Cow Fattening is a growing business in Bangladesh. Cow fattening system is a method by which livestock such as cows are healthily fattened by special maintenance, thereby making cows healthier, cows giving more milk. And if for meat then good quantity of meat is available. By this method the cows grow up quickly and sell at a good price in the market.
Nowadays cow fattening system is also a good business idea. This system has now been introduced in villages, many people are now able to earn income by coming under this business. In our country, cow fattening is a profitable project mainly during Eid al-Adha, 80 percent of the income is generated through cow fattening.
What is the method of fattening cows?
Cow fattening system is a 90 days long project. Where cows get a fixed amount of diet. Farmers feed the cow high protein diet, so that the cows gain weight. In this scheme they feed cows with improved quality hay, rice starch, hybrid grass.
Steps of Cow Fattening
For cow fattening, the first thing is to select the cows, which means which cows are ready for fattening. For this, good breed cows can be selected from the farm, or select to buy good breed cows from the market and then work will start.
The steps are basically 4 namely:
- Selection of cows
- Deworming of cows
- Nutrition and food management
- Selling in the market
Land, housing and equipment
A large enough area must be selected to build the farm. If the place is close to the road, then the cost of food or other transportation will be less. There should be a reliable source of clean water that can be used for both human and animal consumption, such as canals, rivers and dams. In case of insufficient water source, a reservoir can be constructed i.e. pond can be dug.
Cattle fattening method
You have to build feedlots for cattle. A good field or place with water and feeding facilities should be selected for making cattle feedlots / pens for beef cattle. In these feed lots, cows are fed by hand or using machines.
A place should be selected, where there is good light and air circulation, less mosquitoes, housing, equipment costs should be included before undertaking the cow fattening project.
Capital
The amount of capital required for a cow fattening project business depends on the scale or size of the project. Startup capital is required for building feedlots, buying cows, buying stock feeds. However, one can start with roughly Rs 2 lakh.
Sources of capital include bank loans and equity investors. If you plan to take capital from investors, you need to create an attractive project proposal.
Management and Labour
The number of workers on your farm will depend on the size of your cow fattening project. If your project is small, you and your family may have enough to take care of your cows. However, if the number of cows is 50 to 60 then employees will be required to manage it.
Success in the business requires good technical knowledge of cow fattening scheme techniques and good management skills. You need to understand the techniques of raising cows effectively for beef. Some farmers do not accept agriculture as a business, so they will never succeed, because they do not manage it properly.
What should be noted during the selection of cows?
Cattle fattening method
- Cows should be more than one year old, 14 to 15 months old cows are suitable for fattening.
- Buy cows that are dry due to lack of food, avoid buying cows that have poor body structure.
- If a cow is pregnant then it should not use hay mixed with urea. If you buy a cow then keep separate hay without urea for her.
- If the cow has a wound, clean the wound with Dettol or Sevlon, then apply Novogon ointment, until it heals.
- Contact a veterinarian if necessary.
- If there are any parasites such as lice, vermilion on the cow, then it should clean quickly. For this Nusidol or Enosotol powder can mix with 2 and a half spoons in 10 liters of water, then the cow’s body, ears and legs should be wiped with it.
Deworming
A cow’s esophagus is usually home to a variety of worms. And if there are too many worms in the stomach of the cow, then those worms eat all nutrients of the food. So the cow will not become fat but will become dry. Therefore, farmers should treat cattle for deworming only after selection of cows with the help of a veterinarian.
Other vaccinations should also be given. For example: Tadka, Badla and Khura diseases.
Food and nutrition
It is very essential that cows should give the right amount and right type of feed. The success of your cattle fattening business depends on the ability of beef cattle to gain weight and produce high quality beef. These factors are influenced by the quality and quantity of feed. Proper feeding techniques will ensure that cows grow properly and use the feed efficiently and produce good quality beef.
Barley, oats, bran, wheat, corn, these are excellent food for proper growth of cow, besides rice starch is very delicious. There are many companies that sell cattle fat stock feed. They are complete, balanced feeds, formulated to fatten cows in the feedlot over 90 days. Stock feeds are high-energy and fat-rich foods that contain all the nutrients needed to fatten cows. If you want, you can prepare nutritious feed for cows at your own home.
The amount of feed a cow will eat per day will depend on the weight and age of the cow. Typically, this averages 8-15 kg per head per day, 1.6 kg gain per day and 48 kg per 350 kg feed intake per month. If you continue this project for at least 90 days you will deliver a good quality cow.
2 types of beef Feeding:
- Fibrous
- Grainy foods
Cattle fattening fiber feed list
You can make two types of food. One is straw based and other is green grass based.
Hay based diet: Urea+hay+water+granular mixture. (1 part of daily weight)
Green grass based diet: Green grass + Chitagur + Granular mixture. (1 part of daily weight)
Cattle Fattening Granular Feed List
Below are 2 combinations. Either one will do.
Mixture of grainy food – 1
| Name | Qty |
| Sesame seeds | 4 kg |
| Rice bran | 4 kg |
| Wheat husk | 4 kg |
| The husk of any dal | 4 kg |
Mixture of granular food – 2
| Name | Qty |
| Sesame seeds | 4 kg |
| Rice bran | 4 kg |
| Wheat broken | 4 kg |
| Broken pulses and kesari | 4 kg |
No feed mix with urea should give before deworming.
Preparing to feed cows
First you need to prepare the right bucket, or bowl, to feed the cow.
Adequate water supply should place near the farm. Food buckets and water bowls should separate.
Hay should dry well in the sun, only then it will be ready to eat.
300 to 400 grams of jaggery mixed with hay should be taken daily.
Urea-mixed water should be spray while drying the hay, this water should be sprayed daily while threshing the hay. If necessary, you can mix urea with 20 liters of water in a separate pot.
All kinds of feeds should keep separately in the bucket, if necessary, the feed mix together to make a remedy while feeding the cows every day.
Daily food list
| Cow weight | Daily grain feed | Raw grass hay and UMS | feeding time |
| 75-100 kg | 1-2 kg | 3-3.5 kg | 2-3 times
|
| 101-150 kg | 2-3 kg | 4-4.5 kg | 2-3 times |
| 151-225 kg | 3-4 kg | 5-5.5 kg | 2-3 times |
| 226-300 kg | 4-5 kg | 7-8 kg | 2-3 times |
| 301-375 kg | 5-6 kg | 10-10.5 kg | 2-3 times |
| 376-450 kg | 6-7 kg | 12-13.5 kg | 2-3 times |
| More than 451 | 7-8 kg | 15-17 kg | 2-3 times |
Health precautions
Ingestion group of hormones for fattening cows. Get fat too fast. But not much. Animals are reared. This cow’s milk contains growth hormone chemicals. These chemicals are harmful to human health.
On the other hand, farmers apply antibiotics to cows to prevent various diseases. The chemical substance of this antibiotic also stays in the meat for a long time to prevent germs. These chemicals enter the human stomach with meat consumption. As the chemicals of both growth hormones and antibiotics are not destroyed even in the heat of cooking, they destroy the cells of various places including lungs, kidneys and liver in the human body and cause cancer.
According to the report of the Select Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, if people eat the meat and milk of animals treated with antibiotics, the immune system of the human body will be destroy and various microbial diseases, including salmonella, may cause which will never cure.
A fattened cow with growth hormone swells the body muscles, nudus-nudus, the body becomes weaker and more healthy. Due to the inter-cellular fat in cow meat, it increases the risk of cholesterol and heart disease in the human body. Fertilizer weights should be taken regularly during the program. Cow weight can be determined with the help of formula without weighing machine.
