Brick by brick: Feeding a ruminant from birth to slaughter

Rearing a ruminant from birth to slaughter is a lot like building a house. It demands planning, precision, and the right 'materials' at every stage. From the moment of conception to the final finishing touches before market, each phase contributes to the overall integrity of the 'structure'.

- By Erin Graham, technical manager, Molatek

However, we all know that building a house must be done in steps, and skipping steps or using poor-quality inputs early on can lead to costly catastrophes later. To 'build a ruminant' brick by brick, there are several critical stages of feeding and development, and foundational elements that determine its success.

Before the first brick is laid, every builder needs a blueprint. In livestock production, these blueprints are the non-negotiables and include genetics, nutrition, health management, and environment. They shape the potential of the animal long before feed enters the picture.

The architectural design

Genetics sets the framework for everything that follows. Traits such as calving and lambing ease, reproductive performance such as fertility, disease resistance, feed efficiency, and maternal behaviour are heritable and must guide breeding decisions. Poor genetics can predispose animals to dystocia, weak offspring, as well as poor growth and milk yield, all flaws that no amount of feeding can fully correct.

Selecting sires and dams with proven performance records, sound fertility, good feed efficiency and desirable maternal traits is like choosing the right architectural plan. You cannot build a skyscraper on a blueprint designed for a garden shed. In the same way, genetic potential sets the foundation for how well the animal will respond to nutrition, resist disease, and grow efficiently.

Quality building materials

The dam's diet during pregnancy directly influences foetal development, birth weight, and colostrum quality. Undernutrition leads to low birth weight, weak immunity, and poor thermoregulation, whereas overfeeding, especially in late gestation, can result in oversized foetuses and birthing complications. Think of nutrition as the bricks and mortar.