The Joys of Processing Cattle

Spice- 4-H Calf -Cow/Calf Pair 2011

Around our farm I am labelled as the 'un-hired hand', meaning that I am not paid for my work and effort! Whenever either my father or grandfather needs a helping hand or a task to be done, they rely on me to get the job done. Usually around this time of year I seem to obtain the title of 'Post Pusher.' My job title includes at least two full days of work, sliding the wooden post horizontally in and out of the cattle shoot and ally way. The reason behind my job, to ensure that processing cattle can be done as quick and efficient as possible. Our farm often has to do two full days of processing, one for my grandpa's heard, and one day for ours. This means that there is often a large crew of helpers around the farm, doing as much as possible to get the task done. Often our neighbors and family members come to help out, and without them, it wouldn't be completed as quickly! This year when processing occurred, I was unfortunately not at home, so my place was taken. I bet they weren't able to do as good of a job, it takes years to be a master as the 'Post Pusher'.

Processing cattle often involves three main steps: 

-Castration 

-Vaccination 

-Branding 

The importance of processing is to ensure that all of the calves that have been born this past winter and spring are branded with our farm brand, vaccinated to keep them healthy, and bull calves get castrated.

Castration- Castration of a bull calf (male) is the process of removal of the testicles. A steer is a castrated male calf and is raised for beef.
Our farm is a commercial cattle farm, meaning that we do not have purebred cattle. Therefore, all of the Bulls that we use to breed our Cows are boughten from other farms. The bulls on our farm are all purebreds, the breading cows are crossbreds, this means that the calves that they make together, are crossbreds. Since all of our bull calves are crossbreds, we castrate them, turning them into steer calves,which are used for beef.
Reason for Castration-

• stop the production of male hormones and semen
• castration at a young age minimizes hazards to the calf, the cow-calf producer and the feedlot owner. Hazards for calves and owners include sickness or death of calves following castration at an older age, and decreased liveweight gains(meaning that the steer will not gain as much weight, producing less beef). prevent mating and reproduction after the age of puberty
• produce docile cattle that are easier to handle compared to bulls. which decreases aggressiveness, mounting activity and injuries 
• provide meat products of the quality consumers demand, and avoid discounted price that packers pay for bull carcasses 
• There are three different methods used in castrating a steer. 

1) Surgical Castration- This is the method of castration which our farm uses. This method often needs the expertise of a vet, however, some experienced farmers may take on the task alone. In this method, the testicles are removed completely, and it is better to perform this castration while the calf is at a younger age, providing less bleeding and stress. 

2) Elastic Band Castration- A latex rubber ring is applied to the testicles by a tool called an EZE or a Callicrate. The ring cuts off blood supply to the testicles and scrotum. In time, the lack of blood supply kills the testicles and scrotum, and they fall from the body. Often the EZE is used on larger and older calves. 

3) Burdizzo Clamps- This method crushes the blood vessels, stopping the blood supply to the testicles. A Burdizzo is effective if you are dealing with a docile calf, for the clamp needs to be held on tightly for at least 10 seconds. If the calf acts up, the castration may be non-effective. 

Surgical Castration 

Elastic Band 

Burdizzo Clamps 

Vaccination- Like humans, cattle need vaccines to keep them healthy and protected from disease as well. Vaccines are an important tool to use in herd health programs for the protection of animal health.

Left: RFID button Right: Ear Tag

On our farm, all cattle are vaccinated yearly, ensuring they are healthy and alert. The newborn calves are usually vaccinated within the first 24 hours of their birth, they are also ear tagged at birth with their identity. The calves are tagged with an ear tag that is identical to their mothers, which is often clipped onto either their left or right ear. New born calves are also ear tagged with a RFID button, Radio Frequency Identification. Cattle must have the RFID button in order to be sold in an auction mart or for beef. The RFID button became mandatory in Canada after the outbreak of BSE. The RFID button made traceability back to the cattle much more fast and efficient. Ear tagging makes it easier for farmers, such as my father, to pick out the cow/calf pairs within the field, as well as ensure that the calf is owned by our farm, and figure out each animals traceability.
Since we give our newborn calves vaccinations immediately after birth, this means that we must repeat these vaccinations. If we were to vaccinate our calves for the first time, 6 months after their birth, then the second vaccination as a calf would not be as necessary. However, vaccinating the newborns is beneficial for the farmer because it decreases the chance of them falling ill. When you have a large quantity of calves in one field, it is important to prevent illness and disease within them, for disease can spread quickly and contaminate all of the calves.

During processing, we vaccinate the calves with 3 different types of medication: 

*8-way: 8-way vaccine helps prevent diseases caused by clostridium bacteria. These bacteria are found in soil and in the intestinal tract of cattle. They produce toxins that can result in the death of healthy livestock.

*Live IBR: Protects cattle from Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis is an acute, contagious virus disease of cattle. Often implicated as an infection, usually occurs in the air passage of the head and the wind pipe. IBR protects against shipping fever pneumonia. In females this virus also causes abortion, occurring 20-45 days after infection. Cattle of all ages who have not been treated are susceptible to IBR.    

*Ivomec: Used as a liquid, poured along the spine of the animal to prevent parasites.

Hot Iron Brand 

Branding- Livestock branding is used as a technique of marking and claiming cattle, done either by a hot iron brand or a freeze brand. On our mixed cattle and grain farm, we use the hot iron brand technique. The hot iron brand involves a hot iron with the brand symbol, and is branded into the hide of the cattle. A freeze brand is when you apply an extremely cooled iron to the hide, this often works better with livestock that has short, coarse hair. The brand on the cattle acts as ownership, and each cattle operation has their own specific brand, no two are the same. On our farm, my grandpa and my father both have separate brands. My grandpa's being a rafter MH, and my father's being a rafter JS. When an operation is in need of a brand, they must get the brand approved by the Brand Registrar to ensure that it has not been used before, and is valid. There are also rules as to where the brand can be placed, including the shoulders, ribs or hip, and on either side of the cattle. Our farms cattle are branded on their right front shoulder. Branding is important for traceability back to the cattle, as well as determining which operation the cattle belong to.

Freeze Brand

Although the costs of these initiatives are steep for many producers, it is important to the cattle industry for traceability, livestock health, and  food safety. 
So there you have it, the meaning behind processing! Maybe one year you can come and join us! 

This is my Cow/Calf pair of 2011, Sugar and Spice, branded rafter JS.  


-Jess