Easy-care animals that suit the conditions on your farm can reduce input costs, but good management is still essential. Body condition is one of the best indicators of how well your herd or flock is performing. Keeping animals neither too thin nor too fat can improve fertility and growth while helping to increase the profitability of your livestock enterprise.
By Roelof Bezuidenhout
Easy-care livestock are animals that are well suited to your farm’s grazing, climate and production system. They generally require less intensive feeding and day-to-day care than highly bred, high-producing animals, and can maintain good body condition with fewer inputs.
Body condition is more than a score used to grade carcasses. It is an important indication of how well an animal is fed and managed, and ultimately how efficiently the farm is using its resources.
Good body condition should be a year-round goal, but it is particularly important before mating. Animals that are too thin are less likely to conceive and may struggle to raise healthy offspring. Poor nutrition during pregnancy and lactation can also limit the growth of calves and lambs.
A cow, for example, should be in good condition when she is mated to give her the best chance of conceiving and producing a healthy calf. The same principle applies to rams, bulls, ewes and other breeding animals. Body condition also affects the value of animals sold for meat, although animals that are excessively fat are not necessarily more profitable.
Also read: The goat farmer’s manual | How do I check the condition of my goats?
Choose easy-care livestock
If grazing or fodder shortages are a regular problem, consider animals that can make better use of sparse vegetation and cope with local diseases, parasites and environmental conditions. Smaller or indigenous cattle and goats, fat-tailed sheep, or suitable crosses may be better suited to some low-input farming systems than larger, higher-producing animals.
This can also make the herd or flock more resilient to changing weather conditions and periods of drought.
Changing breeds is not easy, quick or cheap. A more practical approach may be to improve the hardiness of the herd or flock through selection. When buying breeding animals, choose bulls or rams that have performed well under conditions similar to those on your farm.
Avoid buying breeding animals that were raised under high-input conditions if your farm cannot provide the same level of nutrition. Selecting animals that maintain their condition and reproduce under your conditions can gradually produce a herd or flock that needs fewer inputs.
An ordinary-looking, well-adapted animal in good condition can be more valuable to a farmer than an impressive-looking animal that cannot maintain its condition without expensive feed.
Also read: The goat farmer’s manual | Simple feeding rules for healthy and sick goats
Keeping animals in good condition
Limit stress
Tame, docile animals are easier to handle and generally require less energy to maintain than animals that are constantly stressed. Good handling also makes routine health checks and treatments easier.
Use your eyes
Check your animals regularly and learn to recognise changes in body condition, behaviour and appetite. An animal that is falling behind the rest of the herd or flock may be the first sign of a problem. Loss of condition can be caused by inadequate nutrition, disease, parasites or other problems. Investigate the cause rather than simply giving the animal more feed.
Prevent problems before they become expensive
It is generally cheaper to maintain an animal in good condition than to restore an animal that has become thin. An animal that has lost significant condition may need better-quality feed for an extended period before it recovers.
Some loss of condition is normal. A cow or ewe may lose condition while producing milk and raising her offspring. The important thing is to monitor her and ensure she recovers before the next critical stage of the production cycle.
Provide adequate feed and water
Animals need sufficient grazing or fodder and a reliable supply of clean, fresh water. Their requirements will vary according to species, body size, feed quality, weather and production stage.
In hot weather, water requirements can increase considerably. Animals that have to walk long distances to water also use energy that could otherwise contribute to production. If animals spend long periods around a water point, check whether the supply is sufficient.
Adjust stocking rates early
When grazing or fodder is becoming scarce, reduce the number of animals before they start losing significant condition. Start with less productive or poorer-performing animals.
Keeping fewer animals can prevent overgrazing and leave more feed available for the productive animals that remain. Where possible, use rotational grazing to give some areas of veld time to recover and to build up fodder reserves. Check your grazing regularly so that you know how many animals it can support and for how long.
Also read: When to cull ewes and does
Cull animals that do not perform
Even with good management and supplementary feeding, some animals will consistently perform worse than the rest.
If poor performance is due to genetics and the animal repeatedly fails to maintain condition, reproduce or grow as expected, consider selling or culling it. Such an animal uses feed and other resources that could be used for more productive animals.
The same applies to animals that become excessively fat. It takes additional feed to put on and maintain excess fat. Over-fat breeding animals can also have poorer reproductive performance. The aim is an animal in good working condition; not the fattest animal in the herd or flock.
Also read: The goat farmer’s manual | How do I water and feed my goats?
Good condition starts before mating
Body condition is the result of what happens throughout the production cycle. It starts with the condition of the parents at mating, continues through pregnancy and lactation, and affects the growth of the offspring through to weaning.
A breeding animal that enters mating in poor condition may struggle to conceive. If she remains poorly nourished during pregnancy or lactation, her offspring may also suffer from slower growth.
The goal is therefore not to feed animals heavily for a short period just before mating. Manage grazing, stocking rates, breeding and animal health throughout the year so that productive animals can maintain good body condition with the resources available on the farm.
The most profitable animal is not necessarily the biggest or fattest. It is the animal that can stay healthy, maintain condition and reproduce under your farm’s conditions without requiring more inputs than it can pay for.
Also read:
The goat farmer’s manual | How do I handle and restrain my goats?
The goat farmer’s manual | How to trim your goats’ hooves and prevent foot problems
The goat farmer’s manual | From floor to roof – how to house your goats properly
