Livestock keeping and breeding: top 2 systems and 2 best ways, technology

Keeping and breeding cattle is a costly and laborious occupation, but profitable. Cows are raised by almost all residents of rural areas in their subsidiary farms. These animals give up to 20 liters of milk per day. In winter, cows are kept in stalls, in summer they try to graze on pastures. The main thing is to provide cattle with high-quality feed. In summer, cows eat grass (up to 55 kg per day), in winter they eat hay (20 kg per day).

Containment systems

The system of breeding and keeping cattle (cattle) depends on many factors. Each farm or cow owner decides this issue independently, based on resources, the number of animals, the ability to organize grazing or provide feed.

Stable

There are such types of cattle housing:

Year-round stall. This technology is used if the nearby lands are plowed up, and there is no way to graze cattle in the summer in the meadow. Animals build a room (cowshed) and make a walking area. Cows are fed with imported feed. In summer they give fresh grass, root crops, in winter - hay, straw, silage, vegetables.
Stall and pasture. With this technology, starting from spring, cows are grazing on pasture, and at the end of October they are transferred to winter stall maintenance. It is used in farms with at least 0.5 hectares per animal. A cow weighing 505 kg eats up to 55 kg of green grass per day. This amount of feed is enough to produce 15-18 liters of milk per day. The pasture should not be more than 2 km away from the barn.

Pros and consthe ability to breed animals near large cities;minimum costs for the delivery of the final product to the consumer.additional costs for imported feed;increase in the cost of the final product.

Pasture

Types of grazing technology for keeping cattle:

Year-round pasture. In short, with this technology, cows are kept on pasture all year round. Canopies are made for shelter from rain. The technology is used in regions with warm winters. This method of breeding allows you to get cheap products.
Pasture-stall. With this technology in the spring, when the grass reaches a height of 10-15 cm, the cows are driven out to the meadow. Animals are grazed on the pasture until frost. This method of breeding cattle requires the construction of a barn for winter stall keeping and the arrangement of a walking area for animals to exercise during the cold period.

Pros and consfavorable effect of grazing in the meadow on the high productivity of cows;minimum costs for feed (in summer);improvement of animals grazing outdoors on green grass.seasonality of pasture use;the need to monitor the condition of the vegetation in the meadow (sow grass in time).

Methods of content

Cattle are kept on farms in different ways: on a leash or without a leash. Each farm chooses its own method of keeping animals, based on capabilities, feasibility and resources.

Tethered

With this method, cows are kept in barns in individual stalls on a leash. Animals are untied (tied) in two cases: if you need to take them to a pasture or to a walking area.

Tethers can be chain, yoke or fully automatic. The length of the stall is about 2 meters and is designed in such a way that the hind limbs of the animal are on a metal grate. This is done so that excrement falls through the slatted floor. If there are no grates, then the manure is regularly removed by hand.

Fodder for animals is distributed to individual feeders and nurseries. There are two ways to distribute grass, hay and vegetables: fully mechanized and manual. Cows are milked using milking machines or by hand in buckets.

Pros and consallows you to ration feed for each animal;increases the productivity of cows.high labor intensity;the need for regular cleaning of stalls from manure.

Tethered

With this method, cows are kept on the farm without a leash. Animals live in groups, can move freely around the barn and walking area, eat from a common feeder.During milking, cows are led to individual milking boxes. With group loose keeping, a maternity ward is necessarily organized, where females are transferred before giving birth.

Pros and conssaving space, the ability to keep more animals in the barn;reduce the cost of transporting feed;a minimum of staff is needed to care for the animals.there is no way to control how much feed each cow eats;it is necessary to separate the animals into different groups according to age.

How to breed cattle

Cattle breeding on an industrial scale is carried out by farms and livestock organizations. Anyone with a house and land in the countryside can own a cow.

In order to keep cattle, you need to build a barn, provide animals with feed in summer and winter.

Cows should graze in the pasture in summer. For a season, one animal needs an area of \u200b\u200b0.5 hectares. A cow eats about 55 kg of grass per day. If there is no such plot in private ownership, then it is necessary to agree with local authorities and graze cattle on meadows specially designated for grazing. Usually in every rural area, cows are herded in a herd, and the cattle owners act as a shepherd in turn.

Cattle breeding will require significant financial investments. You will have to buy a young cow (price - from $ 200) and build a cowshed (shed, barn). It is important to choose the right breed (dairy, meat and dairy, meat).

All winter the animal must be kept indoors. During the warm period (from May to October), cows are grazed in the meadow.True, animals should spend the night in a barn. In the barn, you need to install a nursery, feeders, drinkers. Every day it is recommended to change the bedding, remove manure, lay new straw. Animals are milked, as a rule, three times a day.

If you wish, you can create a small farm for breeding cows. First you need to agree with the local administration on the lease of land for a cowshed and pasture. At the planning stage, it is recommended to consider ways to market finished products.

The main thing when breeding cattle is providing a forage base. In summer, the animals must graze in the meadow. Desirable vegetation - legume-cereal grasses 15 cm high. For the winter, animals need to prepare hay (about 4 tons), straw, silage. As top dressing, you can use vegetables and grain mixtures. It is important to provide animals with clean drinking water. A cow drinks about 30-50 liters of liquid per day. Milk production depends on water supply.

Inventory

Cattle breeding begins with the construction of a barn and equipment, equipping the premises with all necessary items, fixtures and equipment. A nursery, feeders, drinkers should be installed in the barn.

First of all, it is recommended to buy milking buckets, pre-grafting cups or a milking cluster. Scrapers, brushes, long-handled scoops are used to clean manure. It is necessary to buy forks for hay, shovels, scoops for feed, graters for root crops. When breeding cattle, you need buckets and basins of various capacities, baskets, wheelbarrows or carts for transporting grass, hay, grain, vegetables.