Techniques for raising and fattening beef buffalo

In our country, buffaloes are raised mainly for their pulling power, so the potential for buffalo meat production is almost ignored. In fact, buffalo meat is similar to beef in many basic properties: structure, chemical composition, nutritional value, and taste. Young calves, young buffaloes, or buffaloes raised for meat are very delicious and have a very high price.

But currently, in our country, we mainly slaughter old buffaloes and discarded buffaloes, so the meat is darker, less tender and has a stronger smell than young buffalo meat, so consumers do not like it. From that reality, it shows that we need to pay attention to exploiting the potential of buffalo meat production, improving the care and feeding process as well as finding measures to improve product quality, including slaughtering and meat processing techniques.

To increase productivity and quality of buffalo meat, it is necessary to fatten buffalo. Fattening buffalo at a young age (from 24 months old) will give a high butchery rate, good meat quality and tenderness, and higher fattening efficiency. Because young buffaloes grow fast and have strong teeth, their ability to digest and assimilate food is better, and their ability to accumulate is also higher.

However, it is also possible to fatten old buffaloes, those that are not able to reproduce and work. This type of buffalo is often weak, has a low meat yield and poor meat quality. Fattening this type of buffalo aims to increase 15 - 20% of body weight. The main method of raising them is grazing on pastures, combined with eating grass, straw and concentrates in the barn.

For the northern provinces, fattening buffalo in the fall is best because of the abundant grass and cool weather. For the southern provinces, buffalo can be fattened all year round, but fattening during the rainy season from May to October is most economical.

Fattening period is usually 3 months.

- First month: clean the barn, deworm the buffalo, feed enough straw and grass. For weak animals, feed them with protein-rich foods to quickly restore their bodies, creating momentum for the following months.

- 2nd month: graze close together, feed grass to satisfaction, increase the amount of concentrated feed, ensure enough drinking water.

- 3rd month: feed buffaloes with foods rich in starch, graze near the barn or confine them completely to limit energy consumption and increase fat accumulation.

In family grazing conditions in our country, there are two suitable fattening methods:

- Fattening by grazing: graze buffalo on the pasture for 8 - 10 hours/day to take advantage of fresh grass without having to spend time collecting and transporting. At night, supplement concentrated feed and salt for buffalo. This fattening method is applied in places with large pastures and relatively good fresh grass productivity, ensuring that buffalo can collect 20 - 25 kg of grass per day.

- Fattening by semi-grazing: applied in areas with little grazing land (plains, suburban areas, industrial zones). Buffaloes can only utilize part or half of the food ration on the grazing land, the rest must be supplemented in the barn, paying attention to concentrate feed.

According to the National Agricultural Extension Center