Beef Cattle

Question 1

at what age should a beef cow have her first baby

Answer 1

2 years

Question 2

how often should beef cows have a calf

Answer 2

every year

Question 3

how long is cow gestation in months?

Answer 3

9 months

Question 4

at what age are calves weaned?

Answer 4

6-7 months

Question 5

what is the equation for calf crop?

Answer 5

weaned/# cows exposed to a bull

Question 6

how long is cow gestation in days?

Answer 6

approx 280

Question 7

how many days is a cow’s estrus cycle?

Answer 7

21

Question 8

to calve every 365 days, a cow only has _________

Answer 8

one 21 day estrous cycle to get pregnant

Question 9

who is more fertile: cows or heifers?

Answer 9

heifers

Question 10

who has a higher dystocia risk: heifers or cows? why?

Answer 10

heifers because they are not yet at their mature body weight and are smaller

Question 11

what are 3 things you can do for calving management?

Answer 11

• precalving vaccinations
• minimize neg effects of dystocia
• colostrum management

Question 11

why do we do precalving vaccinations?

Answer 11

it allows for passive transfer of immunity to the fetus to help protect against neonatal calf diseases

Question 12

list some pros and cons for having a Jan/Feb calving

Answer 12

• weaned calves are larger=more $$$
• coldest part of the year
• labor intensive
• need more feed for dams

Question 13

list some pros and cons of having a March/April/May calving

Answer 13

• temperature isn’t as cold
• don’t need as much feed for dams
• finished calves are marketed during lower prices=less $$$
• spring storms can cause disease and death for calves
  interferes with grain farming

Question 14

when should you do pre-breeding vaccinations? what else should you do at the same time?

Answer 14

45 days prior to the giant cow orgy

also give anthelmintic treatments

body condition score the entire herd

Question 15

what are the main diseases we vaccinate against before breeding?

Answer 15

• infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR, also bovine herpesvirus type 1, BHV-1)
• Bovine viral diarrhea type 1 and type 2 (BVD)

Question 16

how does body condition score effect the re-breeding of cattle after they have calved?

Answer 16

cows in good body condition start cycling again sooner after they’ve calved, compared to cows in thin body condition who take longer to start cycling again after they’ve calved

Question 17

who do you want to cull, those with larger pelvic size or those with smaller pelvic size?

Answer 17

those with smaller pelvic size–>selecting for larger pelvic size does not prevent dystocia

Question 18

when doing your reproductive soundness evaluation 6 weeks prior to breeding, what are you looking for? (aka, what do you want, and what do you NOT want?)

Answer 18

not good: immature uterus with no palpable follicles or the follicles are small, freemartinism, is already pregnant, or is skinny

good: not cycling but has palpable follciles and good uterine tone

best: cycling (CL present and/or follicles that are more than 10mm, good uterine tone)

Question 19

we want heifers to be ___%BW at breeding and ___%BW at first calving

Answer 19

65%, 85%

Question 20

When selecting replacement heifers, why do you want the ones that are born in the first 42 days of calving season?

Answer 20

heifer calves born in the first 3 weeks will be larger and reach puberty sooner. replacement heifers have an earlier breeding season and they also take longer to start cycling again after having a baby compared to cows. heifers also have a longer lactational anestrus, around 100 days compared to 60 in a mature cow. If you select the heifers that are born sooner it allows you to manage this and sync them up with the cows. (I think????)

Question 21

why is the breeding season for heifers 30-42 days prior to cow breeding season?

Answer 21

because first calf heifers take longer to come back into heat after they calve, so we do this in order to sync them with the other cows

Question 22

how long is lactational anaestrus for first calf heifers? compare this to lactational anaestrus for cows?

Answer 22

100 days

60 days

Question 23

how many days are there between calving and the next pregnancy? how did you get this number?

Answer 23

365-280(gestation)=85 days

Question 24

what percent of the herd do we want to get pregnant in their FIRST estrus cycle after calving?

Answer 24

65% approx

Question 25

why do we want majority of cows to get pregnant earlier on in the breeding cycle after calving?

Answer 25

it results in higher weaning weights which is more money for the producer, about $80 per calf. they also have better marbling scores

Question 26

is it more important to identify open cows or preggy cows?

Answer 26

open cows since we assume those are the minority

Question 27

when can you make a pregnancy diagnosis? what are two ways you can do this?

Answer 27

6-8 weeks after bull removal

either ultrasound or palpation

Question 28

besides just the pregnancy diagnosis, what else should we check the cow for?

Answer 28

BCS; if they are too skinny they are more likely to be open

Question 29

how many cows usually get pregnant and have a calf from a single mating?

Answer 29

60-70%

Question 30

if a cow and bull breed and the gets pregnant but then aborts, can she still have a calf that same year?

Answer 30

yes, most embryo loss happens by day 14, and then the cow will start cycling again when expected