British White Cattle Farm

A Brief Guide and A Few Advantages To Raising British White Cattle

     British White Cattle have several qualities that make them an excellent choice for small, average and large livestock farmers and ranchers. They are by nature, hardy and docile, have excellent maternal instinct, produce good quality meat, which is tender, soft and relatively fat free, have the ability to survive in extreme hot, cold, wet or dry conditions, efficient and intelligent beef cattle. They have excellent feed conversion ratio and hang a lean carcass.

     British White Cattle have far exceeded the averages of all other breeds in every test I have known about; including Bulls on college feed test, Texas A&M Ranch to rail steer feedout, as Grassfed Beef Cattle and complete pens through the feedlot when selling on grid

     Raising British White cattle involves the same basic steps as other beef cattle breeds as to general cattle care, cattle feed, living conditions, cleanliness, care specific to breeding, after birth care and care for the growing calf. The profitability and quality of all beef cattle can be considerably improved if some basic rules are adhered to. Following are a few issues that need to be considered while raising British White Cattle or any breed of beef cattle:

General Care

* Pasture management is necessary to feed cattle on natural grass.

* Keep cattle stress free for good feed conversion ratio.

* Take care while mating. Try to mate the best to the best.

* Look well after pregnant cattle. Keep them in a separate enclosure as much as possible.

* Provide quality feed, minerals and clean drinking water at all times.

* Feed colostrum to the newly born calf within the first few hours.

* In some cases when needed it is ok to wean the calf after the first three months and teach it to consume grass and concentrates. Drought, feed shortage and to relieve stress on a young cow are some reasons to wean early.

* Neuter male calves early to protect against production of poor quality calves. In all breeds only the very best 1 in 50 bull calves are destined for herd bull status.

* British White Cattle are Naturally Polled so no de-horning of calves is needed for easy handling at adult stage.

* Do not mate female calves until they reach adequate size and age. Provide them good feed for proper development and you should be able to breed them to calve at about two years of age.

Seasonal Care

* While weaning your calf during fall, palpate all the cows and bred heifers in your herd.

* Sell open cows. If you have enough forage to last through the winter you may want to hold them for the spring market as it is usually a higher price market. Sell late breeding cows that calve outside your calving season. Also sell the cows that have problems or signs of impending disease.

* Check for soft ear ticks and spray for early lice, ticks and any flies.

* Clip hair from ear tags.

* Re-vaccinate pregnant cows and those that are to be kept till spring based on veternarian recommendations for your local area.

* Some vets may recommend to give a vitamin A (or A-D-E) injection if a freeze is expected.

* Start supplemental feeding when pasture, cattle or weather conditions indicate.

* As the temperature decreases, increase protein supplementation to stimulate appetite, digestibility and to meet the cow's increased energy requirements.

* Check feeders daily and refill before they run dry.

* In some emergency grass feeding situations, where forage is scarce, grain can be used as source of supplemental energy.

* Consult your local veterinarian for any specific suggestions for your geographical area.

     Pasture management and fertile soils help in raising naturally grass fed British White Cattle. These cattle are healthy, fertile and stress free. Stress free cattle have better-feed conversion ratio which leads to better profit on account of better meat yield. With British White Cattle feed additives are not usally needed to improve animal health and performance. Even though not a necessity it is believed it helps in the reduction of microbial related diseases, improved feed efficiency and gains, estrus suppression, control of bloat and coccidiosis. When properly used many feed additives may improve performance and profitability substantially.

     Please visit our British White Cattle Sale Pen at your convenience.