How to Livestock

Two factors are crucial to successful livestock production: choosing the right rams or bulls, and planning breeding so that offspring are born at the optimal time of the year.

Informal sales may be a convenient way to improve cash flow in the short term, but they make it difficult to budget, and you won’t be able to take advantage of high prices on the market.

Providing feed and water for game animals can be challenging, as some methods may cause injury. Here are some helpful tips for setting up feed and water troughs, as well as building a crush.

This composite breed, with its predominantly Damara genetics, is hardy and highly functional.

This long-legged breed has a smooth, white hair coat with a black or red head.

The following guidelines and recommendations for cattle breeding seasons are applicable to a summer rainfall region and should be adapted accordingly for a winter rainfall region.

As part of an animal’s stress response, its body releases cortisol, a hormone that provides energy to help the animal escape the stressor. If the stress persists, however, the animal’s health will suffer.

Logic seems to dictate that some livestock producers must suffer buyer’s remorse after purchasing an animal for an eye-watering price. Glenneis Kriel asked a few farmers whether their record-breaking acquisitions have paid off, and found the answer to be unanimous.

South Africa’s increasingly common heatwave conditions pose a major threat to the country’s farmed cattle, sheep and goats, which often feed and live outdoors. Lloyd Phillips spoke to a number of experts in the field about the negative effects of extremely high temperatures on livestock, and practical methods a farmer can use to mitigate these.

Optimal reproductive performance is crucial to the success of a beef cattle enterprise. A defined breeding season can help to achieve this.

To maximise kilograms of meat or wool produced per hectare, it is crucial to maintain a farm’s carrying capacity during winter. This invariably means producing high-quality stored fodder, and making sure there is enough of it. Deal Miles, a beef, mutton and wool farmer in the Cedarville area of the Eastern Cape, outlined his methods of achieving this to Lloyd Phillips.

These fat-tailed sheep, which are smaller than average, are kept for meat. They appear in various combinations of white, brown, red and black.