Beef Cattle

[BHW]

Some of our beef cattle have bony hips and ribs showing. They get 85% cut and curry Napier or Ruzi grass and 15% natural grasses either grazed or cut and carry day and night,  in the morning on average the get  1 KG each of formulated cattle feed and very fine rice waste from a mill ( don't know the name  looks like laying mash ) both mixed with 30% molassas 70% water. There is ample water 24 hours.

 

The vet has given them worming & hormone needles but some just wont fill out in the hips and ribs.

 

Any suggestions welcome. Thanks.

[CLW]

There are two threads about beef cattle and feed in the main farming in TH section.
Probably you can find some information there.

[kickstart]

Post some photos might have a better idea.

[BHW]

Photos of cows with thin hips.

[kickstart]

Thanks for the photos, a few more headshots would have been good, I can see one problem, the breed that cow is  50% Indo Brazil, now Indo Brazil as a breed is popular in Thailand, good cows and bulls can make big money, but for growing they are not good,a very intensive breed .

Have a look at Indo Brazil cattle on the internet, that are all legs and ears  no meat ,then look at some Brahman cattle photographs, good fit fat cattle, a lot of difference.

To get any weight on them they need feeding well,  the cut grass, is it nice young well fertilized, Nappier cut at no more than 45 days old, same as Ruzie.

Or is it old grass, low protein where cattle eat 70% and reject 30 %, just too rough and unpalatable for cattle.

 Sounds if you are feeding rice Rum in Thai, or rice bran, not a bad feed about 9-10%protine at about 9 baht kg? your cattle concentrate is it 12 or 14 % protein.

As for molasses, a very Thai thing mixing it with water, where I am dairy farmers use to do it , when it was 2-4 baht/ kg well pre gasahloe days but now at 8 baht/kg?, too expensive.

Mollasses is only 4 % protine, and 74 % dry matter or it is 74 % feed and 25 % water you mix it with more water it will be about 80% water and 20 % feed, with a protine of  1/2 %? at 8 baht/kg that is an  expensive feed, like feeding sweet smelling coloured water, same with rice bran mixing it with water protine now about 3-4 %  at 9 baht/kg , cattle are full up with water and not feed, and feed with rough grass and only 1 kg of concentrat/day  ,no wonder the cattle are thin, and the breed . 

So do away with molasses and rice bran, feed a lot more concentrate and cut the grass at a younger stage ., and feed some powered minerals, they are more than likely short of minerals, Thai soils are short of minerals.a supplement is needed. 

Worming the cattle was a good idea,as for hormone?waste of time and money, same as a multivitamin injection, if the vet gave them a jab .

[BHW]

Thanks Kickstart, very informative best info I've had here, most locals still doing what their great grand dad did.

 

Will do your suggestions. Near same cost doing away with molasses and rice bran and increasing the amount of concentrate.

[473geo]

Our big red cow just came into season a month or so after my wife reduced the calf to two feeds a day. Cow is in better condition has a good shine but not looking 'fat' we had not discussed what bull to use....

 

So says I what bull did you use darling... Charolais

 

"Kobe" was the rather unexpected response......I guess one lady who is not following in the steps of her grand parents or even parents ????