Cattle Fattening In Kenya, Get It Right For Quality Beef

Cattle Fattening In Kenya: Feedlot is more or less the opposite of ranching or keeping animals on field pasture. Keeping animals in ranches or open pastures requires a lot of space and one has to wait for quite a while and that is where feedlots come in.

A form of it involves rearing animals in pastures then finishing them in feedlots. Feedlot system as the name suggests is an intensive feeding regime with a goal for the animals to quickly acquire market body weight; it is actually intensive finishing in simple terms. Animals are kept in confinement and fed quality feed to attain a market weight within a given time frame (usually shorter than those purely on pasture).

Beef cattle on pasture normally have one disadvantage of wasting whenever pastures dwindle. This is a common phenomenon in Kenya; especially where a farmer hasn’t invested in good feed management – seasonality of feeds – hence you find fat animals in one season and thin in the other. With feedlot system, a farmer is able to produce quality and consistent beef even during dry times.

While you can produce your own beef stock say from ranching; most farmers prefer to buy animals which they fatten rapidly for the market. Although farmers tend to source for animals with relatively poor body condition to get lower prices this is a very tricky area that requires due diligence – many farmers tend to assume that thinness is only caused by inadequate feeding. This isn’t entirely true many diseases manifest clinically through reduced body weight. In addition in that state, the animal is vulnerable to myriad diseases.

When sourcing animals there is normally an induction period where deworming, vaccinations, external parasite control and mineral supplementation is done. This means that successful feedlot management requires that you have your vet close by to advise on which diseases to vaccinate against, which dewormers is effective and the nutrition regime.

Nutrition regime is of paramount importance and will vary according to many factors – genetic, environmental, the current body status and the market preferences. Feed formulation is about coming up with what is nutritionally adequate, economic and palatable feed mixture. High quality are used in feedlot system.

You will have to invest heavily in quality feeds if you choose this system in addition to the infrastructure and labour. To maximise intake, the feed and clean water should be available at all times – note that at the finishing stage, appetite falls relative to bodyweight. Stress is likely to happen as animals are put together; minimise this by grouping animals of same age and size and provide good ventilation.

The feedlot system has been a concern for animal welfare activists; if not well planned it can raise concerns. In the developed world, farmers who plan to engage in this system must pass an animal welfare audit.

Don’t forget that you must identify and secure a good market because you have already invested too much and you need to get a good price for your product to cover the costs and make a profit.

FEEDLOT IN BEEF CATTLE FARMING– CONFINED TO LIMIT MOVEMENT

The beef cattle requires energy, proteins, minerals, vitamins and water in specified quantities every day. The resources are for normal body maintenance, including waste removal, growth including weight gain, reproduction and movement.

Animals in a feedlot are managed in a manner that ensures they use most of their nutrient resources for body maintenance and weight gain.

That is why they are confined to limit movement; they are supplied with highly nutritious feed at the recommended 3 per cent of their body weight in dry matter and very high levels of hygiene are ensured to minimise disease.

Males and females are separated to curtail reproduction activities. A beef feedlot should preferably be located in a low annual rainfall area below 750mm to minimise the nutrient resources allocated to temperature regulation and management of diseases associated with wetness such as foot rot, pneumonia and tick-borne infections.

It is, however, good to note that not all the animals will gain weight at the same rate. Careful selection of feedlot cattle will give the farmer a fairly uniform weight gain.
For those interested on how to feed the animals, feedlot cattle are offered specially-formulated diet that ensures they have the correct and uniform level of nutrients consistently throughout their feedlot stay.

Failure to give such feed will result in disappointment. The feeding regime recommended is three times a day of feed portions, constituting 3 per cent of the animal’s body weight as dry matter.
Research from the Colorado State University in the US showed that animals fed once or twice per day have lower feed intake, lower weight gains and lower carcass weights than those fed three times per day.

Obtain feeds from a reputable manufacturer who formulates them specifically for feedlot cattle unless one is running a large-scale production that can economically formulate the feeds. Attempts to formulate feeds on site for small and medium feedlots are very costly and often short on quality.

INADEQUATE WATER INTAKE DEPRESSES FEED INTAKE

Water is a critical ingredient in feedlot farming because it is a major nutrient for the cattle and is also used for maintaining hygiene.

A beef cow requires at least 40 litres of water per day and this may increase depending on environmental temperatures. Inadequate water intake depresses feed intake and, therefore, lowers weight gains.

There is a big difference between rearing dairy cattle bulls and finishing them for beef in a feedlot and beef feedlot farming.

A feedlot farmer is not a cattle producer. She is a cattle finisher and fattens the cattle for the market. That is the reason why the animals only spend 90 to 120 days in the feedlot.

Animals entering a feedlot have been produced elsewhere by a cattle producer such as a pastoralist, a dairy farmer or even a beef cattle producer.

Credit: African Farm Resource Centre