Keeping cattle fed right and properly cared for can be the difference between winning and losing.
Cattle that have their nutritional and environmental needs met will perform at an optimum level, which in turn gives the stockman, a greater profit. Cattle that don’t have these needs met, on the other hand, will have poor health and performance, and could even die, leading to costly losses. When feeding and maintaining recently bred heifers and cows, producers need to ensure that they – and their developing calves – get everything they require.
First, it is important to understand a cow’s needs in different stages of her gestation and lactation period, according to Livestock Specialist Eldon Cole with the University of Missouri Extension.
“A 1,200 pound, lactating cow that’s producing 20 pounds of milk per day needs 30 pounds of dry matter per day,” Eldon said. “The feed should have 58 percent total digestible nutrients (TDN) and 9.8 percent crude protein. The percent calcium should be 0.28 and the phosphorus level should be 0.19. Good quality hay meets these needs.”
According to the Nutritional Requirements for Beef Cows, there are three stages of a cows reproductive cycle: the lactating cow the first 90 days after calving; the gestating cow in the middle one-third of pregnancy, and the gestating cow in the last one-third of pregnancy. The early stages of a recently bred heifer or cow falls under the first one-third of pregnancy, and while this stage does not specifically fall under any special requirements, there are still steps that farmers and ranchers can take to make sure animals are properly fed and maintained.
“Just after breeding occurs, the primary goal should be to keep the cattle quiet and comfortable, including a neutral to positive plane of nutrition,” advised Dr. David Lalman of Oklahoma State University. “This means that handling and nutritional stress should be avoided. Early embryonic loss can be caused by severe weight loss, restriction of water, shipping and other handling stress, rapid changes in diet, and more.”
Lalman went on a diet or grazing program that is similar to what they were getting prior to breeding, assuming it was adequate, and to continue a salt and mineral supplementation program balanced to provide the minerals and vitamins lacking in the forage base.
Producers should also monitor the conditions in the field, to avoid stress on recently bred females.
“A cow or heifer is prone to embryonic death loss up to about 42 days of gestation; a loss in weight and other stressors such as high body temperatures can contribute to the loss,” Cole said.
If cows have calved for the spring in February and are being re-bred in the middle of May, it is imperative to their health that shade be provided to them, either in the form of shade trees in the pasture, or a man-made structure that offers relief from the hot sun. If your recently bred cows are running on pasture heavy in fescue endophyte, hot weather can make this an unsafe grazing situation – Cole suggests switching to pastures with a different type of grass, if possible.
