We grow bulls at home

Most people think at least once about running their own business related to agriculture, but which area of income to choose is a very difficult question. Raising gobies for meat at home is perhaps one of the simplest and fastest-paying types of entrepreneurship.

Raising gobies for meat

Where to start growing?

First you need to understand: for what purpose gobies will be raised. There are many options for selling the final product: own consumption, distribution to a narrow circle of people, the sale of meat in the kitchens of cafes and restaurants, the production of meat products and their further sale in stores or independent trade.

The first option can hardly be called entrepreneurship; rather, it will bring moral pleasure from keeping livestock and further consumption of meat, in the quality of which you will be completely sure.

After the final decision to engage in such an area as raising bulls, it will be time to purchase calves. You should contact farms specializing in the identical direction of your future business. The most popular beef cattle breeds are: Devonian, Russian Komoloy, Shorthorn, Galloway, Aberdeen-Angus and some others.

Diet of gobies

A good diet is an important part of fattening bulls. Not only the rate of weight gain of the animal, but also the quality of meat will depend on it.

One of the possible combinations of feed ration: corn silage, wheat straw, meadow hay, salt. You can add pulp, meal, other concentrates, such as bone or fish meal. Do not oversaturate feeding with a large amount of feed. The best solution would be to contact a specialist who will help you calculate the exact amount of giving the components of the diet.

Corn silage

Possible summer diet:

concentrates 2 kg;
green food 28-35kg.

For the winter period:

juicy feed 18-21 kg;
hay 4-5kg;
straw 2-4 kg;
compound feed 3 kg;
salt 50 g

If necessary, the animals are given various supplements to balance the nutrient content of the body.

Reference. Gobies need to be constantly given water or provide constant access to it.

Feeding technology

Nutrition should be monitored from the 20th day of the calf's life, that is, after weaning from the cow. At this age, they begin to form the correct work of the digestive tract, aimed at plant food, instead of the usual milk. Giving roughage at an early age will take away a lot of energy from the calves to digest them, so it is necessary to additionally feed enzymes.

Additional intake of enzymes will not only speed up the digestion of feed and increase weight gain, but also prevent undigested feed masses from "storing" in the intestines. Such stagnation of food can lead to serious intoxication of the body.

Going to hay

After a smooth transition from milk to hay, cereals and grass, from the age of 3 months, feed rich in protein is added to the diet. Upon reaching a live weight of 300 kg, the rearing period ends and fattening begins.If in the first the average daily gain can reach a maximum of 800 g, then for fattening this figure rises to 1250 g (in outstanding meat breeds it can be more).

Caring for bulls

Breeding bulls involves competent care, which includes not only balanced feeding and a warm room for the winter, but also the observance of the following points:

vaccination of calves and veterinary examination;
periodic examination by a veterinarian as the bull grows. The sudden onset of a disease, especially of an infectious nature, can deprive the expected profit from the sick animal;
start morning grazing after the dew has subsided;
observe zoohygienic conditions of detention: dry floors with replaceable bedding, sufficient lighting, no drafts, maintaining the optimum temperature (at least 10 degrees) of air and humidity;
providing animals with active exercise. If conditions permit, then the bulls should be grazed on a leash as little as possible.

How does castration of bulls affect the amount of meat?

During castration, the sexual function of males is disturbed, and, therefore, a hormonal failure occurs, affecting metabolic processes in the body. In castrated individuals, the formation of adipose tissue increases, while muscle growth is inhibited. That is why "untouched" animals benefit from the amount of meat.

Castration of bulls

From non-castrated bulls, tough and lean meat is obtained, and from castrated meat, fatty and tender, has a more pronounced taste. If you want to receive the second version of the product, then the recommended age for castration is 2 months. It is advisable to carry out the operation before the beginning of the grazing period.

Pros and cons of breeding

Positive sides:

a large number of options for the sale of products;
very small cash investments at the initial stages, especially if there is already a site and the minimum necessary inventory for elementary buildings;
the ability to independently control the bulls;
quick payback.

Flaws:

you will need to invest a lot of physical labor or additionally spend on hired workers;
the risk of possible competition in the “meat” market.

How much can you earn?

Before you can make money, you have to invest. If you have a large land plot, this will greatly facilitate the task, but otherwise you will have to spend money on:

land acquisition;
construction of premises for keeping cattle;
arrangement of the barn (feeders, drinkers, floor coverings);
purchase of young animals (price category from 5 to several tens of thousands of rubles, depending on the breed);
feed costs (approximately 15-20 thousand rubles per animal per year).

As a result, the investment can vary from 250 to 500 thousand rubles. Large costs are not excluded.

Gobies for slaughter

Breeding bulls for meat lasts from 18 to 20 months. It is at this age that they reach their optimal live weight, after which they can be sent for slaughter. Estimated weight of bulls at the end of feeding is 450-650 kg. The meat yield from each carcass will be 60-70%.

For example, your goby turned out to be not the most outstanding and weighs 450 kg, then you will get about 270 kg of meat from it. With an average price of veal for 1 kg of 300 rubles, one head will get 81 thousand rubles. Multiply this figure by the planned number of heads in the herd - this is only a net yield from meat. The remaining parts of the carcass can also be sold - also additional income. According to such calculations, the agricultural business will pay off within 1-2 years.

Reference. If it is planned to sell meat to large points of sale, then registration of entrepreneurial activity and control of meat by a veterinary sanitary examination will be required.

Conclusion

Growing bulls at home can bring tangible profits to the owner of this business.The main thing is not to be afraid to start a "farming" business, to provide proper care for animals, to find in advance the most profitable option for selling meat, and not to forget about the use of physical labor, which will be necessary to maintain the economy, especially at the initial stage.

Now raising gobies for meat at home is experiencing another boom. But not all novice breeders clearly understand all the subtleties and nuances in the maintenance and fattening of calves for meat. The result is wasted time, nerves and money. To be honest, the business is really profitable, although at first you will have to spend a little and sweat a lot. If this does not scare you, then below we will tell you about the main points of the purchase, maintenance, nutrition and sale of meat gobies.

Purchase of calves

The first mistake breeders make is saving on calves. People buy the cheapest calf from the first cow they come across. The fact is that there are dairy, meat and mixed cattle breeds. So for fattening for meat, you need to take either meat or mixed breeds. If you take a purely dairy goby, then by one and a half years it will at best grow to 300 kg, which will barely pay back the money spent on it.

Speaking specifically about the breeds, in Russian conditions the best results are shown by the breeds:

charolais;
Kazakh white-headed;
Simmental breed;
Hereford breed.

This is not to say that any breed is better or worse. But, for example, from Charolais bulls and from Herefords, with appropriate nutrition, you can get real marbled beef. True, you will have to spend a lot on feed, plus special care is needed there, in general, for a small farm it is expensive.

There is one more thing. It is advisable to take the calves with all the necessary vaccinations. This information is in the documents for the bull, so if it is not possible to go to the farm with a veterinarian, then make inquiries and write out for yourself which vaccinations are being given in your area.

Arrangement of premises

For raising bulls at home, one "seedy" barn is not enough. Remember - a goby is not a pig, and if you close it in a confined space and feed it abundantly, it will start to hurt at first. And then, if he lives to the age of slaughter, then there can be no talk of any lean beef, the bull will simply get fat.

According to the rules, in order to raise one bull for meat, he must first build a barn of at least 12 square meters. m. For a good set of muscle mass, the bull needs to be taken out to the pasture every day. If there are no pastures nearby, then you will still have to build a summer enclosure with a canopy, where for each goby there will already be from 30 sq. m.

Another problem is drafts and frosts. In winter, the temperature in the stable should not drop below 10 degrees. To maintain it constantly, you will have to insulate windows and doors, and then put a stove in the room. Gobies are even more afraid of drafts than frost. Up to six months, a calf can catch a cold from the slightest draft.

It is advisable to make floors in stalls with a slope and equip them with a manure channel at the end. The most effective way to keep it clean and dry is to clean 2 times a day and sprinkle everything with charcoal.

Feeding dairy calves

Some novice breeders buy very small calves in an effort to save money. Indeed, a monthly calf will cost at least 2 times less than a bull calf 3-4 months old. But feeding such calves requires patience, knowledge and additional financial investments.

The calf is still dairy, so every day he will have to feed 6-8 liters of milk. It is impossible to feed a baby with milk alone, because the scar (accumulative part of the stomach) should stretch. To do this, he needs to be given oatmeal jelly and grated root vegetables, potatoes, pumpkin, etc. every day. In the warm season, from the age of one month, the calf can be taken out to the meadow. In winter, be sure to give hay.

By the way, in winter, even in frost, calves need to be taken out for a walk at least for a short time, such a hardening exercise will provide your young animals with good health.

From 3 months, so-called starting compound feeds are introduced into the calf's diet. With these mixtures, it is easier to feed calves to coarse food, plus they receive the full amount of nutrients. By the age of 4 months, hay, root crops and compound feed already account for the lion's share of the diet, and by six months the calves switch to the adult menu.

Fattening bulls

Practice has shown that buying dairy calves and feeding them independently is no cheaper than purchasing a ready-made four-month-old calf. Add to this the risk of disease and the cost of vaccinations. It will immediately become clear that it is better not to bother, but to immediately take the grown and prepared gobies.

At 4 months, milk already acts as a top dressing, and it is not necessary to buy real cow's milk, you can use dry mixtures and even whey. In this case, it is important to concentrate on nutritious feed.

In breeding farms, they try to distribute the work so that the calves are born in winter. Accordingly, by the end of April, you can already buy a formed goby, which can be taken out to the pasture.

But fattening meat has its own characteristics. Even the most "elegant" floodplain meadows will not give the desired weight gain. Moreover, the proportion of hay or succulent grass should be about 30-40%. The rest of the diet of the calves is selected from cereals, legumes and energy-rich compound feed, do not forget about root crops.

From six months, gobies can be given potato peelings, but in the first 2-3 months these peelings need to be boiled and pounded.

Is castration of calves necessary

Now experts do not have a consensus about the castration of beef calves. If the bull is castrated, it will become calm and peaceful. Accordingly, free-grazing calves will no longer mutilate themselves. Again, a castrated calf has a significant increase in appetite, which young breeders are incredibly happy about.

But seasoned farmers know that the good appetite of a castrated bull does not guarantee the same weight gain. In such calves, energy is processed more into fat mass than into muscles. There is, of course, an option to drive such a bull, but these procedures can lead to weight loss.

What you definitely can't do is castrate a bull at an early age, you will ruin the calf. Meat breeds are capable of fertilization as early as 6 months, which means that at this time they become more aggressive. But if the bull is castrated at six months, then growth will seriously slow down. Therefore, in order to maintain the ability to gain muscle mass, it is advisable to castrate bulls not earlier than a year.

Costs and profits

To begin with, it makes sense to engage in such a business only in rural areas. Moreover, it is desirable that the meadows are accessible. If you drive calves through the mountains, then they will never gain weight. And next to the swamps, animals will simply be poisoned. To build a more or less decent barn, at least 20-30 heads, you will have to spend from 300 thousand rubles. Plus nice meadows may also need to be rented.

On average, it takes about 15 thousand rubles to feed one bull. If you keep 5-7 heads, then although it is difficult, it is still possible to take care of the calves yourself. When there are more animals, you will have to hire a shepherd and a couple of cattlemen. For households up to 10 heads, the tax office has no claims, then you will have to issue an individual entrepreneur. Plus, you need equipment for the preparation and delivery of feed.

As for the profit, the situation is something like this. The goby is slaughtered at 18-20 months. The useful yield from such bulls ranges from 60 to 80%. Normal slaughter weight is 400-500 kg. The benefits of selling in bulk are small. Profitability will skyrocket if you slaughter the bulls and sell the meat yourself.

Use of medications

Another controversial issue is the use of drugs that stimulate muscle growth.Such medicines are divided into 2 directions. The first direction activates the body's work, as a result of which muscles grow. The second is represented by steroid feeds and anabolic steroids.

Ideally, any medical intervention in this area is highly undesirable. But in practice, the application or rejection of this method remains on the conscience of the breeders themselves. The Sanitary Epidemiological Station on the market is indifferent to steroids, but supermarket owners, restaurant owners and advanced consumers can easily identify such drugs with the help of special tests.

Plus breeding calves for meat at home, provides that you and your family will eat part of this meat. And now you rarely meet a person who agrees to feed his children with meat stuffed with steroids.

The beef calf business will only grow. We will not argue that this is daunting, but a lazy amateur has nothing to do there. Share the article with your friends and perhaps your like will keep someone from rash decisions or, on the contrary, will arouse interest in this business.

Tags: Business, Cows

It is a well-known fact that only with the correct organization of the enterprise can you get a good profit. The article will talk about raising young bull calves for meat - a business at home, in many ways different from production, conditions. Calculating the costs and the corresponding video will help you get a better understanding of everything.

Famous breeds

Livestock breeders divide cattle into the following breeds:

dairy;
meat;
meat and dairy.

Of course, the last two options are suitable for beef cattle breeding. These animals are endowed with the ability to grow quickly and gain weight well. An important role when choosing a breed is played by the ability of livestock to adapt to local conditions. Calves take root differently in different areas.

For the purpose of raising gobies for meat in a climate of the middle zone, the following breeds are most often used:

Simmental - was bred in Switzerland. Refers to meat and dairy. The yield of clean meat after slaughter is up to 62%. Of the advantages, the ease of calving is especially noted.

Simmental breed

Hereford is a beef breed. They brought it to the United States at the beginning of the last century. Bulls of this breed are distinguished by a calm disposition. Their meat is delicious.
Kazakh white-headed - as the name implies, was bred in Kazakhstan. Animals of this breed thrive in both hot and cool areas. Refers to meat.

Kazakh white-headed

Charolais - the breed was developed in Europe. Differs in very tasty meat with a minimum amount of fat. Among the shortcomings, a large percentage of sterile individuals and difficult calving are distinguished due to the large size of the fetus.

Advice. It is better to acquire bulls at the age of 3 months. Although this will cost more than buying younger calves, the animals will no longer need to be supplemented with milk and purchased special feed for them.

Where to begin

The initial organization of this profitable venture will require the following activities:

As in any business, the first step is to assess your strengths and capabilities. Raising gobies for meat will require full dedication. All free time will have to be spent on caring for animals, even if hired personnel work on the farm.
The business of raising large animals requires a considerable territory. It is unrealistic to organize it in the city. The intended business can only be started in the countryside. Therefore, it is imperative to take care of renting or purchasing a plot of a suitable area.
Organization of constant monitoring of the veterinarian. On a farm that grows or breeds animals, you can't do without it. Only healthy individuals can gain good weight.
If you plan to sell meat to shops, supermarkets, restaurants, etc., compulsory registration of entrepreneurial activity will be required.

First, calculate all the possible costs of breeding bulls

For such a business as raising gobies, the following registration options are suitable:

Private household plots (personal subsidiary plots);
Individual entrepreneur (individual entrepreneur);
KFK (peasant farm).

To register a private household, you need to submit to the relevant authorities documents confirming the ownership or lease of a land plot with an area of at least 2 hectares. This option is completely exempt from paying taxes, as a result of which the sale of products does not apply to business activities.

Registration of an individual entrepreneur is beneficial in the case of planning a large yield of agricultural products, the implementation of which will require the creation of its own sales network with all the necessary certificates of product conformity.

KLF will require the involvement of partners in the business. This type of registration also has legal force.

Advice. Before starting a business, it is worth visiting several such farms, talking to the owners, and trying to work on the farm yourself.

Setting up a farm and caring for gobies

You will need a special room for raising gobies. The barn needs to be warm (in winter the temperature should not drop below + 8 ° C), with good ventilation and the possibility of regular ventilation. Drafts must not be allowed - animals can get sick. The stall must be cleaned daily. They should be equipped with feeders and drinkers. If a herd of more than 10 individuals is planned, it is better to automate the supply of feed and water.

Take care of the arrangement of the barn

In addition to a closed space, you will have to equip a walk. If the bulls are constantly kept in stalls, there is a rapid increase in weight. However, without walking, animals become aggressive and more susceptible to disease.

Attention! It is very good if there is a possibility of grazing gobies. But this can only be done before puberty. Growing up animals can pose a threat to the shepherd and other caregivers.

The care includes regular examination of the wards by a veterinarian. Its functions also include vaccination against certain dangerous diseases and the recommendation of vitamin supplements.

Animals can gain weight only as a result of a properly formulated diet. In addition to hay and green grass, gobies should be given:

beets;
corn;
potato;
grain crops;
melons and gourds.

The above foods should make up 70% of the diet. If gobies are raised for marbled meat, special feeding technology will be required. Of the breeds, the Hereford is most suitable for this purpose.

Animals need regular veterinary control

How to calculate expenses and income

Drawing up a business plan for keeping 20 bull calves includes the following costs:

Purchase of calves. One individual costs from 6 to 9 thousand rubles. depending on the breed and region.
The construction, further arrangement of the cowshed and the lease of land will amount to about 500 thousand rubles.
The purchase of feed and veterinary services per year will cost approximately 300 thousand rubles.
In total, about 980 thousand rubles will be spent on the purchase and maintenance of 20 bull calves.

Income.The average wholesale purchase price of one calf weighing 500 kg is 40 thousand rubles. Accordingly, from the sale of 20 heads, you can get 800 thousand rubles.

Of course, there is no exact accounting in this article, but even in approximate calculations, a high profitability of the enterprise is noticeable.

Attention! Experienced livestock breeders say that the main thing in the meat business is the ability to create a sales network of buyers.

Raising gobies for meat is considered an economically viable venture. However, such a business will require a lot of time, significant material costs and certain physical efforts.

Raising gobies: video

Recently, many people in rural areas have become attracted to raising gobies. The essence of this project is to organize a home mini-farm.You buy young animals, feed them and sell them for meat.

Growing features

Breeding gobies for meat is a business that has many benefits:

relatively small start-up costs;
wide sales markets;
decent income.

Every enterprising person understands that the success of any business largely depends not only on the idea, but also on the correctly chosen strategy of action. Therefore, before you start breeding bulls at home, you need to find a suitable land plot and calculate your financial capabilities.

Raising gobies for meat

Experienced farmers argue that raising bulls is quite profitable, but it requires significant labor, time and financial investments. Despite the fact that prices for beef are constantly growing, few farms are engaged in fattening cattle. It is believed that raising calves during the dairy period is too troublesome, so they are sold at the age of 1–2 months. But there are also some farmers for whom bull breeding is the main source of income. They buy up dairy calves, raise them, feed them and sell them for meat.

Diet for young animals

The hardest part is keeping newborn calves. This is a rather troublesome business that requires certain knowledge and skills. Of course, a domestic bull raised on milk will differ from its relative both in weight and in appearance. But if for some reason you do not have the opportunity to feed the bull with milk, you can prepare a colostrum substitute. This will require 1 liter. boiled water, 2 tsp. common salt and 2 eggs. All this is mixed and the calf is fed through a teat cup. At one week of age, you can enter into the diet a mineral supplement consisting of chalk, bone meal and salt.

It is added to concentrated feed.

Vitamin hay can be given from 5-6 days of age. Leftover feed should be removed from the trough after each feeding, as it can acidify after the goby saliva gets on the hay. The farmer must carefully monitor the feeding, otherwise unpleasant consequences may arise. In addition to hay, the calf can be given oatmeal jelly. 1 kg of high-quality oatmeal is poured into 2.5 liters. boiling water and let it brew for 30–45 minutes. Strain the finished chatterbox, add a little salt and hold over low heat until thickened.

The first gum (regurgitation, re-chewing and ingestion of feed) appears in calves at the age of 25–45 days. If you feed the bull with hay from 5 days of age, the animal's stomach will fully work in 10-15 days.

Concentrated foods should be introduced into the diet 10-12 days after birth.

Whole grain is used to make porridge. It can be given with milk. From the age of one month, root crops, for example, carrots, begin to give.

Animal care

If the conditions for keeping the calves are properly organized and the diet is correctly selected, a small farm will bring an excellent income. In order to immediately put the animals for grazing, young animals need to be purchased not in winter, but in early spring, preferably in early April. If there are no pastures in your area, you need to equip a corral.

The most common methods of raising calves are stall and free-range. In the stall, cattle gain weight faster, but the animals become more aggressive and their immunity decreases, so each bull needs to be periodically walked. Calves are taken out to graze until puberty. Anyone, even a domesticated adult bull, is dangerous to others, so grown-up calves should not be taken outside the mini-farm. In winter, the street is not the best place to keep bulls, so you need to equip an insulated barn. In the summer, the animals are transferred under a canopy. Remember to secure each animal with strong chains. Caring for calves includes regular veterinary examinations. The specialist must do all the necessary tests and vaccinations.

In addition, the farm needs to be cleaned regularly and disinfected.

Cold keeping bulls

This is one of the most effective ways to raise calves for meat. Daily gobies are placed in special houses with an aviary, installed in an open area. Since such boxes are not insulated, it is necessary to correctly organize the bedding in them. According to experts, keeping calves cold has many benefits:

The animals will get enough vitamin D.
If you use the cold method of raising calves, all of their body reserves will be mobilized for productive growth.
The likelihood of infectious diseases is reduced.
The cold keeping of gobies contributes to the correct development of their body. They grow rapidly and gain weight.

It is worth noting that this method of raising calves at home has its drawbacks:

Construction costs of individual boxes.
In cold weather, the rate of milk consumed by calves increases by 25%.

You can switch to cold keeping bulls at any time of the year. This method is used by many farms. But before raising the calves in separate boxes, you need to make sure that the animals are completely healthy. Houses for bulls are best made of plastic. This will make it easier to sanitize them. From time to time, the boxes are transferred from one place to another so that pathogenic microflora does not accumulate under the structure.

It is important to know that raising bulls at home using this method is only suitable for strong, healthy young animals.

Fattening of adult calves

If you want bull breeding to be profitable, you need to provide them with quality feed. As mentioned above, it is better to feed dairy calves with milk. After they are 1 month old, you can release them to pasture. In addition to fresh grass, calves should be given:

fodder beets;
leaves and ears of corn;
silage;
corn.

On green forages, gobies gain weight very slowly, so hay and juicy forages must be present in the diet. The simplest technology for raising calves involves feeding them according to the following scheme:

juicy feed - 20 kg;
hay - 4–5 kg;
straw - 2-3 kg;
compound feed - 3 kg;
salt - 50 g.

The main condition for a good weight gain of the bull is the correct diet. The animals need to be fed 3 times a day. If grain is included in the diet, it must be crushed or boiled with boiling water. Potatoes are boiled, cooled and kneaded. The green grass must be slightly dried before feeding. At first, it should be given in small quantities.

With abundant feeding, animals quickly gain weight, and if food is limited, they may lag behind in development.

Costs and Benefits

Let's try to calculate whether it is profitable to breed gobies for meat. To ensure proper care of the calf, you will need a special room and land for walking. For each bull, you need to allocate 8-12 m² of area. If you don’t have the money to build a barn, you can rent a goby farm. After that, you can start purchasing young animals. You will have to pay 8000-9000 rubles for each bull. Dairy calves are sold cheaper. But you need to buy milk for them. This is a good option for beginners who have a pet like a cow. In this case, you can safely take newborn calves and thereby save a lot on the purchase of young animals. If you take proper care of the animals, in 1.5 years their weight will reach 350-500 kg.

After that, bulls can be sent for slaughter and delivered in bulk to a butcher shop for 36,000–40,000 rubles per carcass.

Summarize

Now you know how to raise a calf and sell it for meat. As you can see, this is quite a profitable business, but it takes a lot of time and effort.Every person who wants to start breeding gobies should understand that he will have to take care of animals on a daily basis. If you are not afraid of hard physical labor, feel free to start organizing your own farm.