos?