Novice cattle breeders must see: is it easy to raise cattle? What are the prospects for raising cattle?

For beginners who want to raise cattle, raising cattle is not an easy task, and it takes great efforts to raise cattle, such as the prospect of raising cattle, the technology of raising cattle, the investment of raising cattle, the construction of cattle pens and so on. Don't worry, let's talk about the 10 problems that beginners want to know most about raising cattle to help you solve your problems.

1. What are the prospects for raising cattle?

For now, the prospect of raising cattle is good. Relatively speaking, raising cattle is relatively stable and will not rise and fall as big as pigs and chickens. Of course, the cow price will fluctuate to a certain extent, but as long as it is well raised, the cow price will almost not lose money, it is just a question of earning more and earning less.

2. Is it a big investment to raise cattle?

The investment in raising cattle is still relatively large. In the case of captivity, a fattening cow has to invest about 10,000 yuan, and the lowest grazing native yellow cattle has to invest 5,000 to 6,000 yuan. If you want to earn money by raising cattle to support your family, it is difficult to start without investing more than NT $100,000 or NT $200,000.

3. How much is appropriate to start raising?

This is done according to one's own situation, generally 20 or 30 heads are the most suitable. Less than enough to take up a labor of money, too much if there is no experience to raise it will be more difficult.

4. Is there a lot of cow disease? Do cows like to get sick?

To tell you clearly, there are a lot of cow diseases, if you count them in detail, there are hundreds of them, but they don't happen very often. The disease resistance of cattle is relatively strong, but it is not immune to disease. In order to prevent cattle from getting sick, more efforts should be made in feeding and management, epidemic prevention and so on.

5. What kind of good enclosure should be built?

Start raising cattle to build a ring, and the smaller the investment, the better. Because raising cattle is also hard work, many people give up halfway, and if they start to invest too much in enclosure, it will not be easy to change careers. Start by building the simplest enclosure, using asbestos shingles or colored steel on the surrounding pillars. If it is kept warm in winter, it can be surrounded by thick canvas or plastic sheeting. After raising one or two batches of cattle, it is not too late to build a standard enclosure.

6. How much can a cow earn?

This question is difficult to answer. Some people earn more, others earn less, and some lose money. In addition, between captivity and stocking, there is also a certain gap in profits between different varieties. If you are fattening in captivity, those who are experienced can earn 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, and those who are experienced in grazing should be more than 2,000 yuan at least. Of course, in the first batch of cattle raising, there is no need to pursue how much money to earn, explore experience, and strive not to lose money.

7. What kind of cattle do you want to raise?

This should be based on two aspects: first, the breeding model, captive breeding to choose faster-growing beef cattle breeds (Simmental, Charolais, etc.), grazing to choose cattle suitable for grazing (local yellow cattle, hybrid yellow cattle, etc.); second, local consumption habits, take Hunan, for example, Hunan prefers pure color cattle rather than flower cattle, white cattle, so yellow cattle, black cattle and so on are better to sell.

8. Where to buy a calf?

It is best to adopt the principle of proximity when buying calves. It is best to buy local calves locally, and there is no local purchase in the nearest area. Of course, when you choose and buy, you have to compare the quality and price of cattle.

9. How much feed should a cow prepare?

Fine fodder does not need to be prepared in advance, but can be bought whenever you use it. In the case of roughage, for example, a fattening cow must prepare at least three acres of corn straw.

10. How is the market for raising cattle?

The market for raising cattle is OK, of course, cattle dealers do not know that you have cattle, you do not know the contact information of cattle traders, it is difficult to sell. Therefore, it is necessary to communicate more with local cattle farmers, and usually pay more attention to the phone calls of cattle traders, so that it will not be difficult to sell.

PS: can you make sure how old the cow is?

1. Calving record is the most accurate method to determine the age of cattle.

In general, regular dairy farms and breeding farms are measured and recorded when the cattle come out, and obvious marks are made on the bovine body. By identifying the marks on the bovine body, the birth date of the cow is found out in the corresponding data, and the age of the cow is determined.

2. According to the identification of ox horn wheel

In adult cows with horns, due to lack of nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, the tissue around the base is not fully developed, and the surface collapses, thinning at the basal growth point of the horn, forming a circular depression, called the horn wheel.

Every time a cow gives birth, a concave wheel is formed on the surface of the horn. Therefore, the number of angular wheels plus mating age is the age of the cow. But this is only accurate under normal circumstances, if the cow is empty, miscarriage, illness or nutritional imbalance, the depth, width and width of the horn wheel will not be the same, and often the boundaries are not clear, and more than one is formed every year. Therefore, only large and obvious angular wheels are usually calculated. Otherwise, it is easy to lead to judgment errors.

Cow age = first calving age + (number of horned wheels-1)

3. Identification according to the changes of live cattle incisors.

The cow initially has deciduous teeth, but with the growth and development of the cow, the deciduous teeth fall off and are replaced with permanent teeth. The deciduous teeth are small and white, with obvious necks and large tooth gaps; permanent teeth (that is, new teeth replaced by deciduous teeth) are large and thick, yellowish in color, neatly arranged and close to each other.

Permanent teeth continue to wear during feeding and chewing. According to the replacement of deciduous teeth and permanent teeth and the wear degree of permanent teeth, the age of cattle can be judged. This method is not as accurate as the recording material method, but it is much more accurate than the angular wheel method.