Beef Cattle Flashcards
What are the 3 types of beef production?
Cow-calf
Cattle feeder/feedlot
Purebred breeders
What is a cow-craft production
Cows bred each year to produce calves and sold to cattle feeders
What is a cattle feeder/ feedlot operation
Grow calves till market
Buy yearlings to finish them in a feedlot
What type of beef production provides replacement bulls ad heifers for cow-calf operations
Purebred breeders
If you are finishing cattle immediately, they are fed mostly _______. A deferred finishing system will have ___________ feed
Grain; roughage and grain
T/F In a immediate finishing production, heifers and fed longer than steers
False
Steer- 275days
Heifer- 230days
What is the MOA of a deferred finishing system?
Caves bought in autum
Wintered on forage
Calves pastured during summer
Fully on grain for 120-150days
If you are using bulls for your cow-calf production, how many bulls should there be for 100 cows
4
T/F: the objective of a cow-calf herd is to produce 1 calf per cow and year
True
When is calving, breeding and weaning occurring in a fall calving calendar
Breeding - dec/jan
Calving- sept/oct
Weaning- june /July
When is calving, breeding and weaning occurring in a spring calving calendar
Breeding - may
Calving - feb
Weaning - sept
A what is the calving interval in a beef herd production
365days
What should the calf weaning weight be?
40-50% of cows weight
What is the average age at weaning ?
150-180 days
What is the gestation period of a cow?
9 months (280days)
What is the BCS of a cow that is physically weak, has muscle atrophy, spine, ribs, and hips are all are visible, and no fat in brisket or flanks
BCS 1
What is the BCS of a cow with and online of 1-2ribs and and outline of the hip and pin bones with some fat in the brisket and flanks?
BCS 5
What is the BCS of a cow that has no outline of the ribs/hip/pin bones, and has a full fat brisket and flanks
BCS 8
What is the ideas BCS of a beefy cow.
5-7
Thin/ low BCS in beef cows are associated with what problems?
Failure to cycle Failure to conceive Increasing calving interval Increased days on estrus Decreased calf vigor
What problems are associated with high BCS in beef cattle?
Costly to maintain
Dystocia
Impaired mobility
Failure to cycle and failure to conceive
What is the ideal BCS of a dairy cow??
3
Dairy cattle are measured on a 5pt scale
Most to least, what beef cows need the most nutrients?
Dry, pregnant, heifers
Lactating cows
Calves
Bulls
Feed costs are _______% of beef production costs/
50-70
How would you increase the efficiency of a pasture?
A. Rotational grazing
B. Use more productive varieties
C. Use the adequate proportion of legumes and grasses
D. Fertilize pasture
All of the above
In a spring calving system, heifers should spend the winter without losing more than ___% of their BW
10
How should you feed your dry, pregnant cows and heifers in the fall?
Fall pasture
Crop residues
Pasture in winter only if possible
During the last 2 months of pregnancy, the needs of the heifer increases. How should these cattle be fed?
Increase protein in diet
-high quality hay
Usually a legume hay, corn silage, and other high proteins hays
Free choice minerals
How do the nutrient requirements differ from a lactating cow to a day cow?
Lactating:
-higher protein (160-270% higher than dry)
- higher energy (36-70%)
- Ca and Phos (100-250%)
Can lactating cows get sufficient nutrients on pasture alone
No
Should be supplemented
High quality pasture
Salt and mineral - free choice
Protein (if legumes are low)
What is creep feeding? What is the benefit?
Providing calves with extra feed besides milk, like grains and commercial feed mix
Prepares rumen for weaning
Improves weight gain
Improve calf uniformity
Aid in parasite control
What are disadvantages of creep feeding?
Economical ?
Impair future milk production of replacement heifers
Interferes with selection of cows for milk production
May lower feedlot grain efficiency
In calves fed by creep feeding, they will begin to eat grain at ____weeks
3
T/F: calve creep feeding is advantageous for the adaption of steers to feedlot finishing
True
Are steers or heifers more efficient and weight gain? Which is finished at lighter weights?
Steers; heifers
Does a calf, yearling, or older feeder cow, have more nutritional needs?
Older feeders > yearling > calves
Given that most cattle arriving on a feedlot have had little grain, how should you adjust their diet to grain?
Start on 60% concentrate and 40% roughage
OR
Start on 80% concerted and 20% roughage
Reduce slowly to 90% grain and 10% roughage
What breed of beef cattle is double muscled?
Belgian blue
What would be your choice for feedlot finishing of a group of steers exclusively fed on natural pasture for the last 6 months?
Start on diet of 60% cereal den 40% roughage and gradually increase the cereal %
What type of beef animals would be more prone to rumentitis and acidosis?
Feedlot steers that are not subjected to creep feeding
Which pasture species is associated t the endophyte fungus that produces ergovaline?
Fescue
What conditions are associated with acidosis in beef cattle ?
Founder (laminitis)
Rumentitis
What is a major cause of bloat in beef cattle?
Green legumes in large amounts, very fast
Rumen swells and animal cannot get rid of gas
Stomach wall protrudes between the ribs and hip bone, swollen like a balloon if pressed
What dis?
Bloat
How can bovine pulmonary emphysema be prevented?
Reduce dust from fee/environment
Reduced concentrate/grain in diet
Put cattle on pasture
What is brisket disease?
Pulmonary emphysema and right sided heart failure
Associated with high altitudes in non-adapted cattle –> enlargement of the neck and swelling of the brisket
Enterotoxemia is associated with cattle on __________ diet and _______ toxins
Concentrate
Clostridium perfringen toxin
What are the symptoms associated with enterotoxemia ?
Lameness
Bloody diarrhea
Bloating
Death in 24hrs
What are symptoms of fescue toxicity?
Cattle do not shed winter coat Cows thin and feverish Reduced calving % Reduced calf weight Conception rate radically decreased Fescue foot
How can fescue toxicity be managed?
Dilute fescue amounts y planting clover or Bermuda grass
Remove toxic fescues and replace with non-toxic fungus
Abnormal teeth and bones Stiff joints Diarrheal Organ damage Appetite loss and emaciaction
All are symptoms of??
Fluorosis
_________ is caused by inadequate blood magnesium levels and is most common in lactating animals grazing on rapidly growing lush (wheat or rye) pastures
Grass tetany
Symptoms
- stiff movement
- loss of appetite
- frequent urination
- convulsions
Treatment of grass tetany?
Magnesium sulphate under the skin
Pasture with high potassium can lead to ?
Grass tetany
Provide mineral block
Use legumes in diet
A build up of ______ in the rumen can lead to methemoglobinemia
Nitrates
Nitrate -> nitrite -> hemoglobin -> methemoglobin
Nitrate poisoning an be associated with what kind of pastures?
Drought
Common in green cut forages
Herd
Dyspnea
Cyanotic membrane
Muscle tumors and weakness
Dark to chocolate coloured blood
Nitrate poisoning
How can nitrate poisoning be prevented
Use silage
High energy feeds (grain)
What clover species is associated with photosensitization ?
Alsike clover
Lameness and shifting
Difficulty standing
Dx, treatment?
Founder AKA laminitis
Reduced concentrate and grain
Increase fiber
Cause of rumentitis that is associated with animals fed on grain and low roughage. Can lead to liver abscess
Fusobacterium necrophorum
(Fermentation –> lactic acid and acidosis –> abnormal rumenal microflora
Deficiency in selenium causes what disease?
White muscle
-> trouble walking, breathing, and heart failure
Which is poisonous to cattle?
Wild black cherry
Pokeweed
Yew
Red oak
All of them you dump ass…
Which metabolic disease is associated to high-altitude?
Brisket disease
Where is Se deficiency more likely to be a problem in a beef cattle herd?
North and South Dakota
Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado
Iowa and Eastern Nebraska
Pacific NW
Pacific NW (Washington state)
