body condition post calving

[Anonymous]

What is considered acceptable bc. For a first calf heifer at 5 weeks post calving? Momma cow scores about 4.5 to 5 now on free choice hay, pastures about 6 inches in spots averaging 3, loose mineral, 5 lbs range cubes per day. To me she looks like she needs more but it seems that it also may be normal. Thanks

 

[angus9259]

What is considered acceptable bc. For a first calf heifer at 5 weeks post calving? Momma cow scores about 4.5 to 5 now on free choice hay, pastures about 6 inches in spots averaging 3, loose mineral, 5 lbs range cubes per day. To me she looks like she needs more but it seems that it also may be normal. Thanks

Seems like a pretty healthy meal to me! Heifers are always harder to keep condition on while they try to grow and raise a calf especially if they're milking hard - plus your heifer had a rough deliver which it seems she could still be recovering from. You could give her more feed but it sounds like she's got plenty of what she needs - probably better than my 1st calf heifers get. If she's a 4.5-5 I'd probably leave her be unless you see her start to slide.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Trust your eye. If she is 4.5, that is pretty thin to come back into heat for rebreeding. But, sounds like she has plenty to EAT!!! Is she milking extremely heavy? or was she pretty thin when she calved. Hard to put any weight on a cow, much less a heifer after calving. If you can keep her from losing any more condition, you might be OK.

 

[Anonymous]

She was 5.5 at calving. Her hips and pins are very visible, 2 maybe part of a 3rd rib showing, spine not visible. 4.5 may be a bit low to score her. She has plenty to eat. I know that calf demand peaks at about 2 months. What concerns me the most about her condition is how sunk her tail head is still. I would call it hollow looking. The rest of her I would say is acceptable given the demands of the calf. Heavy milking I don't know how to answer that. I would say that the calf is def putting a lot of milk down.

 

[ryan_289]

All of my calves are right at 2 months old now. Some cows look great and some have pulled down like yours. They are all starting to put weight back on now that the grass is starting to grow. They are just about done eating hay. Yours seems pretty normal to me.

 

[Roan]

The tail head will always look a little sunk now that she is a cow not a heifer anymore. Nothing to worry about. Sounds like she is getting plenty of food, may just be a heavy milker or a harder keeper.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for replying everyone. I'm leaning to heavy milker now. She was a very easy keeper before calving. Didn't take much at all to put weight on her all the way thru calving. Ill keep an eye on her.

 

[novaman]

I shoot for a BCS of 5-6 at calving. Most, if not all, shouldn't lose more than 1 point of condition post-calving. If they do lose more than a point of condition they are going to have problems getting bred back on time and should be put in the category of hard-keeper regardless of how nice a calf she raises. I've run a couple Holstein crosses in the beef herd and they will kick out some nice looking calves but they sure can't keep any condition on and end up open after no more than a couple years.

 

[Anonymous]

If she was a 5.5 at calving she can go down to a 4.5? I don't think she has lost a full point yet. I'm probably just over thinking it. I'm a perfectionist in some ways and a total slacker in others

 

[novaman]

If she was a 5.5 at calving she can go down to a 4.5? I don't think she has lost a full point yet. I'm probably just over thinking it. I'm a perfectionist in some ways and a total slacker in others

That is how I look at it. If she goes no lower than 4.5 I don't see a problem.