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Topics of Interest

Beef Cow Efficiency

Perhaps the greatest single factor affecting your profitability as a beef producer.


Body Condition Scoring

Use body condition scores (BCS) to improve herd nutrition and efficiency.

 

Feeding & Feedstuffs

Maximize pasture utilization and optimize feeding of harvested forages and supplements to efficiently meet the nutritional needs
of your herd.

 


 


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January 20, 2010


HEALTH & NUTRITION...

winter woesWinter Woes

Snowstorms, high winds and low temperatures can cause cattle production loss.

Cattle typically can withstand a single snowstorm. However, this winter's back-to-back snowstorms combined with high winds and low temperatures mean cattle may not make it to market as fast, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) beef cattle specialist says.

Keeping cattle fed, dry and comfortable is critical for accomplishing production goals, said Terry Mader, UNL beef cattle specialist.

"These wintry conditions mean producers must put forth greater efforts to ensure cattle have adequate access to feed and water, and producers also must provide greater quantities of feed to offset the extra energy they need to maintain desired levels of production," Mader said. "Under cold and windy conditions, which we are experiencing this winter, cattle energy requirements just for maintenance increase by at least 50%." Read more.



RBCS XXI coverage:

Select for Disease Resistance

Research indicates selection for resistance to BRD is possible.

See our coverage of RBCS

Researchers at Colorado State University (CSU) are working to determine whether the presence or absence of certain genes determines an animal's ability to resist disease. During the 2009 Range Beef Cow Symposium in Casper, Wyo., Colorado State University (CSU) graduate student Brian Brigham described ongoing studies at CSU's Center for Genetic Evaluation of Livestock.

Brian Brigham

CSU research has yielded an estimated heritability of BRD resistance of up to 0.18, graduate student Brian Brigham said.


Brigham said past research involving beef animal resistance to horn flies and ticks showed genetic selection for resistance to parasites is possible. Success in this area has prompted studies related to resistance to bovine respiratory disease (BRD). Thus far, the CSU research has yielded an estimated heritability of up to 0.18.

"That suggests we can start to select for resistance to BRD. We need more data, but there is ample incentive to get it," Brigham said, citing the estimated $3 billion the beef industry spends on prevention and treatment of respiratory disease in cattle.

CSU researchers hope to develop DNA tests for identifying animals that are genetically superior with regard to feedlot health. Year 1 results of the study also suggest animals entering the feedlot at heavier weights are more resistant to sickness, as are those subject to the least amount of processing stress. Animals that do become sick typically perform well below contemporaries that remain healthy. Brigham said temperament also appears to have an affect on average daily gain.

For more coverage from Range Beef Cow Symposium XXI, visit www.rangebeefcow.com.


Selenium makes a difference

Selenium (Se) is a "micromineral" required in very small quantities in the diet of beef cattle. However, if the diet of a beef cow is deficient in selenium, symptoms such as nutritional muscular dystrophy in calves (white muscle disease), infertility, abortions, stillbirths or retained placenta can occur. The proper level of supplementation of selenium depends on the geographical location of the herd, the amount of selenium provided in the feedstuffs, the selenium concentration of the mineral supplement and the daily intake of mineral. Read more.


Frothy Bloat Research Uses New Tool

Researchers study microbes in cattle to unlock metabolic disease mysteries.

Switching from warm-season grasses to cool-season forages can give livestock a bellyache, in some cases a deadly one, according to Texas AgriLife Research scientists. Bill Pinchak, Texas AgriLife Research animal nutritionist at Vernon, is leading a team of scientists who are using state-of-the-art technology — metagenomics — to determine how changes in diet affect microbial communities in the digestive tract of cattle and how these changes may increase the risk of disease. Read more.


Rick Rasby

Rick Rasby

Ridin’ Herd

Give them a chance to be productive cows

Calving season has either started or is just around the corner. You've spent a lot of time selecting, managing and designing a breeding program for the females that are about to calve for the first time. If the replacements are selected from your herd, these heifers won't generate any income for almost two and a half years when they wean their first calf. Feed costs are the greatest costs in the beef cow enterprise. Skimping on the groceries for first-calf females after calving is not a place to save on feed costs. Read more.


Dilute High-Nitrate Feeds to Avoid Problems

Annuals, perennials and legumes can all develop high levels of nitrates when stressed or lightly frozen. Nitrates convert to nitrites after being eaten, and this compound ties up hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying part of the blood. Affected animals show respiratory distress and may suffocate. Other symptoms include drooling, nervousness, convulsions, diarrhea and abortion. Producers can use feedstuffs containing nitrates if they manage them properly, says Barry Yaremcio, beef and forage specialist in Alberta, Canada. Read more.


calving tool
Handy Tool for Calving Problems

Veterinarian James England of the University of Idaho Caine Center says the main thing with a difficult birth is to take your time and try to straighten the calf to where it can be pulled.

"One of the things I use, especially with a turned-back neck, is a tool I've made that's a rod with a U or Y shape on one end," England explains. "I can put the curved end in the corner of the mouth and hold the head up while I reach down with the other hand to manipulate the calf." This is helpful if it's difficult to get two arms in the cow at the same time. It also helps if the cow is standing up, giving you more room to maneuver the calf. If she's lying down, the pressure of her rumen and abdominal contents are against the calf and uterus.

To make this tool, England uses a rod 5/16-inch (in.) in diameter. He bends it with gloved hands after heating it with a cutting torch. Overall length of the finished tool is about 30 in. The U- or Y-shaped end (for holding or pushing the calf) has a 2.5-in. outside width, 1.5-in. inside width and is 2.5 in. deep.

"Where it comes together on the Y, I weld it so it can't move around or cut the calf or cow," England says.

The other end is made into a handle.

"A T- or L-shaped handle can be placed against your shoulder as you're reaching inside the cow for corrections," he explains.

"A lot of calves with a head turned back are hard to get because even when you pull the head up it goes right back down again," he says. This handy tool can prevent that problem and help you keep head and neck in proper position as you start to pull the calf.

"This tool also works nicely when trying to correct a breech calf — when you have to push him back into the uterus to straighten each hind leg and get it into the birth canal. I place the end of it at the calf's rectum and push the calf forward enough to get in there with my hand and straighten the legs," he says.


New Year Means New Regulation for Texas Cattle

As of Jan. 1, 2010, Texas bulls that undergo a change of ownership (except to harvest) must be either certified as a virgin bull or tested for trichomoniasis (trich), a protozoal disease that can cause cows to abort very early in pregnancy. Infected bulls carry the microscopic "bug" that causes trich without any signs and can transmit the single-celled protozoa to cows during breeding.

"There is no effective treatment for bulls, and once infected, they can continue to spread trichomoniasis when they breed," said veterinarian Dee Ellis, who, on Jan. 1, became Texas' state veterinarian and head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC). "Infected cows may clear the infection, but only if they are given rest from breeding for 120-150 days — an expensive option, as a calf crop will be missed. A vaccine also is available to help in the management of infected cows, but it will not prevent infection." Read more.


Cattle Diseases: Common Conditions/Terms

Click here for a list of common conditions and terms related to beef cattle diseases, such as anaplasmosis, brucellosis, BVD, E. coli, IBR and others.

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