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COWS-fed-barely-sprouting-fodders, page : 23
If you buy weaned heifers you must feed them through winter before breeding them as yearlings. Weaned heifers can spend autumn and winter on pasture with some supplemental feed, or in a pen and be fed hay.
Lactating cows during breeding season:
They need most nutrients. Cows eat nearly twice as much hay when nursing calves and preparing to cycle and breed as they do in late pregnancy. The two most critical periods in the cows year are the 30 to 50 days just before calving, and 80 to 100 days after calving. Shortchanging a cow on feed quantity or quality at this time may reduce calf vigor and growth, milking ability, and increase risk of scours (diarrhea) and length of time before she cycles. Shortchanging her in the 3 months after calving may prevent her from breeding back. If you have calves when cows can be on green pasture afterward your feeding takes care of itself. But if you calve at a time that requires non-pasture feeding during lactation and breading – be prepared to provide some for of supplement.
Calves on pasture:
You can provide calves with their own special area, one in which cows cannot get into when you can supply them with feed. This is also good for lactating cows when pastures are poor or when cows must be fed hay. It is also beneficial during periods of drought when green feed is short. This is also good for very old cows if they are not milking as well as the rest of the herd. The extra feed might even be profitable with large framed cattle or calves with great genetic inherited growth potential enabling them to be a lot larger at market. But be warned, sometimes the extra money you pay on feed/labor may not be reflected in the weight of the cow. And replacement heifers should never be kept in such an area because it will gain extra fat in the udder that takes up space that would otherwise be used by developing mammary tissue, which is the milk producing tissue in the udder – this can severely reduce their milking ability as cows.
Calves at weaning:
It is best to wean calves on green pasture.
If you are weaning in a corral and feeding hay and grain be aware of how the calf's rumen functions. Even though he has been eating roughages and now has a functional rumen, stress can interfere with proper digestion because rumen microbes die and the calf cannot digest roughages well. Without enough microbes to break down fiber, the hay he eats just says in the rumen. If the newly weaned calf is in a corral, make sure its feed is palatable and easy to digest. This is why some farmers start calves on grain immediately at weaning. Even though calves have to learn to eat it and may not eat much at first, the grain can be quickly digested because it passes through
Lactating cows during breeding season:
They need most nutrients. Cows eat nearly twice as much hay when nursing calves and preparing to cycle and breed as they do in late pregnancy. The two most critical periods in the cows year are the 30 to 50 days just before calving, and 80 to 100 days after calving. Shortchanging a cow on feed quantity or quality at this time may reduce calf vigor and growth, milking ability, and increase risk of scours (diarrhea) and length of time before she cycles. Shortchanging her in the 3 months after calving may prevent her from breeding back. If you have calves when cows can be on green pasture afterward your feeding takes care of itself. But if you calve at a time that requires non-pasture feeding during lactation and breading – be prepared to provide some for of supplement.
Calves on pasture:
You can provide calves with their own special area, one in which cows cannot get into when you can supply them with feed. This is also good for lactating cows when pastures are poor or when cows must be fed hay. It is also beneficial during periods of drought when green feed is short. This is also good for very old cows if they are not milking as well as the rest of the herd. The extra feed might even be profitable with large framed cattle or calves with great genetic inherited growth potential enabling them to be a lot larger at market. But be warned, sometimes the extra money you pay on feed/labor may not be reflected in the weight of the cow. And replacement heifers should never be kept in such an area because it will gain extra fat in the udder that takes up space that would otherwise be used by developing mammary tissue, which is the milk producing tissue in the udder – this can severely reduce their milking ability as cows.
Calves at weaning:
It is best to wean calves on green pasture.
If you are weaning in a corral and feeding hay and grain be aware of how the calf's rumen functions. Even though he has been eating roughages and now has a functional rumen, stress can interfere with proper digestion because rumen microbes die and the calf cannot digest roughages well. Without enough microbes to break down fiber, the hay he eats just says in the rumen. If the newly weaned calf is in a corral, make sure its feed is palatable and easy to digest. This is why some farmers start calves on grain immediately at weaning. Even though calves have to learn to eat it and may not eat much at first, the grain can be quickly digested because it passes through