Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Feeding
The biggest cost of a beef cow — aside from the initial investment — is the yearly feed bill.
A beef cow near the end of her pregnancy can cost $1,000 or more, if she is a purebred cow
with exceptional breeding. Cattle are ruminant animals; they rechew their food before digest-
ing. This is why cattle can eat grass or woody material and turn it into meat and milk. The
cow's stomach is divided into four parts: the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum, and the ab-
omasum. A cow's stomach can be compared to a 55-gallon drum in weight and volume. Di-
gestion begins in the cow's mouth. A cow only has lower incisors (front teeth) and a hard pad
in place of upper incisors. Cows use their tongues to grab grass, shear it off with the incisors,
give a quick chew with their molars, and swallow the wad. The grass travels to the rumen via
the esophagus. The real action takes place in the rumen.
The rumen is a huge vat teeming with microorganisms (fauna), which work on the grass to di-
gest it into volatile fatty acids and other useful nutrients. To help the microbes, the cow regur-
gitates frequently to bring wads of food back to its mouth to chew it into smaller pieces; in
other words, she chews her cud. A cow's diet cannot change quickly — such as going from
strictly grass to a large amount of grain, or the sudden food change will change the chemistry
of the rumen, killing off the microbes. If this happens, the cow can get terribly sick with bloat,
diarrhea, fungal overgrowth, or a twisted abomasum. Many cows have been killed when this
has happened. From the rumen, the food travels through the reticulum to the omasum, which
absorbs some of the products from the rumen and finally to the abomasum. The abomasum is
considered a true stomach, functioning much like the stomach of a pig. The abomasum further
digests and absorbs nutrients before passing the food onto the intestinal tract.
A newborn calf does not have a functioning rumen. It takes about four months for the rumen
to develop to a fully functioning rumen. When a calf drinks milk, folds of tissue make a
groove from the esophagus to the abomasums, bypassing the rumen. Introducing grain and
some roughage at an early age helps the calf develop its rumen.
Grain
Grain can be a supplement feed to cattle and is used to add finish (extra fat) to a steer or cow
to be butchered. Introduce grain gradually to cattle that are used to eating strictly grass or hay,
as a large influx of starches can change the rumen environment and lead to serious injury or
death. If you want to start cattle on grain, give them only ½ pound the first day and add in ½-
pound increments daily until they reach full feed. Premixed bags of formulated feeds also can
