Unit 3 - Gestation Management Flashcards
What are the 6 key activities involved in gestation management?
1) Pregnancy Diagnosis
2) Performance Evaluation
3) Phenotype Evaluation
4) Parasite Control
5) Nutritional Evaluation
6) Preparation for the pre-calving period
What are the 3 major functions of the Gestation Management period?
1) identification of breeding females for retention
2) health maintenance
3) preparation for increased nutritional demands of the pre-calving period.
What are the 2 types of benefits that come from early pregnancy detection?
1) cost savings
2) forage resource conservation
What form of preg checking can detect a pregnancy at 60 to 90 days?
Rectal Palpation
What form of preg checking can detect pregnancy at 30 days?
Trans-rectal ultrasound
Beef cows should be culled from breeding herds and marketed according to what performance criteria?
1) open (non-pregnant)
2) failed to wean a calf
3) poor calf performance (poor milk/late calving)
4) poor maternal behavior
5) previous calving difficulties (dystocia)
6) poor disposition
7) obvious lameness
What physical (phenotypic) traits in beef cows should be considered for culling?
1) poor udder
2) excessively worn or missing teeth
How often should parasite control be administered in Kansas?
Twice annually. Stop deworming after 2 years of age.
Failure to control parasite infestation causes what 2 types of cases?
1) In clinical cases
2) In subclinical cases
What symptoms will occur in “in clinical cases”?
1) unthriftiness
2) anemia
3) weight loss
What symptoms will occur in “in subclinical cases”?
1) decreased feed efficiency
2) delayed pregnancy
3) milk production
4) immune response
When should parasite control be applied?
Post-weaning
What are the 5 keys to selecting the correct parasite control product?
1) target parasites
2) timing
3) efficacy
4) route of administration
5) value
List the nutritional priorities from highest to lowest.
1) maintenance
2) growth
3) Lactation
4) Fetal growth
5) breeding
6) body reserve
What are the impacts of inadequate nutrition during mid and late gestation?
-calving difficulty more likely
-reduced calf survival
-inadequate calf immunity
-reduced milk production and calf growth
-delayed estrus and delayed conception
-reduced weaning weights following year due to later calving dates
What is the equivalent of a change of 1 body condition score?
It is equal to a change in body weight of 100 lbs (mature cow) or 80 lbs ( heifer)
What’s is the scale range for body condition in beef cows?
1 (emaciated) - 9 (obese)
Cow body condition measure what?
Relative fleshiness
Body condition is directly proportional to what?
1) calving
2) reproductive performance
What is used to allow quantitative management of cow nutrition?
Body condition evaluation
What is the ideal form of assessing body condition?
Tactile assessment
Why are visual assessment not ideal for body condition?
It can lead to erroneous score.
-all animals are structured uniquely.
-minor differences in gut fill can cause major differences in appearance.
- hide color and degree of lighting can mask true body condition.
How many areas of anatomical reference should you always use?
Two
What are Professor Olsons 3 prefered anatomical reference points to assess body condition?
1) palpate the spine just posterior to the withers
2) palpate ribs just posterior to the point of the shoulder
3) palpate both sides of the tail head
