better fanning sertes 11

cattle breeding

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

 I

n -six titl h been published in is ries,

designed as handboo r a o-year in edi
level agricul I education and training cou
h may be pu hased as a set or as individual
documen .

1. The plant: the livtng plant; the root

2. The plant: the stem; the buds; the leaves
3. The plant: the flower
he soil: ho the soi! is made up
5. he soil: how to conserve the soil
6. he soil: how to improve the soil
7. Crop farming
8. nimal husbandry: feeding and care of animals
9. nimal husband : animal diseases; how animals
reproduce

10. The farm business survey

11. attle breeding
12. heep and go~t b eding
13. Keeping chickens
14. Farming with animal power
15. Cereals
16. oots and tubers
17. Groundnuts
18. ananas
19. arket gardening
20. Upland rice
21. Wet paddy or swamp rice
22. Cocoa
23. Coffee
24. The oil palm
25. he rubber tree
26. The modern farm business
 •
I I

Published arrangement with the

lnstitut in pour developpement tu:onomique social
B.P. 8008, n, Cote d'Ivoire

D LTURE THE UNITED

Rome 1977
 ISBN 92-5-100151-0

©French edition, lnstitut africain pour

developpement economique et social (I ES) 1 1
This manual is a translation and adaptation of "l'elevage
des bovins," published the Agri-Service-Afrique of the
lnstitut africain pour le developpement economique et
social ( I NADES), and forms part of a series of 26 booklets.
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the publishers for
making available this text, which it is hoped wil! find
widespread use at the intermediate level of agricultural
education and training in English-speaking couQtries.

The original texts were prepared for an African environment

and this is naturally reflected in the · English version.
However, it is expected that many of the manuals of
the series - a list of which will be found on the inside
front cover - will also be of value for training in many
other parts of the world. Adaptations can be made to
the te where necessa owing to different climatic and
ecological conditions.

Applications for permission to issue this manua I in other

languages are welcomed. Such applications .should be
addressed to: Director, Publications Division, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle
Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.

The author of this English version is Mr. A.J. Henderson,

former Chief of the FAQ Editorial Branch.
 2

• es,o&soeE10111111111msmeao1111111111i1DlilllllllOlill!lbm111t1111ea111mtlllaltlemm111a111lill!lalilmEII1
4
5
cattle 9
Improving pasture 12
Stori grass 13
supplements 16
inerai supplements 17
Daily requirements cattle in units
and protein !ill1i1EIDlllllllillilGllll!lillOmlilllllllJQIIIQl!IOlil9illSllillillllllllllllllllllllillilQlilElllll!ll!IDlilillleElllllllOllllliltiO 18
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feed calves 21

• imals ma llllilt1l!lfll Ill mm111111111sm ma om 111111111 o emme 0111m 111 0111111 o a~ Ill

Housing animals 27
The health the herd D Qil Iii 1!1 Ill El El O a om O a Ill O Iii D Ill l!I D 111 El a ti ti b El III Ill 111 Ill Ill lil m Iii Iii Iii a G l!I tll Ill ID l!I' Ill 1!1 31
Diseases 31
Cattle must be
take care woun
What about parasites 39

The reproductive systems

Pregnancy and birth ................................................ ..
Age of breeding animals m !ll ma III a am am III m co Iii e Ill III a o 111 111 lll m 111 111 am o am 111 111 e om am m 111 am o

Castrating bulls l!IDa om111111amem111111m 0111111 m 111a momaG& as a111111111aeoem ao mm am III m 11111 a 11111100 m 111

Choosing breeding animals

ow to know your herd 0111a111111aG111mm111m111111emaml!laoommeaeesoma111Dmllla111111m1110

• Meat production
Bllla11eaattalllltlJIIIIIISSB1!1.Dl!llilDmm.111a&IIIQDllllll1!1DlilDGlllllllllEllll1!16IIIDIIIIIIDIIIDBIIIDO

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53
53
Milk production 56
58
Farmers' groups

• 61

1
In
herd.

The herd is not a means of earning~ a living,

but a sign of wealth and power.

The owner wants to have a lot of animals,

but many of them are small, ill,
or very old and thin.

In traditional breeding the herd

IS I

To make the herd produce more,

a different way of working is needed.

should learn to
• feed his animals well;
• house his herd well;
• take good care of ill animals;
• make a good choice of breeding animals;
• sell at a good price.

Cattle breeding is wealth;

it is capital
that can produce a lot.

2
 madou is happy -sh us his 1ma
He has a ne herd of

• 1 male: the male is called the II.

• 8 females which have already had young ones:
the mother females are called
• 6 young ones of less than 6 months:
they are called
• 4 young females which have not yet had calves:
they are cal led
• pair of ploughing.
These animals have been
they cannot make young ones any more.

LE
M LES FEMALES

Bull Cow

Calves

Young castrated Heifers

bulls or oxen

3
 meat;
produce good Ives;
ilL

h
the needs (see Booklet No. 8, page
ail the animals in his herd.
He gives the cattle to meet their needs
and gives it regularly (see Booklet page ).

He that an the animals in the herd

not use their food in the same way.

He knows that one in his herd

gains weight faster than the others.
He knows that th is
makes better us~ of the food given to it.

cow which is expecting a calf

gets more food.
It has a pregnancy requirement
(see Booklet No. 8, page 21). ·

working
also needs more food.
It has a production requirement
(see Booklet No. 8, page 20).

4
• Let us watch a mg,
a
it takes a little grass th its gue.
It grips the grass between the upper jaw
and the teeth of the lower jaw.
It jerks its head to pull off the grass,
Let us look at a cow's mouth.
There are and a tongue,

The older the animal is,

the more the teeth are worn.
You can tell the age of a cow
by looki'ng at its front teeth.
rd the back the mouth
you can see large teeth.
With these the cow chews the grass.
They are ca lied

Upper ja~

Molars Lower jaw

Bones of a cow's head

5
 First stomach The grass goes into
(rumen) the first stomach

The cow pu Us off

the grass

cow feeding

A cow. can eat a lot of grass;

there is room for up to 15 kilogrammes of grass
i_n its first stomach,
depending on the size of the breed.

a needs a ti me
to fill up its first stomach.
So you must give a cow,
and especially working oxen,
at least 8 hours a day to feed off pasture.

6
 rum

a fin fi !ling
it often Iies

brings up a litt
m its fi mach
its mouth.
this grass for a long me
I and

cow needs severa I hours minate.

The cow chews the grass The grass comes

with its molars back to the mouth

cow: comes

The chewed grass goes back

to the second stomach.

cow:
grass the second stomach where it is

7
 f m mp

and ma
and inTt:H'Tm it.
This intesti Ion
t n

• that rumi
!led ru
and ca
are rumma

8
 r nd.

if an animal nn

ild their 1es

le that are r meat

qui !y.
can sel ! them faster
and ma faster.
ve them a

strong,

that is producing calves

needs feeding.
It has feed calf in i worn
then it has give the caif
91 the cow a

9
• In

• In the
difficult anima weiL
Grass becomes ha and sea
The ms are ta I!, the leaves d ,
imals 't wa eat is grass.
They get thin and sometimes die.

there are months in the r

cattle are wei! fed.

There are other months in the year

when cattle are badly fed.
They get thin, lose the weight
they have gained during the rai season.

That is wait several years,

often 5 even 7 rs,
to get cattle for selling.
If the cattle were better fed,
especia I in the dry season,
they Id take fewer years
to reach the same weight.
Id

modern cattle breeder

who hasn't got enough food for his anima
during the dry season
should I
at the end of the rai season.

Then his animals will have enough food

during the dry season,
they will not get thin,
they wi 11 stay in good hea Ith,

10
 m place
more water and grass in one
is ken to another regi
where there is still water and grass.
This is called

During the dry season,

grasses are ve hard and very tall.
They prevent the cattle from walking
and they are not good eat.
So they are burned,
After the fire the grasses grow again
and are better for the animals to eat.
But brush fires damage the soil
(see Booklet No. 5, page )
and they destroy usefu I plants
which cannot stand burning as well as grass .

•
In order to give animals enough good food all the year,
farmers
• improve their pastures
(see Booklet No. 8, page 24);
make new pastures and grow fodder crops
(see Booklet No. 8, pages 25 and 27);
• store green fodder as silage and hay
(see Booklet No. 8, pages 28 and 29);
give their animals feed supplements
(see Booklet No. 8, page 14);
give their animals enough water
(see Booklet No. 8, page 18).

11
I

the herd has been through the pastu ,

cut the before they seed,
so that they 't multiply.

12
 g time,

silo.

Earth and stones

to close silo

UOm

13
•
na
the
The dried
a
groundn
in order feed
is is groundnut hay,
~~~·~ a

For hay to be good food,

You can cut grass with a machete.

But you wi 11 get the work done
more quickly
if you cut the grass
with a scythe.

//

14
 m n,
turn it over and leave in n
the parts that are n
This done with a
When an the grass is quite
make it into a big heap the irnal shed,

Fork

When the grass is on one side, turn it over

to on the other side

Sun is needed to dry grass.

So you must wait for the end of the rainy season

before you make hay,

15
 m n

can a

m:

I cake
(d lcium salt).

e m
a cow we1 mg kg milk
can be given
15 kg pasture grass
1 kg of palm kernel copra oil cake,

16
 le,
own re
badly.
it often Hm
!egs
are not g,

Swollen
knees

This calf walks

on the tips
its hoofs

This calf not

can also give mineral salts

putting salt in the water
or in the hay,
91 ng
or a mi (licking stone),
licking stone weighing 1 kg contains:
salt g),
calcium (1 g),
phosphorus ( g)
and other mi nera I sa Its,

17
 pages 1)

requ of cattle in and

• Maintenance requirement

· Weight (kg) Feed units Protein (g)

50 Q.7 25
100 1 .1 50
150 1.5 75
200 1.9 100
250 2.3 125
300 2.6 '150
each additional 50 0.3 25

• Growth requirement

Age Feed units Protein (g)

Up to 1 year 1.4 300
1 to 1! years 2.7 200
1~ to 2 years 3.0 200
2 to 3 years 3.2 200

• Fattening requirement

Feed units Protein (g)

3.0 150

• Pregnancy requirement

Feed units Protein (g)

Fifth month 0.3 During the last 2 months
Sixth month 0.6 double the maintenance
Additional per month 0.3 requirement

Lactation requirement

Feed units . Protein (g)

Per litre of milk 0.3 60

• Work requirement

Feed units Protein (g}

Normal work 0.2 200
Heavy work 0.3 240

18
 imals lose weight in the d season
because they are n weH fed,
but also because they do not drink enough.

An can drink 30 litres of water a day,

or even more in the d season,
if it is very hot and the grass is very dry.
Oxen do not need to drink as much
if it is not very hot
and if the food contains plenty of water,
such as green grass or silage.

nk

• from a hollowed~out tree trunk,

or from a barrel cut in half,
or from a concrete basin,
ail of which must always be kept very clean.

• a
But you must be careful,
because the water is often dirty
and may give the animals some disease.
Their water must always be clean.
You can build a little dam (see Booklet No. 6, page 16)
to store up water.

19
 a L

u
ox or a
II the

• ve imal
a 11 the water it needs,
even in the d season.
It is iet the anima drink
threetimesa .Y·
ve them water
that is clean as possible.
ny diseases come m di water,
not let the ani is stand in the water
after they have drunk.
They make the water di

It is add a !itt!e salt the water.

have seen that mineral salts
are good for animals.
 mu
IS n lo
It cann
If it is
cann 8),

ruminating,

often the cows

n ve mu milk
and the calves cann drink enou

feed calves
with the milk of only one
The gives n e mii k
feed two calves.

-old calf
milk
milk a

During this period

do n milk the cow.
Keep ail her milk
for the calf.

It pa better to do that.
!f you sell milk during these first 2 months,
you earn a little money,
But the calf will not be well fed,
it will not put on weight.
It may die.
In that case u wili lose a lot of money.

21
•
miik.
ks,
I le
and it rum1
it n digest grass.
The ca say, is then 1111 »C'!:in

no longer needs al! its mother's milk.

The can then be mil

n lk

ning is often the time

calves die. It is difficult for calves
chan from one another.

To help a calf at weaning,

give it a
as well .as grass.
If mix this feed supplement

II digest it better.

Do not forget to give calves

a mineral supplement (see page 17).
If a calf lacks mineral salts
its bones will be badly med.
 EE

may give the calf any the II ng:

• Mi Uet, sorghum, maize, rice are ca

Crush these cereals so that they are II digested.
1 kg of crushed millet feeds a calf
as weH as 2 kg of whole millet grain.
These feeds are costly.
They are food for people,
but you can give animals grain
that is broken or damaged by insects,
and the part that people do not eat,
that is, the bran of rice, maize or millet.

• This is the name for what remains

when the oil has been.taken from groundnuts, copra,
oil palm kernels or cottonseed.
Oil cake is good food, rich in protein .

• Dealers sometimes sell meai for animals.

This meal is a mixture of
crushed grain and oil cake.
For instance, to make 100 kg of meal,
the following mixture is used:

62 kg of crushed sorghum
35 kg of groundnut oil cake
3 kg of mineral supplement~

The 3 kg of mineral supplement contain:

0.6 kg lime
0.3 kg salt
2.5 kg bone ask.
 I

roam freely,

• They eat the good grasses first

and !eave the poor ones.
The good grasses are always eaten
before they make seeds,
and so they cannot multiply.
On the other hand,
the poor grasses which are not eaten
grow well and make many seeds.
So they multiply
and the pasture becomes poor.

• They may go near streams

d

where they are bitten by tsetse flies

and catch sleeping sickness.
If an animal is bitten by a snake
or has some accident,
nobody knows about it,
and nobody looks after the animal.
The oxen can a !so be stolen more easily .

• To prevent animals from damaging crops,

fields must be surrounded by fences,
or else fields a long way from the vi Ilage
must be farmed.
Then the farmer ioses a lot of ti me
h I .
 re
t.

re is

Branches

Wire\

There are cheaper making a fence.

You can plant a row of small trees very dose an r,
rows sisa i or thorns.
can also use millet stalks.
it takes a lot of time and work
make fences and keep them in -good 1r.

In
it is easier to keep the animals under watch.
1
They can t get out and mage the crops,
and they ke better use of aH the grass the pastu
• a
It is best the farmer himself
to watch over his animals.
He can also get some member of the mi it.
Or several rmers another wel I
can put their cattle together, and pay a n.
In any event, the keep an the
to make sure he is well.

To his job II, a herdsman

must know about animals,
look after them well,
and lead them to good pastures.
good herdsman
does not cheat the farmers;
for example, he does not sell the milk
which the calves are supposed to drink.

To help the herdsman,

a dog can be trained
to lead the animals,
to prevent them from leaving the herd
and to bring them back when they do.
well-trained dog is very useful to the herdsman.

26
 I

To protect the animals from wild beasts,

from wind, sun and rain,
and from diseases.

The cattle stand on a mixture of earth,

excrement, urine and water.
They can't lie down.
They can't ruminate well,
and do not make good use of their food.

They are very dirty.

When animals are dirty
they get more diseases,
their wounds do not heal well,
especia Ily those of the feet.

The calves are in danger.

Parasites and diseases attack them more easily.
Many calves die.
Each time a calf dies you lose a lot of money.

re

Instead you have only

a mixture of earth and excrement.
This mixture
is not as good for the fields
as real manure.

must be improved
a manure heap.

27
 II n run

nd

n n.

i It,

a urine,
rots a makes
the straw is
put clean, d of it,
that the animals are al on clean straw.

a
You can either take it straight the field
and mix it at once with the i piou ing 1t m,
or else can make a manure heap near the shed.
Then can take the manure to the fields
when you are ready to plough.

28
 If a p

have no room i ie
and may hu mselves.
needs 5 6 square (3 2).

there is m 6
in a cow shed 5 metres wide and 7 metres long.

• once a month
d

to ki 11 disease germs.
the shed so that the wind wi 11 ca the smell
away from the house.

I
(
Wal I on the side
from which the
Rotting straw Gate wind usually
blows

Side view of cow shed

•

Inside the paddock,

put
where you can give the animals their feed su
and
where the animals can drink.
The feed troughs and the watering
can be made with hollowed tree nks
barrels cut in half.

The gates of the shed and paddock

must be big enough
for a cart to enter.

Fence

Feed trough . . .

30
 animal can be in
animal in.bad health
and may even die.
good breeder
looks after the health his

An animal can be in bad health

because of
• d1seci1ses
• inju

There are many diseases

which prevent animals from growing
and may even kill them.
The animal husbandry services
have done a lot of work on diseases.
Nowadays rinderpest and other serious diseases
are much less common.
Al! the same, there are still many diseases to treat.
These diseases can make a farmer lose a great deal money.
A good way of controlling diseases
is vaccination (see Booklet No. 9, page 10).
So too is feeding the herd well and housing it well.
good breeder
looks after the health of his herd.

31
• m,

ne ve L

are ki

•
These are diseases
1 can pass m animal to another.
If one animal in a he is ill,
it can give this disease an the Is.
For mple, rinderpest
and a rax (see page
are diseases.

These are diseases

not pass m one animal to another.
If one animal is ill th such a disease,
s disease is no danger to the other animals.

32
•

n
such as tuberculosis.
This disease can be passed
m animals people,

especially if
Passing herds m.

Do mix
an animal
whi mewhere else
unless has been

To make a country's animal husbandry modern,

a vet-eri nary service is necessary,
and all farmers
should follow the advice of this service.

if an animal dies a contagious disease,

burn the body,
or bury it 2 metres deep
with quicklime
to ki 11 the germs.

33
 E IEf IS f

The disease begins with a high fever.

The animal is tired;
its breathing gets faster;
it shows lesions on the mucous membranes,
first on the genitals,
later on the lips, the nose, and around the eyes;
pus oozes from the lesions;
the animal slobbers,
During the first few days of the disease,
the animal is very constipated,
Later, it has severe diarrhoea
in which blood can be seen and which stinks very badly.
After a few more days, the animal dies.
This disease is highly contagious.
It can cause the whole herd to die
within a few weeks.
Contagion comes through drinking water
being dirtied by pus
or the excrement of sick animals,
There is a vaccine for this disease,

the beginning, this disease is hard to recognize.

The sick animals cough in the morning;
they have a slight fever and eat less,
The disease may go o.n like that for several months.
Later, the cough becomes more severe;
the animal can even be made to cough
by tapping its chest;
breathing becomes faster and faster;
the animal stops eating and dies.
Its lungs are ravaged by the disease.
Pleuropneumonia is not highly contagious;
it passes from one animal to another
only by means of prolonged contact,
Vaccination against this disease is recommended,
and often even obligatory,

34
Th sease often takes a rapid
it begins with a high fever,
foHowed arrhoea with bi
The animal dies within two days.
The bl the dead animal is thi and b

imals that die of is disease must be burned.

If a man eats the meat of animals dead anth
he can catch the disease.
If the dead animals are buried,
the disease stays in the il 1

and other animals which graze grass at that spot

catch the disease.

There is a vaccine against this disease.

Animals which have this disease limp;

thev have swellings on their mus~fes;
they die quickly.
Their me~t is full of black swellings
which have a very bad sme!L

Animals dying of this disease must be burned.

This will avoid infecting the pastures.

There is a serum for treating this disease,

and a vaccine for protecting healthy animals.

35
 di
a fly
i Hves in h and humid
espeda Iiy where the
fly is cal led the

me animals are faidy resista this disease,

others such as zebu e, and ho are
n are resistant, zebus are not;
animals obtained from crossing the two
are more resistant than pu zebus.
me goats are resistant, others are not.

I animals are more resistant

when they are weii fed and well looked after.

In certain regions, the tsetse fly occurs

only in the neighbourhood of stagnant water
and during certain months the year.
Local herdsmen should know
where take their herds, places without flies.

There are remedies for treating this disease.

ny other diseases may attack cattle,

such as piropiasmosis (Texas fever),
which is transmitted by ticks 1

tuberculosis, which can be passed on to people,

enteritis, contagious abortion, and others.

36
 ii

m m ilL

m.

I animals must be taken va nation,

Usually vaccination is compu

and free of charge,

If aH farmers n ta their animals on,

the animals which have been
may catch the disease,
and it stays in the region,

n if there has been no gious disease

in a region for a long time,
vaccination is sti Ii necessa
The germs of diseases sti 11 ex1

But with the vaccine

the· germs are not dangerous,
If you do not vaccinate,
the disease comes back,

Vaccination tires animals a little,

but it is not dangerous
if the animals are well housed and wen fed,

37
If see an or a
that has difflcu in walki (that !imps),
that bleeds after a ght th another animal,
that has hurt itself,
lose no time in looking after it.
If u wait, the wound may get worse.

infected wound does n heal quickly.

It may prevent the animal from walking,
fr.om going to the pasture,
from working
and from giving miik.
n

Has it a thorn in its foot?

Has a piece of wood or iron
torn the skin?
Has the rope, the collar or the yoke
rubbed too much, or has it been too tight?
Is there a vicious animal in the herd?
Once you have discovered how the animal got hurt,
remove whatever has caused the wound.
Do not work the animal;
1
it is better to lose a few days work
than to lose the animal.

Clean the wound with hot water.

Add to the water some disinfectant
that will prevent the wound from becoming more
infected.
a heals qu
So wash the wound often.

38
 rasites are little ani ma Is
that live on the skin
in the ies am is .

• n
Chief among the parasites that live on the skin e
are the

Ticks stick to the skin of the animals

and suck blood.
if an animal has many ticks,
it qm lose up to half a litre of blood a day,
After a time it may become ve weak.

Ti
Often you can see an animal's ears damaged by ticks.
Often you can see animals walking with difficui
or with wounds on the udder,
In that case the cows are difficult to milk,
and they will not let their calves suck.

They spread fevers, typhus,

brucellosis and piroplasmosis.

Ticks can be ki iled with a pesticide

such as toxophene.
Ticks can also be killed with paraffin oiL
Soak a piece of cloth in paraffin oil
and rub the places on the body
where there are ticks.
The veterinary services can tell you what pesticides to use 1

and can help you to apply the treatment.

This must be done over and over again,
 m

live in di

lun

ve
animals cann riy.
imals
we1 die.

kill these parasites,

the animals are ven
as 1azme.
There a traditional 1cmes
that can al

?
The the parasi
fail on the re the anima '
in the grass,
and then they n attach themsel
the skin the animals,
or the animals may eat them
together h grass (ti ms).

If let pasture rest long enough,

the parasites cann feed on the skin
or in the 1es the animals.
they die.

control parasites, rest

a
 uce.

can make a ng animals,

and
Then

un rstand

have airea studied the digestive system,

in order understand digesti
and to feed animals.

shaH now stu the reproductive system

the cow and bu!!,
in order to understand re ction
and know how imp rove the herd.

41
•
The reprodu ve the
are ali inside animaL
can see !y the the
ich is called

End of
Anus intestine
Ovary

Genital COW

Flowers have ovaries

which contain ovules
(see Booklet No. 3, pages 7 and 11).
When the ovules are fertilized by pollen,
the ovu ies become seeds.

The cow has

Every three weeks the ovaries produce an
(In animals, the female reproductive cell
is called plural ).
If the cow is served by the bull at this time,
the ovum is fertilized.
It develops and becomes a calf.
•
is system sts
• which hang between the hind legs;
•
• which connect the testicles with the penis.

Ducts

Reproductive organs of the bull

Stamens give the pollen

that fertilizes the ovule in a flower
(see Booklet No. 3, page 10).
Testicles give sem_en
that Iizes the ovum.
The fertilized ovum becomes a calf.

43
• more 5 6 mon

me days before the p

the udder l!s.

the ti me rth,
rt the membra
ich cover the calf in the mb mes
These mem nes m
see the legs the me
either the forelegs
or the hind legs.
metimes it is necessa pull a litt
the Ifs legs,
help the birth.
the calf has come ,
if the umbilical cord still ; ns the calf
cut it and I.
can use a little iodized alcohol.
After the birth,
the rest of the membranes come out.
All the membranes must come out.
Otherwise they may rot inside the cow
and cause her to die.
 f comes
hind first

·:; ; n>
~·.·

Il;1,:: ••• ) ; Ii ;
::::},;

come

the calf is born,

the cow rubs it with her gue.
She licks it.
Let the cow Ii r if.

is time the cow is thi

ive her water drink.
ring the first few da after the birth,
the mother's milk is thick and yell
calf ust drink this milk
ich wi H dean i digestive

They are delicate.

They easily catch par~sites.
To protect them, give them a medicine
to get rid of internal worms
at the age of 3 weeks and of 10 weeks.
They easily catch diseases.
To protect them, have them vaccinated.
3 weeks, the calf begins to eat grass
with a little cooked cassava.

L.
Feed them well, give them good housing.
If you do not, they may die
and you will lose a lot of money.

45
 n (see
a ifer is 9 or 10 months old.
From that me, ifers can fertiiized.

have a heifer served a bu I!

when she is too young.
The heifer cannot go on growing herself
and feed the calf she is carrying.
In fact you may have accidents
when the calf is born, at calving.
So wait until the heifer is big and strong enough,
until she is about 2 years ( months) old,
before having her served.

The testicles of young bulls

begin to produce semen
when the bulls are about 8 months old.

But do not have cows served by too ng a bull.

The bull will get tired,
will not grow well,
will not eat well
and will become a poor breeding animal.
Do not have the bull serve cows
before it is 18 months old.

To make sure that heifers are not fertilized too young,

and that bulls do not serve cows
before the age of 18 months,
do not put heifers that are too young together with bulls,
or bulls that are too young with cows.

46
 herd
needs only one II,
a good ing animal.
The other males in the

• a U
Either remove the testicles (see page
or crush the ducts
which connect the testicles to the penis.
The animal husbandry service and the livestock assistan
have instruments for castrating bulls .

• After castration
bulls are quieter,
they are not vicious,
and it is easier to harness them.
They put on weight more quickly,
the m'eat is better.
They cannot fertilize the cows;
in this way you prevent poor breeding animals
from reproducing,
and can !eave them in the herd.

age ?
At about 10 months
if you want to sell them to the butcher.
At about 1 8 months
if you want to make working oxen.
If you wait unti I 18 months,
the ox is stronger for work,
but in that case it must be kept away from the herd,
so that it cannot cover the cows.
 on we qu ly
and fema
quickly,

• quickly,
and muse

Bulls
milk,
•

•
•
n ,

qua Iities the

are a passed on
it is ve important
a good choi buH and

a
passes her good qualities
only one can each r,
buli passes on his qualities
an calves the herd.
 have seen important it is make
a choice breeding animals.
In modern animal husban
we iook for breeding animals of good quali .
But we also look for animals
from parents and grandparents
that were of good quality.
The family qualities are passed on to the young.
This is what we mean by

E F FE LE

o. of animal .......................... Year of birth

No. of sire No. of dam .............................. ..

I E
1st No. of sire a11a11111111DIIDIIPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDIIIIIDDElllllllllllll!l:DDiil.llllQIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIDIIDDDIIDIIDDIIDDQDll11IIIIDUDllll11DDDII

Date of service au II D 1111 Q D Dll II l!lll II 111111111111111 !Dlil 1111111a1111111111111111111111111111111 IID 1111.111111111111111111 D 1111 1111111111111111 DD II Q 11

No. of offspring ................................................................... .

No. of deaths before weaning .............................................. ..
2nd NoD of sire BQIIDDDDUIIIIIIDIIDIIIIIIDDIIIIIIIIIII.IIDQIIIIIIIIDJIIIIIIIIE1DIIDDIIIIIIIIIDIIIIDDlllllilDDIIIIDlllll1i1Dllllll6IIIIDU1111111111a1111111

Date of service ....................................................................... .

3rd

4th
5th

Two pages of the herd which records each female in

50
 a

a nu
is number is the animal's name.
the number on the animal's mp,
branding.

Use a double page the book for each animaL

te in the k everything you need to know
about r animals (see Booklet No. 9, pages ).

51
 am r

E
ma a Isl o !il 111 a o o Iii o a III Iii il c e E l!i Iii

1
2nd e e o om am n ea em mm e o e c 111 111 e u on m D a

h
5th

in

page is the same as r ma ng

52
That is say:
• If a ~,~~-~
The animal husband service is finding
i breeds produce most
and thrive best in each region.
• If I
On the same pasture, all the animals
n gain weight as quickly as each r.
should keep only the calves of iis and
that have qui ly,

•
n produce calves,
they not gain we~ght a
and t eat a
must also sell the su lus bulls:
they eat but are no use.
 E IEL F E

each weigh kii mmes.

slaughtered.
, in, , head
and everything in the be!
What remains is called the ........,,,,. ...,ff'>"
that is,
let us weigh the carcass of each cow.
One weighs 115 kg;
the other weighs 1 kg.
So the carcass of one cow weighs
19 kg more than the other:
the yield in meat of the two cows is different.
Afl cows do not give the same amount of meat.

If a cow weighs 250 kg

and if the carcass weighs 115 kg,
the yield is: 115 x 100 __ % 0
250 -
If a cow weighs 250 kg
and if the carcass weighs kg,
the yieid is: 134 x 100
250 %

If an ox weighs 350 kg
and if the carcass weighs 1 kg,
the yield is: 180 x 100 _ 51 %
350 °

%,
that is, the weight of the carcass
is about haif the weight of the live animal.
The meat of an old thin cow
does not fetch such a high price
as the meat of a ng, fat bu Ilock,
because it is not of such good quali
The meat of a young fat bullock
is of very good quaUty.

So all cattle are not worth the same price.

For example, in some places

a thin cow is worth about 7 500 francs,
but a fat cow of the same age
is worth about 15 000 francs.

It is better to make 30 000 francs

with two cows of 15 000 francs each,
than 22 500 francs
with three cows of 7 500 francs each.

can earn mr1IIIW"il,

if each animal is

55
 I

lk

ilk Quarters
gh the
ueezing teat
makes the milk me out.
The milk is produced
the bl that circulates
in each of the udder.
plenty of blood
circulates in the udder, Teats
plenty milk is produced.

Emptying the cow's udder of milk

may take 5 to 10 minutes.

good milking,
the must be calm;
if you strike her or she is frightened,
she will not let herself be milked easily.

If all the milk is taken away

the udder can develop.
well developed udder can give more milk.
Often a cow gives more milk
after her third calving
than after the first.

i Iking must be done

for example, in the morning,
before going to the pasture.
The cow gets into the habit of giving her milk
at the same ti me every day.

cow with large blood vessels

can have a lot of ilk.

56
 k

• id milk n

e !k .
• the rst calvin have little mil
afterwa
When a is less.
• If the calves in the rainy season,
when there is plenty grass,
she gives a I milk .
• weil fed cow gives more milk
than a badly fed
cow in miik needs a feed supplement
and plenty of water,

lk

grow, a calf needs drink

a lot of milk.
If you milk the cow
there is not enough for the calf,
and the calf cannot gain weight;
it will be less resistant to diseases.
Many calves die because they lack milk.
When the calf has finished drinking
you can milk the cow
if there is any milk left in the udder.
You can also milk the cow after some months,
when the calf has begun to eat grass
and feed supplements.
lk
Cow's mi I k is very good
for both children and adults.

57
 it is
must also

•
You should sell sterile cows
which do not produce calves.
You should feed them well for several months
and sell them when they are really fat.

You should sell a cow

before it is too old.
If you wait too long before selling,
maybe you wii I get one more If,
but the cow wiH be too old to fetch a good price.
By keeping a cow that is too old,
you lose more money than you can earn
from the calf she may produce.

• You should sell oxen

as soon as they no longer gain weight.
It is useless to keep them for 5 or 6 years.
Sel I oxen at 4 years.
If you keep them longer,
the ox eats food that wou Id have enabled you
to raise another animal.

• Sell some animals

at the end of the rainy season.
Then you will be able to feed the herd well
in the dry season (see page 1O).

• You know when meat is bought at a high price,

for example, at festivals
and at the end of the dry season.
Organize your breeding
so as to have animals for sale at that time.

58
 k

Id animals Id
in the vinage,
at the marketQ
in the town?

Where wi 11 you earn most?

modern farmer should know how to work out

what is the of taking the animals
from the village to the town
if he wants to know where to seil his animals.

farmer can sell

• for meat,
when his animals are really fat.

:if he has fine young bulis

of a good breed, of a good family,
well selected,
they can be sold at a higher price.

e I
If he has too many young calves
and not enough grass to feed his animals
he can sell some calves
to another farmer who will fatten them.

shou ink before sell

59
 No. page 31)
ya buii together;
a herdsman together;
sen their milk together;
to sell their animals together.

a group succeed, it mu
• decide the aims of the group in advance;
• settle who is in charge the group;
not be too big;
• have members who trust each other.

60
 E

. gives his animals enough --------------------------------------------------------------------

and -----------------------------------------------------, especially in the season.
For th is he makes ---------------------------------- and ----------------------------------------
with pasture grass at the end of the rainy season.

He gives pregnant cows a feed --------------------------------------------------------------·.

He also gives oil cake to cows which give --------------------------------------------· .
that his cattle wrn have weli formed bones he also gives them a ________ _

The animal breeder buiids a

His herd is protected from sun and rain, and the animals make --------------·
for the fo~ids.
To keep his animals in good health, he protects them against diseases by

He has only one ------------------------------------------------------------------· in his herd,

but a very fine bull because he wants to have ------------------------------· calves.
For each animal he keeps a record in a -------------------------------------------------- .

cattle breeder should ---------------------------------------------------- before sel ii ng.

With his friends he forms a--------------------------------------------------------------------- .

61
 E L

what age can a bull serve cows?

What is a mineral supplement?
How much water does an ox need?
Why must .a cow which has a calf be well fed?
What is weaning?
How many bulls should you keep in a herd?
Why must cattle be vaccinated?
How is hay made?
What do you do when an animal is injured?
Where you live, how do you make a shed for cattle?
What must you do when an animal is ill?

62
 E

in is ---------------------------------

4 litres of milk a
feed unit is ired).
in feed units is:
4 x ... = ... feed units.
The cow's in feed units are:
maintenance requirement plus production requirement,
... feed units plus ... feed units :=: ... feed units.
The farmer has some groundnut hay which gives feed
unit per kg.
many kilogrammes of groundn hay must the farmer
give the cow?

= ... kg groundnut hay.

When should animals be sold?--------------------------------------------

? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-~M~-------------------------------------------------------------·----------·------------

How II you choose bulls and cows for breeding? ------------

Wh'Y? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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P-69
ISBN 92-5-100151-0