Livestock Management RANCHING
Consider Cow Condition After Weaning and Well Before Calving
Minimal demands from a calf or fetus make mid-gestation a good time to adjust the condition of your cows.
By Gary DiGiuseppe I
MMEDIATELY AFTER WEANING, THE BEEF COW IS AT THE TIME of year when she has the lowest energy require- ments. Her last calf is weaned and she is not lactat-
ing. Her next calf is still a fetus and making minimal nutritional demands on her. So, getting her the proper nutrition at this time is
based on this factor: Is she in good enough shape to carry her calf to term and then rebreed on time, or does she need to build up her energy stores? Dr. Brandon Nuttelman, beef cattle technical ser-
vices for Merck Animal Health, says if cows are in adequate body condition, they do not need to be fed a high energy diet. “However, if cows are in poor body condition and need to gain weight to obtain an optimal body condition score prior to calving, this is the time when the majority of the energy consumed by the cow will go toward body weight gain,” he says. Body condition score (BCS) is the best indicator of
a cow’s energy status. There are multiple scales from different universities and researchers, but one of the most common scales goes from 1 to 9, with 1 being extremely thin and 9 being extremely fat.
96 The Cattleman October 2015 “The target BCS for mature cows is a 5,” Nuttel-
man says. According to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, you
will not see the spine of a cow with a BCS of 5, but you may see 1 or 2 ribs. The cow’s hooks and pins are visible, her tailhead and brisket carries no fat, and her muscling is full. “If you score the condition of your cows at wean-
ing, this can serve as a guide to helping determine the cow’s nutritional needs for the next couple of months so she is prepared for calving. Once you determine the nutritional needs and a diet for the coming months, you can evaluate your plan by monitoring the change over time in the cow’s BCS,” Nuttelman says. To monitor gradual changes in the cow’s body
condition, he says, observe the backbone and the hips of the cow. There are a number of technical bulletins on how to score the body condition of beef cattle. A change up or down 1 level in BCS is about 75 pounds, which can be tough to detect if you see your cattle every day. “It is good to revisit a tech bulletin to make sure those
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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