tion. There are several techniques that can be used, from total eye enucleation (removal) to freezing, which is probably the most popular method to control cancer eye.” There are 2 forms of lump jaw.
As cows get
older, one key driver behind reproductive
It can take the form of a soft tissue abscess caused by infected wounds in the cow’s mouth, or it can infect the bone. Both forms are caused by soil-borne organisms. The soft tissue version is caused by the bacterium
slacking is teeth.
Senior rations Older cows need different rations.
“Mature cows can tolerate a lot lower quality forages than young cows. Up to about 4 years of age, the youngest cows are the highest dietary energy demanders,” Spire says. “Our better milking cows in that
middle-aged bracket also tend to need a higher nutritional quality.” For the older animal, the nutri-
Actinobacillus and can be treated by lancing, draining and disinfecting the abscess. Bony lump jaw is called actinomycosis and is caused
by Actinomyces bovis. It cannot be treated in this man- ner. If it spreads it can affect the animal’s ability to eat. A veterinarian can best help in its treatment.
Special senior management Spire says in addition to preserving the cow’s use-
ful life on the ranch, forming a special management group to more effectively deal with these health prob- lems and others also addresses concerns about proper animal handling. “We know they’re more prone to lumps, bumps,
lameness,” he says, “and eye and bag problems. When we identify these conditions early, we can make a de- cision — can she have medical intervention where we correct the problem while it’s still fresh, or do we need to market that animal? It comes back to animal welfare and becomes a pain and suffering issue.” And it becomes an economic issue. With cows often
bringing $1,000 and more, it’s a lot cheaper to deal with bad eyes, udders and infections through timely medi- cal intervention than to let the maladies develop and absorb a big discount later at the stockyard.
Older cows, less calving trouble One less major headache managing older cows is at
calving where calf delivery is less of a concern than it is for a fi rst- or second-calf heifer. “Her pelvis is large enough, and she’s been through
the process long enough, that calf should come out really easy,” Spire says. “If you see an old cow really working at it for about 30 minutes of active labor you’d better go and check her, because it’s very likely she’s going to have a problem. Typically, it’s either a head turned, or a leg turned, or a backward calf. So I like to intervene more quickly than I would a heifer.”
tscra.org
tion needed to maintain condition moves back to a maintenance level, which is another reason, he says, to keep them in a separate group. “We don’t have to pour the groceries into them even
after they’ve calved and are milking. They don’t put out the volume of milk that we see in a 4- to 8-year- old cow. Because of that, there’s the opportunity for savings there on our winter feed costs and our spring calving feed costs.” If the old cow comes up open, economics dictate
she’s headed to town, though not necessarily right away. Spire says some operations are large enough to establish an even more selective management program for the cow that has outlived her reproductive capacity. “There are some options that we can use on manag-
ing culled cows,” he says. “If we have forage or cheaper feedstuffs available, one of the most common ones is holding those cows over to a better market time of the year, which typically happens after the fi rst of the calendar year.” If the culled cows are well-restricted and kept in
confi nement, they can put on condition very readily and cheaply and bring an even better price at the sale barn. Spire says the strong prices for calves have a lot of producers holding on to open young or middle-aged cows as well, provided there isn’t a disease component like trichomoniasis or campylobacter. “But when the old cow opens up, the chances of her
rebreeding are going to be pretty low, so they tend to be a group that we’ll take right to town — or put into a separate management group,” he says. Managing old cows is a lot less challenging than
managing young stock. With replacement costs out of the way, annual maintenance costs lower, and young animal disease issues put aside, management can focus on maintaining longevity and dealing with older cow age issues that are quite manageable. The old cow has earned her keep, so keeping her around can increase overall ranch profi tability.
July 2014 The Cattleman 51
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