graining pregnant cows

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Dave from MN

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Would like some opinions. My cows are due in the next 3-6 weeks. Some say I need to be giving them grain, others say they are in great condition and grain will possible cause calving problems with too big of calves. They are R. Angus/Pinz/ & Charlias/Pinz/R.Angus crosses. All but one are having their 2nd calf. Also, what grain is best and how much.
 
What I have been taught is no grain, but protein tubs. Be sure they have mineral.
But, what has worked for you in the past? Has your herd changed? If your girls are in good condition what is your main concern now?
 
If they have good body condition I'd just give them all the hay they can eat and wait on my babies. ;-)
 
We've never grain fed our animals. They get a little at weaning, not enough to supplement just enough so they know the taste. As cows the only time they get grain is if I want to run them through the chute for AI, injury, whatever. It's a treat and they come nicely to it. I don't see why your cows would need grain unless the hay/pasture is inadequate or their BCS score is really low.
 
There are a few factors here. If you are feeding hay, what kind is it? We were feeding alfalfa that was decent quality so we feed no grain. Now we are feeding poorer grass hay and supplement with a little corn.
I think the protein is the key thing here, too much protein makes bigger calves. Corn provides energy for the cows, not necessarily making the calves bigger. You have colder weather than us so you know they need more energy in the winter than down south.
 
Good post iowahawkeyes! The answer to the question of whether to feed grain or not requires more information and should be address to a nutritionist or maybe an ag extention agent. It depends on the requirements of the cows which is dictated by age, size, body condition, weather etc. The cow's requirements then dictation the level of nutrients which include energy, protein, Vitamins, minerals etc. The available feeds you have and the amount you feed then tells you if you need to supplement or not. There are so many variables there is not a simple answer. An example is a 1000 lb 4 year old hereford cow in good condition on alfalfa hay will probably do very well. The same cow if thin may need extra energy to milk and then breedback. The same cow if very fat might do fine on a lower quality feed as grass or maybe even good wheat straw. A 1500 lb cow in any condition may need more nutrition than alfalfa can provide to milk and breed back and grain may be needed. Another example is a bred heifer of 1000 lbs destined to be a 1500 lb cow will most likely need a lot more energy than even alfalfa can provide to milk and breed back. Many of us have learned about these big cattle the hard way that they need a lot of very good and expensive feed or else they don't breed back. This is a great subject for discussion but the answers are available in NRC guide if a person knows exactly the type of cattle they have.

g lesamiz, DVM
 
If what you have done in the past is working, I wouldn't recommend a change just because everyone else is doing it.

It really boils down to the cows BCS. If there are many animals below a 5, you might benefit from supplementing some grain, and/or protein. We use a couple methods on our operation. One is to supplement their grass hay with some alfalfa. We generally give 5# /hd/day. This will give the cows approximately 1 lb of protein. This will help in digestibility of the grass hay. Want to be careful, however, as overfeeding protein can really crank up a feed bill!!

Depending on your location, I would strongly recommend feeding some dried distillers grains to your cows. With the boom in the ethanol industry, we have the ability to purchase DDG grains at a reasonable price. One thing to watch out for is the calcium level. Feeding more than 3 lbs of DDG/day throws the cow's Ca:p ratio out of whack. We started feeding 2 lbs of DDG to our cows a few weeks before calving. This gives them supplemental protein and an incredible amount of energy, and it is also slowly degradable so it doesn't counteract with the hay digestibility.

We have had a very rough winter this year since early in December. Many of our cows were thin prior to calving, and we knew we needed to do something. The DDG's have really put the flesh back on the cows to where it needs to be, and there also appear to be some other benefits. The calves seem to be very vigorous and lively at birth, very strong.
 

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