Bovine Flashcards
What are the 6 nutrients bovine require?
Energy, protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, water
What percentage of of health-related diseases in large animals can
be related to improper nutrition?
90%
What factors effect nutrient requirements?
Breed, sex, age, size, stage and level of production
If cattle have adequate feed, how many hours a day do they spend laying down to rest and ruminate?
9-12 hours
In order of digestion what are the 4 parts of a cow’s stomach?
Rumen, reticulum, omasum, abomasum
How many days does it take for food to pass through a cow’s digestive tract?
1-3 depending on what they eat
The reticulo-rumen contains what percentage of the total digestive tract capacity?
50%
True or False - Digesta flows freely between the reticulum and rumen
True
What are the two biggest populations of microbes in the rumen and reticulum and do they do?
Bacteria and protozoa - have the ability to digest many types of plant materials (ruminants can survive on grass and water alone)
Where is most feed fermented?
Reticulo-rumen
What does the term “chewing the cud” refer to?
When large food particles are regurgitated, chewed again and re-swallowed
What do rumen bacteria digest?
Cellulose, hemicellulose, starch, sugar, organic acids, protein or fat
pH plays an overall important roll in digestion, what pH level is ideal?
6
Some bacteria produce what to synthesize vitamins?
Ammonia or methane
The omasum contains what percentage of the digestive tract capacity?
6-8%
What does the omasum resemble?
Folds of a book
What happens in the omasum?
Water is reabsorbed from digesta and particle size further reduced
The abomasum is referred to as the what?
True stomach
What does the abomasum secrete?
Digestive enzymes that break feed down into proteins, vitamins, simple carbohydrates, fats and amino acids for absorption into the small intestine
What are the energy requirements of a cow and which one is a main source?
CHO, fats, protein - CHO being the main source
Where is fiber broken down?
In the rumen by microflora and volatile fatty acids
True or False - Fats should be fed at low levels as microbes do not like high amounts
True
True or False - Protein is fed often as it is cost efficient
False - protein is not fed often due to the high cost
True or False - Microbes are feed specific
True - Different bugs for different feed sources (abrupt feed changes can cause bloat)
Why might we want to add fat to a cows diet?
Increase energy levels & palatability
Decrease dustiness
Improve hair coat
Absorption of fat soluble vitamins
Why do young ruminants require sufficient essential amino acids whereas mature ruminants require a supply of protein or nitrogen?
Mature animals can get the essential amino acids from the rumen microbes
What are the 3 different types of feed sources?
Roughages or forages
Legumes
Grasses
What are examples of roughages or forages?
Pasture, range plants, green-chop, silages, and dry forages like hay or chopped corn stalks
What are some examples of legumes?
Alfalfa, red clover, sweet clover, white clover
Roughages or forages in a concentrate can be fed in which two ways?
Carbonaceous, proteinaceous
What is a carbonaceous feed?
Corn, oats, sorghum, barley, rye and wheat
What is a proteinaceous feed?
Urea, biuret, phosphate, ammonium, sulfate, soybean meal, cottonseed meal, sunflower meal or safflower meal
Green is for ______________ and yellow is for _______________
Food, bedding
What 5 factors can we base our visual evaluation of hay quality on?
Maturity
Texture, odor and condition
Foreign material - weeds, dirt, dust, foreign material
Leafiness - leaves contain highly digestible energy and 2/3 of protein found in hay
Color -
When assessing the maturity of hay quality, what things should you look for?
Alfalfa in vegetative (pre-bud) stage has highest nutritional value, increases palatability/ digestibility
When assessing the texture, odor and condition of hay quality, what things should you look for?
Soft and pliable to touch, smell of newly mown hay, white or bluish powdery appearance and excessive dust may indicate mold
When assessing for foreign material in hay, what things should you look for?
Weeds, wire, presence of dirt, dust and trash
Why is leafiness of hay important?
Leaves contain highly digestible energy and at least 2/3 of the protein found in hay
What does the color of hay indicate?
Bright green - proper curing, good palatability, rich in vitamins (carotene which is converted to vitamin A)
What type of vitamins are cows able to make themselves?
Water-soluble
What vitamins are of concern when it comes to supplementing in a cows diet?
A, D, E
Within how many days does the destruction of fat soluble vitamins in cut feeds occur?
90
Diets ___________ in grain or _____________ in green forages may be low in vitamin A
High, low
Vitamin A deficiency causes what in cows?
Decreased fertility, bone development and feed efficiency as well as increased disease and illness
True or False - Sun cured forages provides Vitamin D
True
Vitamin D deficiency causes what?
Rickets, weak deformed calves, dead calves
What vitamin has poor placental transfer but adequate levels in milk to provide the calf what it needs?
Vitamin E
Low levels of vitamin E implicated with selenium can lead to what problems?
White muscle disease and reproductive issues causing cows to abort
What are 3 ways we can supplement vitamin A, D and E?
Injections - 2x during the winter
Free choice - variable intake
Force feeding in grain and silage - Best way but must be fresh growing forages
What provides vitamin K and where is it synthesized?
Green forage, synthesized by rumen bacteria
What can cause a deficiency in vitamin K?
Consuming moldy sweet clover
High grain diets may cause ____________ to be destroyed by rumen enzymes and production of analogs (water soluble vitamin)
Thiamin
What are some sources of calcium?
Roughages, limestone, dicalcium phosphate, bone meal, oyster shell
What does calcium help with?
Nerve transmission, clotting, digestion, biochemical reactions
What are some sources of phosphorus?
Grain, canola meal, phosphoric acid, defluorinated rock
What does phosphorus do?
Helps with biochemical reactions, energy production and is a component of bone and teeth
What does salt do?
Maintains osmotic pressure
Maintains acid/ base balance
Nerve transmission
Transport of amino acids
HCl in stomach for digestion
Activation of digestive enzymes
Regulation of blood pH
What are some sources of salt?
Salt blocks, loose salt
