Figure 1: Botanical composition of random camps grazed by calves pooled from one year of grazing data.
grazed and to assume that there
was sufficient pasture available to
the animals. Animals were moved
when 50% of the available pasture,
before grazing, was utilized, given
that the grazing days was not less
than seven days. Milk intake of
calves during the 3-month suckling
period was estimated monthly by
weighing calves before and after
suckling. Weight and supplement
intake were recorded on a monthly
basis and pasture height measurements was recorded with a disk
meter before and after each grazing.
Figure 1 gives us an idea of the dynamic variability between beef pasture camps within a farmlet in
terms of botanical composition,
hence quality. The four camps in
the graph bordered each other. It is
of paramount importance to be
informed of the quality of each
camp before allocating camps to
animal groups. This can affect the
growth response of your animals.
First generation Angus/Jersey calves on dryland beef
pasture
The calf birth weight, live weight
and average daily gain (ADG) are
presented in Figure 2. Cross calves
maintained a linear growth curve
up to 13-months of age and ended
at an average group weight of 326
kg. The study is still in progress;
therefore results up to the age of
18-months are not available as yet.
Average daily gain increased rapidly
during the 3-month suckling period
where it reached a plateau at 0.8
kg/day which was maintained to 7months of age. Going into winter
Calf nursery where calves remain for the first 3-months.
Cows were brought in twice a day to be suckled by
calves