Beef And Dairy Cattle Exam Flashcards
Total Beef cattle in the US Total cows Total Cattle on Feed
Total Beef cattle in the US: 93.6 million Total Cows: 31.2 million cows (90% of cow herds have <100 cows) Total Cattle on Feed: 10.8 million cattle on feed
Top 5 Beef Cattle States (50% of total US $)
1) Texas 2) Nebraska 3) Kansas 4) Colorado 5) Iowa …15) Wyoming 1.3 million cattle 0.7 million beef cattle
Beef Production —> Per Capital Consumption —> Per Capita Spending on Meat
Beef Production -25.8 billion lbs -$78.2 billion —> Per Capital Consumption -65.8 lbs -27.6 lbs of beef 42% —> Per Capita Spending on Meat -Beef: $340 (46.5%) -Pork: $192 -Chicken: $175
Organization of Beef Production
Nutritional Management
- Feed costs 50-70% of annual costs (15-20% for labor costs)
- Maximize the use of roughages, forages,
- Pasture, range
- crop residues
- silage
Emphasis on grazing vs. Harvested forage
- reduced labor, equipment/fuel expense
Pasture and range management
- use animals to manage forage base
- stocking rates
- forage availability
- forage quality
- stocking rates
Harvested forages
- minimize losses during storage and feeding
- can exceed 20-30% of available forage
- protection from exposure to weather
- method of feeding can help control losses
- haybuster vs roundbale feeders
Creep feeding
- supplemental feed for the calf only
- inaccessible to the cows
- added 20-50 lbs. weaning wt
- Decreased demand on cow
- not always economical
- cost of supplemental feed
- decreased psot-weaning gain
- want growth but not fat
- Fat heifers –> impaired milk production
Manage Body Condition
Too thin?
Too fat?
- Too thin
- extended post-partum interval
- Too fat
- not economical (high feed cost)
- negative impact on milk production
- 1: emaciated (little muscle fat)
- 2: very thin (no fat, bones visable)
- 3: Thin (Foreribs visible)
- 4: Borderline (Forerib not visible, 12th and 13th ribs visible)
- 5: Moderate (neither fat nor thin)
- 6: Good (smooth appearance)
- 7: Very Good (Smooth with fat over back and tail head)
- 8: Fat (Blocky, bone over back not visible)
- 9: Very fat (tail buried and in fat)
Choice of calving season
Spring Calving?
Fall Calving?
- Spring Calving (Feb-April)
- coordinates forage available for grazing with period of highest nutrient demand
- Calving –> lactation –> breeding
- Minimize use of harvest forage
- coordinates forage available for grazing with period of highest nutrient demand
- Fall Calving (Sep-Oct)
- better weather at calving, improved calf survival
- takes advantage of seasonal market prices for weaned calves
- increased reliance on harvest forage
Calving Management
- Length of calving season
- 40-60 days
- Uniformity of calf crop, concentration of labor
- Observe “close-ups” every few hours
- Pelvic ligaments relax
The effects of dystocia
- poor calf survivability
- extended post-partum interval
Managing post-calving calf losses
- scours, pneumonia
- protection from weather
- importance of colostrum in 1st 48 hrs of life
Importance of culling programs
- want to remove unprofitable animals
- body condition score
- preg. testing
Replacement Heifer Development
- Average 15% of herd culled/replaced annually
- Two important factors in heifer development
- AGE
- breed heifers to calve at 2 yrs of age
- heifers need to reach puberty by 15 months
- WEIGHT
- target= 65% of mature body weight
- Medium-frame breeds (Angus, Hereford) 650-750 lbs
- Large-frame breeds (terminal crosses) 750-900 lbs
- target= 65% of mature body weight
- AGE
Replacement Heifer Management
- Use low birth weight bulls for heifers
- minimize dystocia
- birth weight EPD’s
- Breed heifers to calve early in calving season
- heifers typically have longer post-partum interval
- increased dystocia
- need to cycle with cow herd at 2nd calving
- heifers typically have longer post-partum interval
- Keep heifers separated from cow herd if possible
- reduced competition for feed
- more intensive management
Cow:Bull ratio
- depends on system
- length of breeding season
- size of pasture, range
- heifers vs. cows
- US Average
- ~ 30:1
Breeding Soundness Exam Checklist
- Physical Examination
- feet and legs
- eyes
- body condition
- indications of illness
- Rectal Examination
- Prostate
- Seminal vesicles
- Ampullae
- Internal inguinal rings
- External Examination
- Testes
- Scrotum
- Penis
- Prepuce
- Semen Evaluation
- Volume
- Color
- Motility
- Morphology
- Mating Desire
- Present
Breeding Program
- Bull Selection
- EPD’s etc.
- Maximize use of crossbreeding
- Crossbred heifers
- Higher conception rates
- Earlier puberty
- Crossbred Calves
- more vigorous
- faster growth rate
- Crossbred heifers
Herd Health Management:
Vaccination Program:
Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) Complex
- IBR (Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis)
- PI3 (Parainfluenza-3)
- BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhea)
- BRSV (Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus)
Herd Health Management:
Vaccination Program:
Brucellosis
- Bang’s Disease
- Transmissible to humans –> Undulant Fever
7-way + Blackleg covers which diseases?
- Leptospirosis
- Vibriosis (Campylobacteriosis)
- Clostridial Diseases
- Blackleg
- Enterotoxemia
- Tetanus
Nutritional Disorders
- Grass tetany
- hypomagnesemia (low blood Mg)
- Lush spring pasture (low forage Mg)
- Milk Fever
- Hypocalcemia (low blood Ca)
- Parturient paresis
- Bloat
- legume (frothy) vs. free gas bloat
Other Diseases/Disorders in Herd Health Management
- calf scours
- coccidiosis
- urinary calculi (water belly)
- pinkeye (moraxella bovis infection)
- foot rot
- lump jaw
- internal and external parasites
- warts, ringworm (viruses)
- brisket disease
- hardware disease
Marketing
Feeder cattle prices vs. Fed cattle prices
- Feeder cattle prices
- weaning (fall) –> low
- pasture availability (spring) –> high
- Fed cattle prices
- highest price in summer
- fall calves finished in spring
- low supplies of feeder cattle in spring, summer
- highest price in summer
Price of Heifer vs. Steer Calves
- Heifers –> lower market price
- Slower growth
- Estrous cycle
- Potential for feedlot pregnancy
Marketing Shrink
- Loss in weight during transport
- 3-12% of body weight
- feces/urine loss
- lack of feed/water
- stress, disease status
- distance transported (1% per hr)
High Gain Potential Calf
- “green”
- light for age
- thin,but healthy
- large frame
- compensatory gain
- increased rate of gain following a period of nutritional restriction
- preconditioned
Low gain potential calf
- sick, unhealthy poor herd health mgt, stressed
- small frame
- heavy and/or fat (possibly creep fed)
- fleshy
Stocker calf nutrition
- roughage-based grower programs
- higher quality forages than cow herd
- typical feeds
- high quality pastures (small grain pastures)
- hay (legume hay- alfalfa)
- silages
- Crop residues (+ supplementation?)
Supplementation
- Protein supplements
- Especially with lower quality forages
- increased forage intake, digestibility
- Energy supplements
- grain (high starch)
- excess may depress forage utilization
- limit to 0.3-0.5% of BW
- Fibrous byproduct feeds
- beet pulp, wheat middlings, ect.
- grain (high starch)
Preconditioning Programs
- Complete herd health management program
- reduce stress
- reduce morbidity, mortality
- increase gain
Typical Preconditioning Program
- Weaning
- 30+ days before sale
- Nutrition
- acclimated to bunk feeding (“bunk-broke”)
- acclimated to non-stream water source
- trace mineral/vitamin supplementation
- Vaccinations
- Treatment for internal and external parasites
- Castration/dehorning
- healed before sale
- Individual indentification
Certification programs for preconditioning
- Extension
- Industry
- average net return from preconditioning $25-33 per head
- over 80% of feedlot operators believe that pre-arrival processing can reduce sickness and death loss in the feedlot
Feedlot nutrition
- high concentrate (grain)/ low roughage diets
- nutritional disorders more common
- Acidosis
- drop in rumen pH due to rapid starch fermentation
- chronic slow grow, death
- importance of adaptation to diet
- gradual shift in microbial population in rumen
- role of roughage in the diet
- Acidosis
Bloat
- Grain bloat (free gas type)
- Treatment
- Trocar, “tubing”