“The Chianina is one of the oldest cattle breeds in the world and is both the tallest and the heaviest breed of cattle. It is not unusual for bulls to exceed 1,600 kg in weight while cows usually weigh 800-900kg. The Chianina may be crossed with other breeds in South Africa such as the Nguni and the Afrikaner Cattle breed. There are many success stories regarding cross-breeding.” In our program of 14 September, Christiaan de Jager of the O-la-la Chianina stud near Badplaas tells us more about this cattle breed, the qualities of the breed such as growth rate, meat quality and resistance to heat and cold and adaptation to rough terrain.
Dr. Danie Odendaal, Director of Veeartsnetwerk, talks about the stages of calving in cattle. There are important 3 stages of birthing for cattle. Cows will show typical sighs and the farmer must pay extra attention to observation. Move cows closest to calving to special calving pasture, keep all equipment clean and if you assisted a cow and you have made no progress, call the vet.
Dr. Ben Greyling, Team Manager and Senior Researcher at the ARC Animal production near Irene, talks about RFI, Residual feed intake. RFI describes and animal’s feed efficiency independent of growth performance. Dr Ben discusses the use of technology such as the Grow Safe system and the challenges feedlots face.
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