Health & Nutrition

Create a Nonfreeze Water Trough

Canadian cattlemen share tips on preventing water tanks from freezing.

Gerald and Pat Vandervalk of Claresholm, Alta., Canada, solved the challenges of winter water for their cattle by innovative troughs to capture water from springs on their ranch.

The water systems Gerald created from big tires work well in several situations, and he now sells some to other ranchers.

“We are fortunate on our ranch because we have so many springs; we don’t have to pump any water,” he says.

To ensure a healthy breeding bull, feed enough energy and protein.

The bull supplies half of the genetics for your calf crop, so you want to make sure your bulls are fertile, healthy, sound and in good body condition through winter.

Young bulls are still growing, so they need adequate energy and protein to supply their needs for growth, as well as maintenance, body condition and body heat on a cold winter day. According to John McKinnon, professor and Saskatchewan beef industry chair at the University of Saskatchewan, a bull’s nutrient requirements during winter depend a lot on his age, body condition after coming off pasture and what your target weight is for that bull for the next breeding season.

Balanced approach to vaccine safety, efficacy.

You want a cattle vaccine that’s both safe and effective, but sometimes you have to choose which of those ideals gets the upper hand. That’s according to Paul Walz, the Auburn University veterinarian who spoke at the Feeding Quality Forum late this summer in Sioux City, Iowa.

Vaccination programs must be true to the label protocols, yet individualized for each farm or ranch and the level of risk they can accept.

Veterinarian highlights prevalent loss-causing diseases that don’t involve any acronyms.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) gets a lot of attention in the cattle business. Rightly so, but there are other less-diagnosed health issues that could be affecting feedlot cattle. No matter the ailment, early diagnosis and treatment equals success. With cattle, though, most illnesses are difficult to diagnose. Lameness issues are costly — 16% of all treatments, 5% of deaths, and 70% of railer carcasses at slaughter, says AJ Tarpoff, Kansas State University assistant professor and extension beef veterinarian.

Distillers’ grains offer ration benefits, but be aware of sulfur levels.

With winter just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about protein and energy supplementation again. There are many advantages to supplementing your winter feeding program with distillers’ grains or products made with distillers’ grains. However, there are also some disadvantages that need to be considered before feeding decisions are made.

Four tips offered for getting the most parasite control.

When you are deworming your cattle this fall with an oral drench dewormer, focus more on the amount of parasite control you get from the product and less about the dosage volume.

A higher-volume dose isn’t a bad thing for parasite control with oral drench. Benzimidazole products work best through prolonged exposure of parasites to “toxic” concentrations of dewormers. With a large rumen and abomasum, a higher-volume dose is more likely to expose parasites to the active ingredient and help improve product efficacy.

Severe weather across the United States is resulting in high risk for mycotoxins.

Each growing season can present its own unique challenges, from hot temperatures and drought to excess rainfall and flooding. Extreme weather conditions can reduce yield, delay harvest, increase plant stress and lead to future issues for the crop, including molds and mycotoxins.

Mycotoxins are a concern for livestock producers, as they influence feed quality and animal safety. They are produced by certain species of molds and can have toxic properties that impact animal health and performance.

ANGUS BEEF BULLETIN EXTRA