Protocol for heavy bulls

The specification required from NI producers by the Dutch and Belgian supermarkets pre-BSE was 400kg+ bull carcases of conformation E and U with a fat cover of  two - three. Heavy steers will yield less lean meat and high priced joints compared with bulls. The breed crosses preferred are Belgian Blue, Bonde Aquitaine and Limousin. Charolais are less suitable due to a higher carcass bone content and a grainy meat texture. Ideally the animals should be 20 months of age or less at slaughter.

To confidently achieve the specification the starting point will be a half continental suckler cow mated to one of the above sire breeds.

There is no detail in the specification regarding meat quality, for example, tenderness, redness of the muscle and fat whiteness. Further information is required on these aspects. Getting this detail correct from the outset would give our product a competitive advantage.

These factors are affected by diet and management around the time of slaughter. When this aspect of the specification becomes available the appropriate management can be incorporated into the guidelines for the system.

Marketing strength would be further improved by ensuring that all bulls were marketed under the Quality Assurance Scheme.

Time of calving	Time of year finished	Age at Grass (mths)	Age in House (mths)
Jan - Feb	Aug - Sept	5 - 10	0 - 4
Mar - April	Sept - Nov	1 - 6	7 - 20
	Nov - Jan	(13 - 16) [a]	(7 - 12)
			(17 - 20) of mths
May - June	Nov - Jan	0 - 5	6 - 11
	Jan - Mar	12 - 16	17 - 20
Aug - Oct	Feb - May	0 - 2	3 - 8
	Apr - July	9 - 14	15 - 20

The finishing of this animal as a heavy bull entails a long housing period at high cost. The alternative lower cost option is to take the 13 month old bull to grass for a limited period in its second season.

Table 1 shows that it should be possible to provide bulls for 12 months of the year based on current calving periods. The most difficult situation occurs with the bull born in Jan/Feb. This animal will spend its last 10 months indoors with the final four months during the summer. This presents particular difficulties such as clashing with seasonal work and silage deterioration when fed in hot weather. In practice this may mean switching to a big bale silage system to cope with the practical difficulties associated with this group. The extra costs would need to be reflected in a higher price for carcases produced during the June-August period.

In addition there may be some difficulty in supplying sufficient numbers of finished bulls in February-June due to the relatively small proportion of the suckler herd calving in the August-October period. However, the suitability of Autumn bulls for the system will encourage a number of producers to change their calving to the autumn. Again this would be aided by a more generous payment in the short term for carcases produced at this time of the year.

In the interim a selection of the best conformed calves from the autumn calving dairy herd could be used in the short term to supplement numbers during this period.

Calve the herd within a nine week period to simplify management.

In their first season at grass, young bulls and their mothers should be separated from heifer calves to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

Aim to keep young bulls at grass until 9-10 months of age if the weather is suitable. Preferably wean at grass in early September onto a 10-12 cm high pasture and 0.5kg/head/day of a 15-16%CP concentrate with a minimum ME of 12.7 MJ/kg. If pneumonia is likely to be a problem vaccinate the calves under veterinary guidance using an appropriate vaccine. Calves should be at least three months of age with some programmes needing to commence one month in advance of housing to ensure adequate immunity before housing.

During the first week of housing in slatted pens liberal bedding of the pen with straw on a daily basis will keep pen drier and reduce the risk of an outbreak of pneumonia or physical injury to the bulls.

It will be important that any damaged, uneven or rocking slats are removed or rectified before housing bulls for a long indoor finishing period.

High quality first cut silage fed ad lib supplemented with concentrates of similar composition as mentioned previously. Straights can be fed leading to savings in concentrate costs providing the combined composition of the ration contains 15-16%CP and has an ME of at least 12.7.

After housing, bulls should have their concentrate level gradually increased to 2kg/head/day during the first two weeks indoors. Further increases will depend on silage quality and the increase in the weight of the bull.

Normally bulls on a first cut silage (ME 12.5) of good fermentation characteristics will need to receive 3 kg of concentrate by early December, 4 kg by late January and 5 kg by early May (1.1 t of concentrate over the period). Jan/Feb born bulls should be finished indoors on winter rations. During the last four months bulls should be gaining 1.2 kg/head/day.

Turning out 15-16 month old bulls to grass will lead to major behavioural problems and a set back in performance and should therefore be avoided.

General points concerning the long term housing of bulls -

1. Do not mix strange bull groups.

2. Keep bull group size to 20 or less.

3. There is a risk of tail tip necrosis, feet and leg problems. Isolation facilities should be provided to give injured animals a chance to recover. It must be appreciated the longer the animal is away from its peers the more difficult it becomes to reintroduce with minimal behavioural problems. Therefore it is important to identify problems at an early stage and treat them quickly so that an animal is away from its peers for the minimum amount of time.

4. Open housed buildings allow bulls to get used to activity around them. This type of building will pose more of a problem in achieving adequate safety standards with respect to children. Traditional slatted houses with central or side feeding passages should have the doors closed and fitted with child proof locks when adults are not around. The alternative is to erect a child proof fence around the whole building.

5. If mounting becomes a problem consider the erection of overhead electrified wires powered by a high powered fencer (5-6kV pulsed current) unit. Wires 1.75m above the pens running the length of the house, spaced approximately 1m apart and fitted with dropper chains 0.3-0.35m in length have proven an effective deterrent.

6. Safety aspects to include, adequate lighting and the ability to inspect drinkers and troughs from outside pens. Internal gates must be 1.5m high and either sheeted or constructed from vertical bars. Inspection should be carried out from outside pen. If a person has to enter the pen carry a stick and have another person to lookout also armed with a stick. Handling and loading facilities should be designed to avoid personnel being trapped in narrow passages with no means of escape.

Management of March - April born bulls

As per the Jan/Feb born bulls, these slightly later born calves are best weaned before housing and introduced to a 0.5kg/head of 15-16%CP concentrate outside. As grass height falls below 12cm increase the level to 0.75kg/head and introduce a small quantity of first cut silage (ME = 12.5). Continue to feed this quality of silage throughout the winter housing period. When housed, the concentrate level should be increased to 2kg/head over a two - three week period. By mid November offer the bulls 2.5 kg/head increasing to 3kg by early January and continue at this level until April. In total, feeding 570 kg of concentrate along with quality silage will allow the bulls to gain approximately 0.9 kg/head/day throughout the winter.

By April a decision will have to be made whether or not to take the bulls to grass for a four month period.

Potentially animals born in March/April could be housed during the last 13 months of their lives. When heavy animals are kept for prolonged periods on slats then the more animal health and welfare problems there will be. To minimise these potential problems and reduce feed costs thereby making the system more attractive to the majority of suckled calf producers, serious consideration must be given to taking these animals to grass between 13-16 months of age. This is a very specialist operation and should only be undertaken by the dedicated producer who is prepared to take precautions to protect himself and others from the danger of bulls. This may well involve additional expense. The following Health and Safety guidelines should be implemented when bulls 10 months of age and older are grazed at pasture.

1. Field gates must be locked and a bull waning sign clearly displayed on each entrance gate.

2. The perimeter fence must be stock proof and child resistant with a minimum height of 1.3m (4ft 3ins).

3. An electric fence must be erected 0.5m (19.5ins) inside the permanent perimeter fence.

4. Only enter the field of bulls when armed with a stick and accompanied by another person or when travelling in a vehicle.

Other useful management guidelines for grazing older bulls at pasture include.

5. Before turning out to pasture ensure that bulls to be grazed together are mixed indoors several days in advance. Immediately before turnout allow the bulls to stand without food for four - six hours in a secure outdoor pen preferably with a concrete floor dusted lightly with sand.

6. Do not graze bulls near heifers, cows or strange bull groups.

7. Graze in groups of 20 or less.

8. Ensure grass and water supply are always adequate. This means grazing to a height of 6-8cms (3 inches) from April to the end of June and at 8cms (3.5inches) until mid August.

9. Preferably set stock bulls at pasture to minimise behaviour problems.

10. Provide a secure handling pen with race in or near the grazing area.

Target Liveweight and Stocking Rates during second year at grass*

	Liveweight (kg)	Stocking Rate (no/ha)
Turnout April	400	4.5
Mid June - Housing July	500	3.0

* Assume a nitrogen rate of 200kgs/ha applied to productive ryegrass swards.

To minimise behavioural problems, pasture damage and ensure high liveweight gain in heavy bulls (in excess of 1.1kg/day) throughout their finishing period, bulls should be housed from 16-17 months of age and finished on silage and concentrate during the last 1.5 - 3 months.

At housing cows and calves should be offered first cut silage (ME 12 with an acceptable fermentation). In early November calves should be introduced to 0.5kg of a 15-16% concentrate. Increase to 1 kg in early January and continue at this level until turnout. The level may need to be increased further if the bulls are switched to lower quality second cut silage. The bull calves should be weaned in mid March and turned out when weather conditions are suitable and the pasture reaches a height of 6cms (2.5 inches).

Target Liveweights and Stocking Rates during second year at grass*

	Liveweight (lg)	Stocking Rate (no/ha)
Turnout April	375	5.3
Mid June - Mid Aug	430	3.2
Mid Aug - Housing Sept	490	2.1

* Assume a nitrogen rate of 200kgs/ha applied to productive ryegrass swards.

Calve cows down over a next week period in order to ease management.

Calve born at this time of the year are well suited to the heavy bull system in that they spend the whole of their second season at grass. These relatively young bulls have proven relatively easy to manage at grass on College and commercial farms in the Province. The autumn born animals are particularly attractive for finishing as this occurs during the normal winter feeding period.

In their first winter calves should be offered in the creep a small amount of first cut well fermented silage. This should be changed each day and the quantity fed gradually increased over the winter.

During February introduce calves to 0.5kg/head of a 17%CP coarse calf feed. Gradually change calves over onto a 15-16%CP nut which should be fed at 1kg/head from mid March to turnout. Wean calves in late March/early April. Turnout calves onto 6cm high pasture and continue feeding 1kg on concentrates for the first fortnight until the calves settle down to graze.

Target Liveweights and Stocking Rates during second year at grass*

	Liveweight (kg)	Stocking Rate (no/ha) Turnout
April	250	8
Mid June - Mid Aug	312	4
Mid Aug - Housing Oct	375	2.5

* Assume a nitrogen rate of 200kgs/ha applied to productive ryegrass swards.

Bulls are more excitable than steers or heifers and must be treated carefully to minimise the risk of physical injury and/or dark cutting carcases.

1. Feed at least 2-3kg/head of concentrate along with ad lib silage six - eight  hours before the anticipated slaughter time.

2. Avoid stressing the cattle during loading. Keep bulls from the same feeding group penned together on the lorry and at the lairage.

3. Do not mix strange cattle in the same pen with bulls either on the lorry or at the lairage.

4. Aim to have the bulls transported and killed within a four hour period of leaving the farm.