Outsourcing of feed.
Raising livestock on your property comes with its fair share of challenges, especially in Australia, where concerns like feed and water supply weigh heavily on farmers’ minds. The recommended stocking rates typically suggest about 1 head per 2-2.5 acres, for cattle.
Delays Compound into issues.
Unfortunately, we encountered delays in processing 6 sheep and 2 Holstein steers for the freezer, compounded by delays in rain this Autumn. This forced us to seek supplementary feed. Although we left with what seemed like enough pasture and a few backup round bales, which we got someone to roll out during week 2 of our absence, we returned only to find that the lack of autumn rain had severely affected the pasture conditions. which lead to a noticeable decline in the steers’ condition.
This issue wouldn’t have been as significant if the abattoir hadn’t rescheduled our butcher days four times Since December last year.
Such unforeseen delays are par for the course in homesteading. Whether it’s delays in rainfall or processing, it falls on us as homesteaders to anticipate and mitigate their impact on our livestock.
Returning to a drop in condition.
Upon our return from NSW, we checked on the steers. We observed a marked decrease in weight in one of the Holstein and one of the Angus (the smaller two of the herd), this was particularly concerning as these two are typically the most vulnerable members of the herd and often are the two that the others like to push around. Given the dry conditions, it’s likely that the other cattle monopolized the available feed, leaving little for the smaller ones.
Ordinarily, we would personally ensure each animal receives its fair share by spending time with them and providing treats and multiple feed locations. However, since we had outsourced the feed supplementation, there was no oversight, resulting in unequal access.
Realizing our oversight in the attitudes of the herd and the delays in the rain, we immediately took action. After checking the boys for any issues and ensuring the fences were intact, we hitched up the trailer, headed to the local fodder store and purchased some large round bales to roll out over the week.
Steps to improve and prevent relapse.
Our current plan is to home butcher the sheep, we were hoping to send them to the abattoir so we could share the meat with some friends, however with all the delays we have opted to home butcher them and just consume them ourselves. this will bring the head count down in the paddocks so there is less wear on the pasture that remains.
we have also closed off some of paddocks to allow them to rest till the end of winter and will consider starting irrigation if rain isn’t forecasted soon
From calculations we will need around 2 round bales a week for the 10 steer, however we have 6 sheep in the paddock along with them, so we purchased three round bales this week and will see how fast the herd consume them and continue to restock until the pasture has grown.
if you need to calculate how much feed to bring in this is a rough calculation.
Assuming each steer weighs 450 kilograms and consumes 2.5% of its body weight in dry matter per day:
- Total weight of 10 steers = 10 steers * 450 kilograms = 4,500 kilograms
- Daily DMI for each steer = 450 kilograms * 2.5% = 11.25 kilograms of dry matter per day
- Total daily DMI for 10 steers = 10 steers * 11.25 kilograms = 112.5 kilograms of dry matter per day
- Weekly intake for 10 steers = 112.5 kilograms * 7 days = 787.5 kilograms of dry matter per week
If each round bale weighs 450 kilograms, then:
Number of bales needed per week = 787.5 kilograms / 450 kilograms per bale ≈ 1.75 bales
So, approximately 2 round bales of hay would be needed for 10 steers in a week.
Checking the Girls.
Checking the heifer herd, was a whole other story, they are kept on the property we own which is 30 acres currently we have it under stocked at 3.33 acres per head. even though it has been a very dry autumn there is still plenty of feed for the girls to consume.
Upon arriving at the property about 10am the girls were relaxing under the gumtrees and barely even gave us a side eye as we drove up the property and checked things over. Their conditioning continues to be excellent, and the plan is to put a bull over them in the coming weeks.
We are hoping to continue running that property around 7-15 head at any given time. We do plan to improve the pasture on that property and bale some as time goes on.
