Livestock Management RANCHING


aren’t gaining weight. While poor weight gain can be due to a number of reasons, it is most generally from respiratory disease lung damage. “We can try to salvage those animals and not carry


them into the winter, because they just don’t hold up well to environmental extremes,” he says. Maintain high animal health welfare standards and move chronically sick cattle out of the operation. Spire says more feedyards are coordinating with


stocker operations, asking them to use specifi c vaccina- tion programs and treatments. The record prices have had a lot to do with stimulating communications. This can include requests that the calves be dewormed, or that they receive specifi c boosters, trace minerals or a transition ration. Many in the industry are moving to what he calls


“satellite herds” that are owned by the feedyard during the grass phase. He says, “We’re seeing a lot of cattle come in at 900 pounds now, so it’s really important that the feedyard coordinate with their suppliers to have a nice health program set up in advance. That way, they know what health program the cattle are on before they come into the yard.” This helps the feedyards manage their risk of losing a high-priced calf.


Proper diet components Diet and its many aspects are obviously crucial to


developing stocker cattle. Dr. Dale Blasi, Extension professor and researcher at Kansas State University (KSU), researches the nutrition management of stocker calves. He models his work on research done at Okla- homa State University’s (OSU) old Pawhuska unit, and by Drs. David Hutcheson and Andy Cole at Texas A & M’s station in Amarillo on light-weight, stressed calves and growing programs for stocker cattle. He says, “We take long-hauled stressed calves, pre-


dominantly from western Tennessee, and straighten them out for about 45 days. Then we’ll continue a performance study on their growth for another 45 to 70 days.” Their basic growing diet is approximately one-third


rolled corn, but Blasi says they’ve had good success using whole shelled corn with lighter weight calves. They also found a good response when wet corn


gluten feed was added to the mix. For the forage component, he stresses the importance


of keeping the particles coarse enough for good rumen action. “We use about 15 percent alfalfa in our diet,” he says. Forage particles that are too fi ne can lead to


TO DAM OR TO BE


DAMNED


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