Cattle Story

Highlights

1. Cow:   Adult female that has produced a calf
2. Bull:  Male animal
3. Steer:  Male animal that has been castrated and cannot breed
4. Heifer:  Young female that has not produced a calf
5. Veal:   Calves that are raised to 475-500 pounds

   Over 98% of the beef animal is used when it is processed. About 45% of the animal is used for meat and the rest is used for other byproducts including leather, china, glue, film, soap, pharmaceuticals, insulin, and gelatins.

The meat from cattle is called beef. The average person eats about 65 pounds of beef each year.

Facts

• Cattle produce about 25 billion pounds of meat each year.

• The combined value of the cattle and beef industry is over $200 billion.

• The hide from one cow can make 144 baseballs, 20 footballs or 12 basketballs.

History

Cattle were commonly used for many purposes including meat, milk, and labor. Today beef cattle are raised primarily to provide people with meat, and hundreds of useful by-products.

Cattle graze on grassland that is steep, hilly, dry or rocky not suitable for building houses or growing crops. The main reason cattle are raised in different climates and settings all over the world is because they can thrive on low quality rangeland feed and grasses.

Cattle descended from a wild ancestor called the aurochs. The aurochs were huge animals which originated on the subcontinent of India and then spread into China, the Middle East, and eventually northern Africa and Europe.

Aurochs are one of the animals painted on the famous cave walls near Lascaux, France. People started domesticating aurochs between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago. Cattle were domesticated after sheep, goats, pigs, and dogs.

Cattle were first brought to the western hemisphere by Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez took offspring of those same cattle to Mexico in 1519. In 1773, Juan Bautista de Anza brought 200 head of cattle to California to supply the early California missions.

Cattles Amazing Stomachs

Cattle are ruminants. This means they have one stomach with four separate sections. Their digestive system allows them to digest plant material by repeatedly vomiting it and chewing it again as cud. This digestive process allows cattle to thrive on grasses, other vegetation, and feed. A cow chews its cud for about eight hours a day. When an animal chews its cud it is a sign of health and contentment. Other ruminant animals include deer, elk, sheep, and goats.
 
Life Cycle

Many farmers run cow-calf operations. They keep a herd of cows to produce calves. The cows are bred to calve in the spring or fall. Cows, like humans, are pregnant for nine months.

Offspring

On average a calf will be 70-80 lbs. at birth.

Within the first couple hours after birth, newborn calves will be up and wanting to nurse.

Colostrum, a cow's first milk after birth, is very important to a newborn and should be consumed as soon as possible.

Colostrum contains antibodies vital for the newborn and has twice the calories of regular milk.

Calves are born with no protection from diseases, so their antibodies come from their mother's milk.

Calves absorb antibodies from the colostrum directly into their bloodstream through pores in their intestinal lining. Within the first few hours the intestinal walls begin to thicken and the pores close up. By the time they are six hours old they can only absorb a fraction of what they need.

After filling their stomachs calves may feel like bucking and playing.
 
A look on Tanzania Livestock

Tanzania has the third largest livestock population on the African continent comprising 25 million cattle, 98% of which are indigenous breeds, complemented by 16.7 million goats, 8 million sheep, 2.4 million pigs, and 36 million chickens. The 2012/13 National Panel survey revealed 50% of all households keep livestock (4.6 million households), 62% of which are rural and 23% urban, with ownership patterns dominated by chickens (86% households), goats (48%), cattle (35%), pigs (9%) and other livestock (10%). Traditional breeds and processes dominate the Tanzania livestock sector. Tanzania Short Horn Zebu is the most widespread cattle breed in the nation. Agro-pastoralists households’ account for 80% of livestock production, pastoral communities 14% and remaining 6% comes from the commercial ranches and dairy sector. Sheep and goats are widely distributed and adapted to many agro-ecological zones. Production coefficients are low. In indigenous cattle, the calving rate is 40 – 50%, the calving interval 18 – 24 months, pre-weaning mortality 30– 40%, adult mortality 8 –10%, mature weight 200 – 350 kg, offtake rate 8 – 10% per annum, milk yield 400 liter per lactation and carcass weight 100 – 175 kg. For small ruminants, the offtake rate is 25-15% per annum, lamb/kid mortality 20– 40%, adult mortality 8 – 15% and average carcass weight of 12 – 15 kg. In addition to supplying food products, livestock play a major role as an engine for rural livelihoods and development. Livestock provide draught power, transport and manure as fertilizer for crop farming activities and potential energy sources through biogas technologies for rural electrification and/or cooking fuel.

The National Livestock Policy of 2006 guides the development of the livestock industry. The instruments for the implementation of this policy come from the Livestock Sector Development Strategy of 2010, the Livestock Sector Development Program of 2011, and various regulatory frameworks with respect to: Veterinary Act, 2003, Animal Diseases Act, the Dairy Industry Act, the Meat Industry Act, Hides and Skins and Leather Trade Act, Animal Welfare Act, Livestock Identification, Registration and Traceability Act, and the Grazing-lands and Animal Feed Resources Act. Tanzania has outstanding natural resources for livestock development including resilient livestock breeds, extensive rangelands and diverse natural vegetation. Of 88.6 million hectares of land resources in the country, 60 million hectares are deemed suitable for grazing. Despite these resources, the livestock sector is performing well below its potential. The livestock activities contribute 7.4% to the country’s GDP. The annualized growth rate of the sector is low at 2.2%. The growth for the large part reflects increase in livestock numbers rather than productivity gains. The sector is severely constrained by low livestock reproductive rates, high mortality and high disease prevalence.