Breeding season occurs during the hottest summer months which may affect conception. Summer Calving Summer calving herds usually calve in the months of June and July, with calves born on pasture. Advantages Less labour and infrastructure required since cows calve on pasture. Winter feed costs are reduced. Disadvantages Time commitments may overlap with other chores such as seeding, spraying and haying. Predation and flies may be a challenge to calves. May have to over winter calves.
Handling animals on larger pastures may be difficult. Calves need to be tagged immediately after birth, otherwise may be difficult to locate on expansive pasture. May have increased udder problems due to higher lactation yields.
Cows having calving difficulties maybe left too long or overlooked. Suckling of late lactation cows require a higher investment in feed. Difficult to pinpoint a good time to wean as the long cold stretches usually coincide with desired time to wean.
Fall Calving Fall calving herds usually calve in the months of August, September and October and normally wean the calves in the spring weighing approximately to pounds, depending on breed type. Advantages Calves marketed as grassers in the spring when markets are traditionally stronger. Cows pre-calving nutritional requirements can be met by pasture.
Cows may calve in semi-confined areas thus reducing neo-natal diseases and reducing labour requirements. Disadvantages Must use stored feeds during the cows highest nutritional demand period i. Cows must re-breed while being fed stored feeds thus proper nutrition is critical. Increased bedding requirements. Interferes with mixed farming.
Conclusion All management systems can be made to work. Get Started. Some producers draft off freshly calved young cows each week, and drift them into a better paddock. In an autumn-calving herd, for example, this could be an 'autumn-saved' paddock.
In most districts of Victoria, however, young cows calving in autumn usually require a high-quality supplement after calving. Early or mid-season cut clover hay, early cut oaten hay and lucerne hay are suitable, but hay of lower quality is of little use.
If good quality hay is not available, cereal grains or pellets may have to be fed. Feeding should begin immediately after calving because cattle may take a while to adjust to the ration. Young cows calving in autumn are particularly vulnerable to severe worm infestations. The stress of calving may precipitate the release of large numbers of 'inhibited' worm larvae from the walls of the gut. If needed, an effective drench should be given before calving.
Heifers must be observed frequently, but disturbed as little as possible. Supervising your heifers during calving Heifers should be observed at least twice daily, more often if practical. Giving assistance to heifers during birth The calf should normally be born within two hours of the appearance of the water bag. Calling in the vet A vet should be called if: a heifer is found to have difficulty calving the birth appears to be breech the heifer's condition has become weak. Post difficult birth After a difficult birth, young cows in particular often desert their calves.
Management after calving Once they have calved successfully young cows are required to produce a good supply of milk and become pregnant again soon after. Milk production The main factor determining how well calves grow is the amount of milk their mothers produce. Fertility of cows after calving Cows must be well fed after calving. Home News Views. Birthing Season, Part 1. Published: April 19, Horses The gestation period in the equine species is eleven months. Help us make PetMD better Was this article helpful?
Yes No. Share this article. What did you find helpful? What was not helpful? I have some forage that is a summer annual and I tested it for nitrates. Do you have any suggestions for feeding this forage? What info is available on pine needles abortions in bred cows? Can pregnant cows be vaccinated for BVD or can the vaccine be given only prior to breeding?
Looking for information on the first cycle after a cow has calf. Want to move the calving earlier in the year. Best ways to accomplish? We just preg checked the cows in our herd and we felt we had too many open cows. Is there any way to prevent so many open cows? What are the advantages of target breeding weight on beef industry? We hear stories of poor conception rates when feeding cows WDS. Is this fact or fiction?
It depends on a number of things: body condition at calving, age of dam, if there was any calving difficulty during the calving process, and if diet is adequate after calving during lactation so that weight and body condition losses do not occur or are minimal. First-calf cows have a longer post-partum interval than do mature cows. Cows that have calving difficulty have longer post-partum intervals.
And, cows that lose weight and body condition after calving have longer post-partum intervals. It tested on the high side of acceptable level of nitrates to be fed to pregnant beef cows. Answer from Can pregnant cows be vaccinated for BVD or can the vaccine be given only prior to breeding?
They are given salt and a good mineral all the time. All bulls are checked before being used. Here's a check list for you to help evaluate the reproductive performance of the herd. Separate non-pregnant cows by age. Are the majority of the opens in young cows, females trying to become pregnant for the second calf.
If this is the case, then more often than not, it is due the nutrition program. Calf first-calf-females in a body condition score of 6 on 1 to 9 scale. A lot of the diets that I see for these females after calving is often deficient in energy. Grass hay and alfalfa don't not have enough energy, so you will need to added some corn, distillers, gluten, silage, etc to the diet.
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