Our Brangus Heifer is due to deliver about Feb. 28th to March the 9th. She normally has her fill of Hay and 2-3 scoops of ground corn and sweet feed per day. Should we cut back on the feed during the last month?
jpitney":8nc9bu1d said:Our Brangus Heifer is due to deliver about Feb. 28th to March the 9th. She normally has her fill of Hay and 2-3 scoops of ground corn and sweet feed per day. Should we cut back on the feed during the last month?
She is in excellent shape. Not gaining fat but just showing the calf high and wide. She does not act like she is more hungry than usual. She has a salt block and Mineral block which she uses but not excessively. I ask the question because I had read that over feeding can cause a large calf and that is not good for a first time birthing. Her hay is rated at 16.5 % protien and the feed is pure ground corn and southern sweet feed in a 50-50 mixture. The scoop size is about 3 # per scoop.Bez!":na9e7hf7 said:jpitney":na9e7hf7 said:Our Brangus Heifer is due to deliver about Feb. 28th to March the 9th. She normally has her fill of Hay and 2-3 scoops of ground corn and sweet feed per day. Should we cut back on the feed during the last month?
You do not provide enough info.
What is her condition now?
Is she over fat?
Is she carrying a lot of weight?
Is she just maintaining or is she gaining in fat?
Is she losing condition?
"Scoop" size / weight of additional feed?
What is the vitamin, protein and mineral content of her feed?
Hay quality and protein content?
You may already be in a situation where she is getting enough and to increase could cause her to just p$$$ it out on the ground.
Decrease may or may not be required
Lots to consider before you just go and add or subtract.
Lots of cows go through an entire winter outside on straight hay until last trimester - then get some rolled or whole grain on the ground - along with some salt and mineral - then give the old rancher/farmer a fine calf without any worries.
Give us a bit more info and then lets go from there.
Bez!
Bobg":21rm5yn2 said:When we ran quite a few cows in MT, we fed nothing but orchard/clover hay. Never gave them any grain, kept mineral and salt out for them all the time. If you feed grain during the last trimester you increase your chance of calving problems.
Bobg
jpitney":1czlgy6o said:She is in excellent shape. Not gaining fat but just showing the calf high and wide. She does not act like she is more hungry than usual. She has a salt block and Mineral block which she uses but not excessively. I ask the question because I had read that over feeding can cause a large calf and that is not good for a first time birthing. Her hay is rated at 16.5 % protien and the feed is pure ground corn and southern sweet feed in a 50-50 mixture. The scoop size is about 3 # per scoop.
milkmaid":1zzc6o9n said:jpitney":1zzc6o9n said:She is in excellent shape. Not gaining fat but just showing the calf high and wide. She does not act like she is more hungry than usual. She has a salt block and Mineral block which she uses but not excessively. I ask the question because I had read that over feeding can cause a large calf and that is not good for a first time birthing. Her hay is rated at 16.5 % protien and the feed is pure ground corn and southern sweet feed in a 50-50 mixture. The scoop size is about 3 # per scoop.
Overfeeding could potentially cause problems...but I'd be just as concerned about a weak heifer in poor body condition having any size calf. Could cause more problems than it's worth attempting to get a small calf.
I wouldn't limit her feed, but I wouldn't increase it either; with the exception of hay which should be free-choice.
msscamp":ydrl3yb1 said:milkmaid":ydrl3yb1 said:jpitney":ydrl3yb1 said:She is in excellent shape. Not gaining fat but just showing the calf high and wide. She does not act like she is more hungry than usual. She has a salt block and Mineral block which she uses but not excessively. I ask the question because I had read that over feeding can cause a large calf and that is not good for a first time birthing. Her hay is rated at 16.5 % protien and the feed is pure ground corn and southern sweet feed in a 50-50 mixture. The scoop size is about 3 # per scoop.
Overfeeding could potentially cause problems...but I'd be just as concerned about a weak heifer in poor body condition having any size calf. Could cause more problems than it's worth attempting to get a small calf.
I wouldn't limit her feed, but I wouldn't increase it either; with the exception of hay which should be free-choice.
Milkmaid, you didn't state what type of hay and I don't normally disagree with you but in this instance I do - depending on the type of hay. The heifers we had to pull last spring were fed nothing but ground hay (predominantly high protein alfalfa) and beet pulp - no grain at all. The majority of them were not confined to a corral for more than a few days prior to calving and those calves were 90 - 110 lbs. I don't believe I would be feeding a high protien hay free choice to a bunch of pregnant first calvers.
milkmaid":3l4oej0d said:msscamp":3l4oej0d said:milkmaid":3l4oej0d said:jpitney":3l4oej0d said:She is in excellent shape. Not gaining fat but just showing the calf high and wide. She does not act like she is more hungry than usual. She has a salt block and Mineral block which she uses but not excessively. I ask the question because I had read that over feeding can cause a large calf and that is not good for a first time birthing. Her hay is rated at 16.5 % protien and the feed is pure ground corn and southern sweet feed in a 50-50 mixture. The scoop size is about 3 # per scoop.
Overfeeding could potentially cause problems...but I'd be just as concerned about a weak heifer in poor body condition having any size calf. Could cause more problems than it's worth attempting to get a small calf.
I wouldn't limit her feed, but I wouldn't increase it either; with the exception of hay which should be free-choice.
Milkmaid, you didn't state what type of hay and I don't normally disagree with you but in this instance I do - depending on the type of hay. The heifers we had to pull last spring were fed nothing but ground hay (predominantly high protein alfalfa) and beet pulp - no grain at all. The majority of them were not confined to a corral for more than a few days prior to calving and those calves were 90 - 110 lbs. I don't believe I would be feeding a high protien hay free choice to a bunch of pregnant first calvers.
That's true...I'd forgotten about quality of hay. I'm used to seeing beef folks near me feed poor quality hay (or even straw), and most of the folks on the boards feed some sort of grass, and in those cases I think you'd agree it should be free choice. In fact, I don't think any of the beef folks nearby me feed rich hay; everything's been rained on at least once (in the field or baled) and the stuff I've seen has been 1st-2nd crop and stemmy.
Boss has had some heifers with huge calves if they go on high-quality alfalfa silage a few weeks prior to calving in preparation for entering the milking herd. And that's just silage, no grain. Forgotten about that. Sorry.
buckaroo_bif":27kgwq4z said:Maybe this feller has a different way of scoring bcs than i do Bez? I still would should for a score of 6 on heifers and at least 5 on cows.
bif