Content
Many people believe that feeding calves with hormonal drugs is necessary for rapid growth. It is possible, but this does not replace the need for a properly balanced diet. Moreover, many “growth boosters” are actually a combination of vitamins and minerals.
In the case of cattle, it is also necessary to separate the concepts of “growth at the withers” and “growth of muscle mass.” The first is not necessary to speed up, and sometimes even harmful. The second is at the request of the owner.
Pros and cons of using growth stimulants for cattle
From the point of view of beef cattle breeding, there are no disadvantages to the use of stimulants, including growth hormones, for bulls. Some solid advantages:
- animals quickly gain weight;
- fattening periods are reduced;
- the lethal yield from the carcass is greater.
Nobody cares about the condition of the joints, bones and ligaments of future steaks. With breeding and dairy cattle the situation is different. These animals do not need large muscle mass.Here you can already see not only the pros, but also the disadvantages of rapid growth and development.
The use of growth hormones on pregnant cows will result in the development of an excessively large fetus. As a result, complications during calving cannot be ruled out, and dairy cattle must produce offspring annually. Therefore, it is worth thinking about when looking at advertisements for growth hormones for cattle. If the manufacturer claims that the product is suitable for use on pregnant animals, he is most likely lying.
Even worse are artificial growth stimulants for breeding calves raised for breeding purposes. In young animals, tubular bones grow fastest. Due to them, the height at the withers increases. Measurements show that in young animals the skeleton develops unevenly: sometimes the withers are higher, sometimes the sacrum is higher, sometimes growth stops altogether for some time.
During such stops, the tendons that hold the joints together have time to “catch up” with the bones. A fully formed animal has a good ODA.
But if stimulants were used, the balance between skeletal and muscle development is disrupted. The use of hormones puts too much muscle mass on still weak bones and joint ligaments. Other stimulants provoke accelerated bone growth. The result is weak joints and shortened tendons.
If a small calf is fed too intensively, under heavy weight and due to rapid growth, the tendons do not have time to develop normally, in this case contractures often appear
At the same time, hundreds of years ago people noticed that animals fed with good and plentiful food grew larger than their relatives. Therefore, the best growth stimulator for calves intended for breeding or for milk production is a balanced diet.Feed antibiotics can be added to high-quality fodder, which will allow the animal’s body not to waste energy fighting diseases.
Calf feed for fast growth
At the first stage, it is best to feed the calf natural cow's milk. In the first two weeks, the young animals develop very quickly and gain weight, feeding only on milk. In the first 2 hours of life, a newborn should receive about 10% of its body weight in colostrum. Gradually, the daily dose of milk is increased and brought to 12 liters.
Inexperienced cattle owners have the mistaken impression that it is best to feed a small calf milk and hay.
Often this theory is adhered to by fans of the “natural lifestyle”. After all, the calves of wild aurochs did not receive any other food except grass and milk. But wild prototypes are always smaller than their domesticated counterparts. “Experimenters” are convinced from their own experience that the theory is wrong and change their minds. The best food for rapid growth of calves is grain concentrates. They begin to be added from the 3rd week of the baby’s life. With abundant feeding of milk and nutritious forage, the daily weight gain of young cattle is about 1 kg.
It is best to use commercially produced feed for calves. The antibiotics and hormones that scare everyone are not there. These additives are administered separately if necessary.
High-quality starter feed for young animals contains the nutrients necessary for rapid growth and muscle gain. First of all, it is a protein and a vitamin-mineral complex.
You can feed calves starter pellets from the moment they begin to try something other than milk.
Starter feed
Intended for calves aged 0 to 6 months. In Russia you can buy food produced in Krasnodar: “Vitula”, “Venus”, “Elegance”.
The first two are intended for calves up to 3 months of age. Granules are added gradually and by 90 days of age the dose is increased to 1.6 kg per day. "Elegance" is the next stage. It is used at the age of 3-6 months. The maximum daily dose is 3.5 kg. Later, to reduce the cost of fattening, calves are gradually transferred from Elegance to regular fodder with vitamin and mineral premixes.
The same manufacturer offers 2 feed additives as growth accelerators: CattlePro Littlegoby and CattlePro BestVil. They look like regular granules. "BestVil" is used after six months, mixed with the main fodder. The additive replaces 15-30% of the main grain diet. "Littlegoby" is used for calves from 3 to 6 months, if expensive starter feed is replaced with cheaper grain. The share of this additive is also 15-30%.
All products from this manufacturer contain coccidiostats that prevent the development of coccidiosis. Even if the feed does not accelerate weight gain in calves, the absence of parasites in itself is a growth stimulator.
There are other growth accelerators that are neither forage nor feed additives.
Growth preparations for cattle
Growth stimulants for calves include:
- vitamin formulations for injections;
- antibiotics;
- hormonal.
Which variety to choose to stimulate rapid growth depends on the situation. But most often they use vitamins and feed antibacterial agents.
Vitamin and mineral complexes
Dietary supplements are those same vitamin-mineral complexes that must be used not only for fattening.There are no regions in the world that are perfectly balanced in all essential animal elements. In each specific area of residence, livestock need to be supplemented with the missing substances. But this is determined using laboratory tests, so it is impossible to indicate specific names of vitamin and mineral growth stimulants for cattle in a general article. Most often these are vitamin and mineral solutions for injection. One of these biostimulants that is widely known is Catozal.
It is often believed that if Catosal is available, you can feed the calf with the cheapest grain and not particularly pamper the animal with other additives
Katozal
In fact, it contains only 2 active ingredients: a phosphorus derivative and a vitamin B₁₂ derivative. It is used as a tonic, as it speeds up metabolism and improves immunity.
Catozal is produced in the form of liquid for injection. Calves are given injections subcutaneously, intramuscularly or intravenously. But there is no application scheme for fattening beef cattle. User reviews about Katozal are skeptical. And this is not surprising. No stimulant gives a magical result. For good growth of cattle, in parallel with injections of Catosal, animals need to be well fed and provided with a set of vitamins and minerals.
Eleovit
Another vitamin solution for injection. The composition of this product is rich: 12 vitamins. Release form: liquid for injection. The color is yellowish or brownish. Has a specific smell. The vitamins that make up Eleovit are involved in the metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. It is used to treat diseases associated with metabolic disorders. The manufacturer does not mention rapid growth. Dose for cattle: adult animals – 5-6 ml, calves – 2-3 ml.Intramuscular or subcutaneous injections.
Feed antibiotics
In addition to coccidiosis, calves can become infected with other infections. Coccidiostatics in feed do not help in this case. To protect young animals from other diseases in livestock farming, feed antibiotics are used. Experiments showed that animals fed with these veterinary preparations were 2-14% superior in productivity to the control group.
Crude preparations containing proteins and vitamins are added to calves' food. Feed antibiotics include:
- biomycin;
- chlortetracycline;
- oxytetracycline.
These are “pure” substances that are not given in this form. Commercially available native antibiotics are known by brand names and as supplements rather than as medications.
Calves are fed with native supplements, if they offer a similar antibacterial agent for injection in a hermetically sealed bottle, this is already an antibiotic for treatment
Biomycin
You can buy it under the name "Biokorm-1". Light brown powder that remains active for 6 months. The content of the active substance in 1 g of “Biokorm-1” is 900-1000 units. It also contains B vitamins, which are often considered growth stimulants. Replenishes the lack of essential microelements.
Chlortetracycline
Trade name "Biokorm-4". Brown-black powder with a shelf life of 3 months, 1 g contains up to 30,000 IU of the active substance. In addition to the antibiotic, vitamin B₁₂ is present.
Oxytetracycline
Sold as Terramycin native.The crop is grown on crushed grain. When prepared, it is a light brown powder with a pungent musty odor. Shelf life six months. 1 g contains 3-4 thousand units of oxytetracycline. In addition to the antibiotic, there are large quantities of protein, fat, nitrogen-free substances and B vitamins. A good growth stimulator.
Hormonal stimulants
The main horror story for consumers of meat products. In fact, the real hormonal stimulant is a mutation in the gene that causes the calf's body to produce myostatin. This is also a hormone, but it stops the growth of muscle mass. The change in the gene led to a complete blocking of its work. In the animal world, this mutation occurs quite often, but it was fixed only in the beef breed of cattle: the Belgian Blue.
A calf of any other breed, except the Belgian Blue, will not show such a result, no matter how you feed it and what growth stimulants you use.
Artificial hormonal growth stimulants will not give the desired effect without high-protein concentrates and “training,” that is, active movement.
Nucleopeptide
The main function of this hormonal drug is to stimulate muscle gain. It is obtained from the spleen of cattle. Externally it is a cloudy liquid. Color ranges from light yellow to yellow-brown. Easily foams when shaken. When stored undisturbed for a long time, a sediment forms, which easily breaks up after shaking. Packaging: 5, 10, 100 ml. The bottles are hermetically sealed with polymer caps.
The same applies to those packages from which the liquid was taken with a syringe through the lid.
Mechanism of action
The substances contained in the nucleopeptide stimulate the secretion of thyroid and androgenic hormones. The manufacturer claims that no more than physiological quantities.
Thyroid drugs have a complex effect:
- activate the synthesis of growth hormone;
- stimulate the development and growth of the calf;
- accelerate muscle gain;
- have an anabolic effect.
The drug also increases the body's resistance to diseases. A calf that is not sick will always grow larger than one that was seriously ill in its youth.
When using nucleopeptide, muscle mass increases by 12-25%. Feed conversion also improves. The product can be used in parallel with native antibiotics and vitamin-mineral premixes.
The nucleopeptide accelerates metabolism, so the calf needs to be fed more and more often than those who were not treated with a stimulant for rapid growth
Gamavit
A hormonal preparation made from denatured emulsified placenta and sodium nucleinate. The starting material for the latter is yeast cultures. Gamavit is produced in liquid form. Usually used in the form of injections.
The product contains biological substances that enhance immunity and optimize metabolic processes. Used for prevention and treatment:
- hypovitaminosis;
- anemia;
- pyometra;
- poisoning;
- toxicosis;
- invasive and infectious diseases.
It is also used as a tonic during the postoperative period. Gamavit is also useful in preparing animals for exhibitions and competitions. But nowhere does the annotation say that it stimulates growth. Only indirectly. The manufacturer advertises the product as a growth stimulator, among other things.
Owners of productive farm animals have tried to inject calves and piglets with gamavit for growth. Opinions differed. Owners of chickens who fed the drug to their chickens say that the birds gained weight well. Owners of piglets and calves believe that distilled water could be injected with equal success instead of a stimulant. The manufacturer claims that many fakes have appeared and you need to be careful when buying.
Rules for the use of cattle growth accelerators
All growth stimulants are used not only for cattle, but also for other animals. Depending on the type of mammal, the pattern of use also changes.
In the first months of a calf's life, stimulants are not used. The young animals are fed high-quality starters, hay and milk. Rapid growth stimulants will be required when the bull is put into fattening.
Due to the wide variety of growth accelerators, there is no single scheme for their use. Each stimulant must come with instructions. If it is not there, most likely the drug is intended for other purposes. The rapid growth when using this remedy is either a coincidence, a side effect, or self-deception.
The nucleopeptide is used for rapid fattening of bulls. And instructions for using the product specifically for this purpose exist. To stimulate the immune system, the nucleopeptide is administered intramuscularly or subcutaneously at 0.1-0.2 ml/kg of live weight every 24 hours for a course of 3 days.
When using it as a stimulator of rapid growth for fattening calves, injections are given subcutaneously in the middle part of the neck. Dosage 0.1-0.2 ml/kg. No more than 30 ml can be injected into one place. Injections are given 4 times with an interval of 15 days.
The basic rule for using fast growth products is high-protein concentrates ad libitum. You can use the best and most expensive growth stimulants to promote rapid growth, but if you don't feed the calf, it won't grow. He simply will have nowhere to get “building material” for his body.
To get good muscle mass, calves will have to be fed well; the principle “to earn a lot, you need to invest a lot” works here.
Veterinarians' opinion
The effect of growth stimulants on the rapid gain of muscle mass in calves is somewhat exaggerated. The growth of bulls is affected by:
- genetics: a dairy calf will never gain weight as quickly as a beef calf;
- high-quality diet: if you try to save money and feed the calf with cheap grain in insufficient quantities, even the Belgian Blue Bull will grow up to be a stunted bull;
- providing animals with the necessary microelements and vitamins: with vitamin deficiencies or a deficiency of any element, the growth of animals often stops;
- good living conditions: the calf, spending energy on the struggle for survival, grows slowly.
And only if these conditions are met can you try to speed up weight gain in bulls using artificial means.
The use of rapid growth stimulants for cattle in injections is tempting, but can be dangerous. Excess vitamins received orally will not be absorbed and will be eliminated from the body naturally. When a vitamin composition is introduced by injection, even unnecessary substances will enter the body. Hormonal stimulants for rapid growth can upset the natural balance.The result will not be accelerated weight gain, but problems with hormone production.
Conclusion
For rapid growth, it is necessary to feed calves, first of all, with high-quality products containing large amounts of protein. No hormones or antibiotics will help an animal gain weight if it has nothing to “build” muscle tissue from.
