10 Ways to Take Care of Your Cattle for a Fresh Dairy and Meat

If you’re a cattle farmer, then it’s important to know how to take care of your herd so that they produce high-quality dairy and meat. In this article, we will discuss 10 ways that you can keep your cattle healthy and happy. By following these tips, you’ll be able to provide a fresh and delicious product for your customers!

  • Make sure that your cattle have access to plenty of fresh, clean water.
  • Provide them with a nutritious diet that includes hay, grass, and other vegetables.
  • Keep their living area clean and free of debris.
  • Inspect them regularly for signs of illness or injury.
  • Ensure that they have access to shade and shelter from the elements.
  • Provide them with plenty of space to roam and exercise.
  • Make sure that their vaccinations are up to date.
  • Practice good herd management techniques.
  • Be aware of common cattle diseases and how to prevent them.
  • Always consult with a veterinarian if you have any concerns about your herd’s health.

By following these tips, you can be sure that your cattle are healthy and happy. This will result in high-quality dairy and meat products that your customers will love! Thanks for reading! We hope this article was helpful. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave us a comment below. Happy farming!

Keep Your Cattle Safe: Best Practices for Protection Against Intruders

The number of cattle farms in the United States has declined by more than 50% since the end of World War II. It is now estimated that there are less than 200,000 beef cows on American farms. With this decline, it becomes increasingly important to take best practices for protecting your herd against intruders to keep your cattle safe.

1) Install security cameras around your property and at all entrances to help deter anyone who may be interested in stealing from you or harming your livestock; if they know they’re being recorded, they’ll be less likely to commit a crime against you so long as the camera is operable and clearly visible.

2) Make sure each cow can see any potential threat from outside their pen; this will help them feel more comfortable and safe, as they’ll be able to better assess any potential danger.

3) Invest for a fence that is sturdy and difficult to penetrate; an intruder who can’t easily get into your property isn’t likely to bother trying.

4) Keep a guard dog on your property; if you have one, particularly a German Shepherd or something similar, intruders who know that this dog will attack and protect the herd at all costs won’t be likely to come onto your farm. Make sure to train the dog well and have him/her properly secured when not on duty.

5) Electric fencing is a great way to keep your cattle safe from predators and trespassers. It’s humane, effective, and relatively low-cost.

Following these five simple tips will help you keep your cattle safe and secure on your farm. Implementing one or more of them can make a big difference in protecting your herd from harm.

Why Happy Cows Make Delicious Dairy Products

You’ve probably heard it said that happy cows make the best milk. It’s a popular slogan, particularly among California dairy farmers, lauding the superior conditions afforded to cattle in that state. However, it’s more than just catchy marketing lingo. Science has proven what anecdotal evidence has long suggested: happy cows really do produce better quality dairy products. To understand how and why requires some understanding of the connection between happiness and hormones.

The study in question was the brainchild of Dr. Laura Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Lactation Biology from the University of Wisconsin. In order to test the theory that happiness impacted the quality of a cow’s milk, it was necessary to have an objective measure of the animal’s happiness. After all, translating their moos was out of the question, especially considering that contented cows moo much less than when they are upset. Luckily, there is a hormone that is directly related to happiness in both humans and animals. It is called serotonin.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that performs a number of complex functions within the brain, but for our purposes (and those of Dr. Hernandez) the most important is the hormone’s effect on mood. Elevated levels of this hormone in the blood are associated with happier moods, a healthy appetite, and decreased stress and anxiety. In order to ensure that the cows being tested were happy, they were administered serotonin daily, which produced an increase in their calcium production. While the nature of this increase varied by cow breed, in Jersey cows it translated directly into more calcium-rich milk.

In the study, the administration of serotonin did not otherwise directly impact the nutritional profile of the milk or the yield. Yet, those characteristics are impacted by a cow’s happiness. We can infer this based on what we already know concerning the impact of stress and adverse conditions on our bovine buddies.

When under stress, cows don’t produce as much milk. This occurs in part due to another hormone, adrenaline, being released as part of the animal’s fight or flight response to negative stimuli. Long term stress, likely a result of poor treatment and living conditions, is almost certainly coupled with decreased levels of serotonin, which in turn leads to a poor appetite. The less a cow eats, the less milk it can produce, and what it does make will be of lesser quality.

Another hormone, cortisol, is released in response to chronic stress. At elevated levels, cortisol compromises the cow’s immune system, making it more susceptible to infection and illness. In turn, more bacteria can enter and survive within the milk. While milk tends to be pasteurized to eliminate bacteria, raw milk has a greater nutrient density. The raw milk from a happy cow is far more likely to be safe for consumption than that of an unhappy one.

Within the farming industry, the push towards the more humane treatment of livestock has long been underway. Consumers and farmers alike have pushed for this out of a sort of moral kindness, but it helps to know that there are commercial benefits as well. Happy cows really do produce the best dairy products, which means that it’s in everyone’s best interest not to give them anything to moo about.