Weaning spring calves could also be extra of a problem this 12 months due to brief pasture provides and the questionable dietary worth of this 12 months’s hay crop.
“Pay very shut consideration to physique situation rating in September and be ready to wean, if obligatory,” stated Gene Schmitz, College of Missouri Extension livestock specialist in Sedalia.
Schmitz just lately labored by means of a feeding state of affairs for a producer that highlights some important factors.
The producer supplied a forage evaluation of some rye hay. It was very low in protein (6.1%) and vitality (47% complete digestible vitamins). “That isn’t stunning based mostly on the moist spring and subsequent delays in getting hay harvested,” Schmitz stated. “His plan is to feed this to dry, spring-calving cows this winter.”
Three totally different feeding choices have been explored, based mostly on the physique situation rating of the cows:
- If the cows are in ample physique situation, BCS 5, the supplemental feed want for this hay is 4 kilos per head per day of a mixture of one-third every corn gluten feed, soybean hull pellets and rolled corn to fulfill nutrient necessities of mid-gestation cows.
- If the cows are skinny and physique situation must be added, the speed of physique situation rating enhance is vital. Including one-fourth BCS per 30 days, about 20 to 25 kilos of cow acquire per 30 days, requires the complement feeding price to extend to 7 kilos per head per day of the one-third commodity combine talked about above.
- Assuming the cows want so as to add BCS on the price of one-half BCS per 30 days, roughly 40 to 50 kilos of acquire per 30 days, the complement price jumps to 10 kilos per head per day of the one-third commodity combine.
How can producers forestall getting themselves into this field?
“Merely don’t let BCS slip on the cows to the extent that excessive feeding measures are wanted to appropriate the issue,” Schmitz stated.
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