cattle body structure/condition

[deerefan]

Hi all,

I have about 60 head of black angus cattle. They are about 5-7 years old. Overall the herd is in great condition but I have noted that several of the cows are looking really thin, particularly in the back part of the body (photo included). I deworm them once a year, feed them hay using a bale unroller so there is limited competition, protein cubes, granular mineral at all times. I was wondering if you had any idea as to what was happening with these particular cows. Thank you.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Well her udder is full so I'm guessing she's nursing a calf or just weaned one. She's probably just sucked down from working hard raising a baby.
If you have a separate lot sort those thin cows off and feed them some extra.
She's just skinny from doing her job.

 

[Travlr]

Hi all,

I have about 60 head of black angus cattle. They are about 5-7 years old. Overall the herd is in great condition but I have noted that several of the cows are looking really thin, particularly in the back part of the body (photo included). I deworm them once a year, feed them hay using a bale unroller so there is limited competition, protein cubes, granular mineral at all times. I was wondering if you had any idea as to what was happening with these particular cows. Thank you.

I'd like to see more pics. Are some of your cows doing fine, but others are loosing condition? Are they all loosing condition? Do they have big calves on them, or is there a cow that is sucking other cows?

She does look pretty boney.

 

[4hfarms]

Ours was a warm winter and find we had to worm again over the holidays. Messed up our harvest dates for next week. Usually we do it in the spring but the ground hasn't had a hard freeze this year. May try those few again, depending on when you did it originally.

 

[deerefan]

her calf is just over a month old. Why is she so thin in the back and her belly so full?

 

[Travlr]

her calf is just over a month old. Why is she so thin in the back and her belly so full?

Do you have more than one pasture? I wormed twice a year, once after the first hard frost and again while snow was still on the ground, usually late April. And if I missed that last snow I'd worm and leave them in the same pasture for only three days and then move them to a fresh pasture on the fourth so the worms expelled were left in the old pasture.

EDIT: YES! Add your location!

 

[Mark Reynolds]

@deerefan, could you add your location to your profile, or at least tell us where you are if you cant figure out how (took me over a week to figure it out myself). Could be several things. Poor quality forage comes to mind, but you feed protein cubes. Do you have a hay analysis and a forage analysis for your pastures? Location can help with figuring this out.

 

[deerefan]

I am in Central Texas. I do not have hay analysis, I know I probably need to get this but our hay is all good quality coastal, we fertilize a good amount. Yes, the cattle are rotated between pastures. I do feed protein cubes but not a huge amount.

 

[deerefan]

I'd like to see more pics. Are some of your cows doing fine, but others are loosing condition? Are they all loosing condition? Do they have big calves on them, or is there a cow that is sucking other cows?

She does look pretty boney.

Yes, only some are losing condition and her calf is just over a month old.

 

[Silver]

That cow appears to have a tilted pelvis. Our local DVM's could probably confirm or deny that, as well as give us the proper Latin medical term which I can not remember for the life of me.

 

[deerefan]

That cow appears to have a tilted pelvis. Our local DVM's could probably confirm or deny that, as well as give us the proper Latin medical term which I can not remember for the life of me.

what does that mean? Does that explain her thinness?

 

[Silver]

It doesn't indicate an illness as far as I know but the drop in the spine makes them appear to be in worse shape than they are.

 

[gman4691]

Could just be nursing a calf that's pulling her down. And over here in East Texas, I worm twice a year…pour-on wormer in spring and injectable in fall…seems to be working over the past 2-3 years…and I keep a safe-guard deworming block or two out for them - especially if the grass is low like this past summer…

 

[Travlr]

Hi all,

I have about 60 head of black angus cattle. They are about 5-7 years old. Overall the herd is in great condition but I have noted that several of the cows are looking really thin, particularly in the back part of the body (photo included). I deworm them once a year, feed them hay using a bale unroller so there is limited competition, protein cubes, granular mineral at all times. I was wondering if you had any idea as to what was happening with these particular cows. Thank you.

You never said anything about if you have more than one pasture...

What I see in the picture is pretty short and I'd be rotating them off of it if I had somewhere to rotate them to.

 

[simme]

I am in Central Texas. I do not have hay analysis, I know I probably need to get this but our hay is all good quality coastal, we fertilize a good amount. Yes, the cattle are rotated between pastures. I do feed protein cubes but not a huge amount.

60 head of cattle. How many bales of the good coastal hay are you unrolling per day? What size bales? How many pounds per day of hay are they getting per pair? Does not look like much grazing available in the one picture. How many pounds per day of cubes? Was she in good condition prior to calving? BCS of 5 or better?

 

[MurraysMutts]

That cows ribs ain't even showing. I realize it's just one pic, but to me anyway, looks like she is built that way....

Does not appear pure angus to me either

 

[Allenw]

Possibilities

She is older then you think.

Low quality hay. What does the manure pats look like?

 

[deerefan]

Thank you all for your responses. I feed one 5x6 bale of coastal per day and usually a bag of cubes. If it was truly a nutritional issue, I would expect many of the cows to be affected, but only a few (2-3) look like the one in the photo. I know I could feed them more, but economics just don't work out if I make the cows fat. I will definitely try deworming 2x a year but wanted to make sure I am not missing anything else. I may have the vet check her age next time I pen her up.

 

[Little Joe]

Just from looking at the picture, I would guess her to be an older cow,probably older than 7.

 

[mickroos65]

Hi all,

I have about 60 head of black angus cattle. They are about 5-7 years old. Overall the herd is in great condition but I have noted that several of the cows are looking really thin, particularly in the back part of the body (photo included). I deworm them once a year, feed them hay using a bale unroller so there is limited competition, protein cubes, granular mineral at all times. I was wondering if you had any idea as to what was happening with these particular cows. Thank you.

Her belly is full and she is losing weight I would look at hay quality and worm the herd