Foreword by Baxter Black, DVM

Chapter 1 Breeds and Genetics: An Overview
Choosing Beef Cattle - Breeds and Types of Beef Cattle - Which Type Is Best? - Inheritance of Traits - Crossbreeding and Hybrid Vigor - Selecting for Certain Characteristics

Chapter 2: Handling and Behavior of Beef Cattle
Basic Cow Psychology - Grazing Behavior - Training Cattle - Moving Cattle - Avoiding Injury

Chapter 3: Issues in Buying and Selling
Buying a Weaned Calf to Raise for Beef - Buying Calves at Auction - Buying from a Farmer - Buying a Heifer - What Makes a Good Beef Cow? - Buying Pregnant Heifers or Cows - Buying Open Yearlings - Marketing Cattle - Dealing with Shrink - Getting Cattle Ready for Market

Chapter 4: General Guidelines for Raising Beef Cattle
Understanding Your Calf's Behavior - Care for the Weaned Calf - Winter Care of the New Calf - Summer Care of the Yearling - The End Product: Beef - Feeds and Finishing

Chapter 5: Pasture, Fencing, and Facilities
Pastures: Sizes and Types - Water - Pasture Fencing - Pens and Facilities - Working in Corrals - Feeding Facilities - Equipment and Supplies

Chapter 6: Feeding Cattle
Basic Nutrition - Digestion - Feeding Forages (Roughages) - Nutritional Needs Vary - Winter Feeding

Chapter 7: Keeping Cattle Healthy
Know What a Healthy Animal Looks Like - Vaccinations - Bovine Respiratory Disease - Clostridial Diseases - Rabies - Coccidiosis - Eye Problems - Foot Rot - Lump Jaw - Bony Lump Jaw - Mastitis in Beef Cows - Hardware Disease - Urinary Calculi (Bladder Stones) - Bloat - Acidosis and Laminitis - Poisoning: Toxic Plants - Emphysema - Nitrate Poisoning - Internal Parasites - External Parasites - Skin Problems - Porcupine Quills - Snakebite - Strangulated Teat from Hairy Udder

Chapter 8: Growing and Breeding Heifers
Feeding Weaned Heifers - Age at Puberty - When to Breed - Nutrition for the Pregnant Yearling - Basics of Reproduction in Cattle - Choosing the Bull and Getting the Heifer Bred

Chapter 9: Care of the Pregnant Cow
Nutrition - Disease Prevention - Problems of Pregnancy

Chapter 10: Calving
Create a Safe Environment for Calving - Calving Facilities - Cold-Weather Calving - Handling Cows at Calving Time - Signs of Approaching Parturition - Minimizing Calving Problems: Getting the Calves Born Alive - First Things First: Get the Calf Breathing

Chapter 11: Care of the Newborn Calf
First Breath - Care of the Umbilical Cord - Helping a Calf to Nurse - Importance of Colostrum - Helping in Different Situations

Chapter 12: Calf Health
Calfhood Immunity: The Role of Antibodies - Castration - Dehorning - Detecting Illness in Young Calves - Managing Scours - Treating Diarrhea and Gut Infections in Calves - Pneumonia in Young Calves - Diphtheria in Calves - Navel Infections and Joint Ill - Catching Calves for Doctoring - Using an Esophageal Feeder - Giving Oral Medications - Broken Bones - Birth Defects in Young Calves

Chapter 13: Weaning the Calves
The Importance of When You Wean - Stress of Weaning - Vaccinations - Dehorning

Chapter 14: Rebreeding
Feeding the Cow after Calving - Cow Fertility - Use of Bulls - Reproductive Behavior of Cows and Bulls - Breeding Ability of Bulls - Artificial Insemination

Glossary
Resources
Metric Conversion Charts
Index