How much does a calf weigh on average and a table of weight gain by months from birth

Cattle farmers need to know how much their calves weigh at a given time. After all, weight gain and how the baby develops directly depends on the quality of nutrition. There are not only average monthly calf weight gain rates, but also the ability to determine the weight of a bull or a cow without weights. This is necessary when calculating a herd ration or buying a new animal.

Average Calf Weight Chart by Month

The weight of a newborn calf is about 10% of the weight of an adult cow, which is 30-40 kilograms. The weight of calves born depends on sex and breed. A heifer at birth weighs less than a bull, while representatives of the meat branch of animal husbandry are heavier than their dairy counterparts.

The bull always eats more and gains weight faster than the heifer.

Factors affecting weight

Several factors are responsible for animal weight gain. In addition to the health of the livestock, which must be carefully monitored, weight gain depends on:

• the genetic characteristics of the organism;
• breed type;
• motor activity.

Representatives of beef cattle are gaining weight most quickly. Slightly slower - meat and dairy animals. Dairy breeds of cows are the smallest and give less weight gain, but provide the farm with milk. Meat and dairy animals are usually kept in a personal backyard, the mass of animals is from 450 to 750 kilograms. Up to six months, babies grow rapidly, then growth slows down, by the year the heifer has 85-90% of the weight of an adult cow.

How to measure indicators

Scales are not used in private households. There are several methods for determining the mass of animals.

With tape

There are measuring tapes for cattle. Tape measure the girth of the chest behind the shoulder blades. The top row of numbers on the tape is centimeters, the bottom row is weight. The tape should fit snugly against the animal's body and should not be too tight. To keep the calf calm, it is better to take measurements together: One person measures the animal, the other treats him with something tasty and distracts.

If there is no tape, you will need a tailor's tape or tape measure. The calculation is done in different ways.

By the method of Trukhanovsky and Kluver-Strauch

In the first method, the circumference of the calf is measured behind the shoulder blades, the length of the body is straight, from the neck to the tail.

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The calculation is carried out according to the formula:

M = (AxB) x0.01xK

Where, A - girth, B - body length, K - correction. It is 2 for dairy cattle, 2.5 for beef and meat and dairy cattle.

Determining the available weight using the Kluver-Strauch method, measure the total girth of the calf's chest, the length of the body along the oblique (from the anterior point of the protrusion of the humerus to the posterior ischial tubercle). The weight of the cow is found in the table at the intersection of the indicators.

They give approximate values ​​with an error of 5%.

By belly size

To obtain the result, measurements of the belly in the most voluminous part and the girth of the chest behind the shoulder blades are necessary. Weight is calculated by the formula:

(A + B) ÷ 2 + 50, where A - belly girth, B - chest girth.

The weight of calves up to 3 months is determined every 10 days, then it should be recorded once a month.

Feeding scheme

Intensive feeding of animals, which quickly increases their body condition and weight, is called fattening. Bychkov is not recommended to be castrated until a year, otherwise they build muscle mass worse, the meat will be fat, with a weight loss of 20-25 kilograms. When fattening animals, the following factors are taken into account:

• the age of the animals;
• breed;
• condition before fattening;
• farm conditions;
• floor.

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Gobies and heifers are sent for fattening, the cost of heifers is higher, and the slaughter yield is less than that of bulls. The animals are fed 3-4 times a day. Fattening of animals begins when the calf stops receiving milk and return and gets used to adult feed.

The first stage of fattening is the period of weight gain up to 400 kilograms, the second - up to a weight of 600-650 kilograms.

When fattening, 3 types of feed are introduced into the diet of animals, providing the greatest weight gain:

1. The base is the basic feed, it accounts for most of the volume. The best is corn silage.
2. Concentrate. Contains essential supplements, accelerates muscle building. The animals are given 3 kilograms of dry food per day.
3. Minerals. Supplements improve appetite, make up for the lack of nutrients and vitamins. Premixes containing ready-made complexes of vitamins and minerals are often used.

Livestock should have free access to water. This diet is typical for fast or intensive feeding. The stall feeding method is suitable for animals of all ages. With this type of feeding, production wastes are often used, the diet consists of:

• from stillage and molasses;
• silo;
• pulp;
• root crops;
• silo.

Stable fattening is approximately 3 months old and contains 3 phases:

1. The initial, with the highest gains, is 30 days, when there is an intensive set of muscle mass.
2. Average, 40 days, when the weight gain decreases, the formation of fatty layers occurs.
3. The final, when the bulls get more concentrate - 20 days.

Animals must be given plenty of hay. If the compound feed does not contain mineral additives, and the animals are not given premixes, chalk, salt, bone meal are required.

When fattening, high-quality feed is used, the speed of weight gain and the taste of meat depend on them.

Sometimes, when fattening, prebiotics are introduced into the diet of animals to improve digestion and appetite, biostimulants, which can reduce the feeding time and feed costs. These supplements should be given according to the manufacturer's instructions. The addition of antibiotics to feed increases the weight of the animals, but degrades the quality of the product.