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Interesting article.
Numerous Traits Affect Cow Efficiency
By Kelli Gunderson, Livestock Editor
Dave Seibert defines a functional cow as one that works for her owner - she's problem-free, requires no extra labor, and ultimately returns a profit.
The functionality, or efficiency, of any individual cow is determined by a number of different traits, says Seibert, a University of Illinois animal systems educator who spoke at a beef cow efficiency conference in Springfield, Ill. Seibert listed several traits that he feels producers would be smart to consider when evaluating their cows, noting that breakdowns in these traits collectively account for the culling of about two-thirds of the females in the nation's cow herd each year.
"Each of these traits has economic importance that cannot be ignored," Seibert said.
Structural soundness
Seibert suggested producers evaluate their cows' structure from the ground up, starting with the hooves.
"Look at the feet first," Seibert said. "They'll determine how well the cow can move." Hooves with spread or grown-over toes will create problems, as will those with cracks or corns.
From the hoof, producers should move to evaluating the pastern. "You don't want the pastern to be too straight or too angled," Seibert said.
From there, the legs can be evaluated. The rear legs should not be extremely straight or extremely angled when viewed from the side, and when viewed from the back, they shouldn't be bowlegged or cow-hocked.
The front legs, when viewed from the front, also shouldn't be bowlegged or knock-kneed, and the toes of the front feet shouldn't be splayfooted (with toes pointing out) or pigeon-toed (with toes pointing in). From the side, the front legs shouldn't be buck-kneed (with the knee further forward than normal) or calf-kneed (with the knee further back than normal).
Seibert suggested producers use a 10-point scoring system to evaluate their cows on structural soundness. Cows scoring 10 or 9 are perfect or nearly perfect in structure, while cows scoring 8, 7 or 6 are basically sound. Cows scoring 5 or 4 are considered acceptable, with no serious soundness faults, but cows scoring 3, 2 or 1 have serious faults and should be culled, Seibert said.
Udder soundness
"Unsound udders come in all colors," Seibert said, meaning not all udders are perfect in every breed. Breed associations and other cattle industry groups have developed their own various udder scoring systems, but certain udder traits tend to be emphasized throughout each of the systems, Seibert said.
"Look for udders that are snugly attached and symmetrical with a level udder floor," Seibert said. "Teats should be medium in size and length and placed squarely under each quarter. The quarters should be evenly balanced with a strong median suspensory ligament."
It's important to cull cows with unsound udders for several reasons, Seibert said. Cows with unsound udders generally require extra labor at birth because the calf either needs assistance in nursing or needs to be fed artificial colostrum or milk. Unsound udders might have decreased milk flow or improper teat size, which can affect the amount of milk a calf is capable of consuming throughout the nursing period. Udder traits are also moderately heritable, meaning a cow with an unsound udder could pass those traits onto her female calves.
Frame size
Frame size is probably the one trait in the beef business that's "been most emphasized over the past several years," Seibert said. Show cattle of various breeds have gone from being rather small in the 1950s, barely standing tall enough to reach an average-sized man's chest, to being "giant show boats" by the mid 1980s and 1990s, standing taller than most men, Seibert said. Although the show ring has not emphasized large frame size the last few years as much as it has in the past, most breeds of cattle, in general, are still larger than they used to be. Considering large-framed bulls haven't been shown to give producers much more dollar value in terms of calves, cattle producers might think of considering moderate frame size as ideal.
Disposition
"We don't need cattle that'll run us up a gate or wreck our equipment," Seibert told producers. He suggested producers use one of several methods to determine the temperament of their cattle. Chute exit velocities have been used to measure cows' flight times by measuring the amount of time each cow takes to leave a squeeze chute. Chute docility scores have also helped producers evaluate a cow's disposition in the chute, with 1 being docile and 6 being very aggressive. Facial hair whorls have also been shown to be a determinant of temperament, and are likely the easiest sign of temperament for cattle producers to measure.
"The location of facial hair whorls is fairly highly correlated with disposition, because the whorl is developed from the same layer of cells as the nervous system," Seibert said. Cows with no facial hair whorl or those with a whorl above the eyes are generally pretty excitable when restrained, Seibert said. Cows with a whorl below the eyes, on the other hand, tend to be less agitated and excitable.
Whether measured by hair whorl or some other method, disposition tends to be an important consideration for cattle producers, seeing as poor temperament can negatively impact economic traits, Seibert said. Among the traits that can be negatively impacted are reproductive efficiency, milk production, feed intake, average daily gain and meat quality.
Fleshing ability
Seibert defined fleshing ability as the ability of an animal to adapt and produce in a specific environment. Animals with high fleshing ability are those that can maintain their body condition longer on marginal feed and increase their body condition quickly on ideal feed.
In general, British breeds have higher levels of fleshing ability than do Continental breeds, Seibert said. Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn are generally considered the highest-fleshing breeds, while Charolais, Maine-Anjou and Branvieh are moderately fleshing and Chianina, Limousin, Gelbvieh, Salers and Simmental are low-fleshing. Variation in fleshing ability can also be seen among breed individuals, however, Seibert noted.
Fertility
According to the USDA's National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), fertility problems account for the single greatest reason cows are culled from the herd. In fact, 25.6 percent of the cows culled from herds are culled for reasons related to fertility.
Several breed associations have developed their own methods of measuring fertility in cows, as well as ways to recognize individual cows that fare well in that arena. The Red Angus Association of America, for example, measures stayability of cows, or the cow's ability to stay in the herd beyond six years of age. Other associations measure fertility based on calving ease, calving intervals, calf birth and weaning weights, milk production and age at puberty.
Seibert suggested producers use bull scrotal circumference as a determinant of one fertility measure - heifer age at puberty.
"Daughters of large scrotal circumference bulls should have greater lifetime reproductive potential," Seibert said. "For every 1 centimeter increase in scrotal circumference, you can expect a four- to seven-day decrease in age at onset of puberty in that bull's heifers."
Mothering ability
"If producers ignore mothering ability, it will go away," Seibert said. In other words, producers who don't select for good mothers in their herds will likely regret it in the long run. Producers should select for females who calve unassisted, nurse and nurture the calf, and eventually wean a heavy, healthy calf. Seibert applauded producers in the beef industry in general for decreasing birth weights (and thereby improving calving ease) over the past several years while still increasing yearling weights.
Adaptability
Certain breeds of cattle and certain individuals within breeds are better able to adapt to the environment in which they live, Seibert said. Factors for producers to consider here include heat tolerance, insect tolerance, disease tolerance and several other tolerances.
Convenience traits
Traits such as horns, prolapses and eye problems should be avoided, Seibert said. These sorts of negative traits generally add time and labor to producers' responsibilities as herd managers
Numerous Traits Affect Cow Efficiency
By Kelli Gunderson, Livestock Editor
Dave Seibert defines a functional cow as one that works for her owner - she's problem-free, requires no extra labor, and ultimately returns a profit.
The functionality, or efficiency, of any individual cow is determined by a number of different traits, says Seibert, a University of Illinois animal systems educator who spoke at a beef cow efficiency conference in Springfield, Ill. Seibert listed several traits that he feels producers would be smart to consider when evaluating their cows, noting that breakdowns in these traits collectively account for the culling of about two-thirds of the females in the nation's cow herd each year.
"Each of these traits has economic importance that cannot be ignored," Seibert said.
Structural soundness
Seibert suggested producers evaluate their cows' structure from the ground up, starting with the hooves.
"Look at the feet first," Seibert said. "They'll determine how well the cow can move." Hooves with spread or grown-over toes will create problems, as will those with cracks or corns.
From the hoof, producers should move to evaluating the pastern. "You don't want the pastern to be too straight or too angled," Seibert said.
From there, the legs can be evaluated. The rear legs should not be extremely straight or extremely angled when viewed from the side, and when viewed from the back, they shouldn't be bowlegged or cow-hocked.
The front legs, when viewed from the front, also shouldn't be bowlegged or knock-kneed, and the toes of the front feet shouldn't be splayfooted (with toes pointing out) or pigeon-toed (with toes pointing in). From the side, the front legs shouldn't be buck-kneed (with the knee further forward than normal) or calf-kneed (with the knee further back than normal).
Seibert suggested producers use a 10-point scoring system to evaluate their cows on structural soundness. Cows scoring 10 or 9 are perfect or nearly perfect in structure, while cows scoring 8, 7 or 6 are basically sound. Cows scoring 5 or 4 are considered acceptable, with no serious soundness faults, but cows scoring 3, 2 or 1 have serious faults and should be culled, Seibert said.
Udder soundness
"Unsound udders come in all colors," Seibert said, meaning not all udders are perfect in every breed. Breed associations and other cattle industry groups have developed their own various udder scoring systems, but certain udder traits tend to be emphasized throughout each of the systems, Seibert said.
"Look for udders that are snugly attached and symmetrical with a level udder floor," Seibert said. "Teats should be medium in size and length and placed squarely under each quarter. The quarters should be evenly balanced with a strong median suspensory ligament."
It's important to cull cows with unsound udders for several reasons, Seibert said. Cows with unsound udders generally require extra labor at birth because the calf either needs assistance in nursing or needs to be fed artificial colostrum or milk. Unsound udders might have decreased milk flow or improper teat size, which can affect the amount of milk a calf is capable of consuming throughout the nursing period. Udder traits are also moderately heritable, meaning a cow with an unsound udder could pass those traits onto her female calves.
Frame size
Frame size is probably the one trait in the beef business that's "been most emphasized over the past several years," Seibert said. Show cattle of various breeds have gone from being rather small in the 1950s, barely standing tall enough to reach an average-sized man's chest, to being "giant show boats" by the mid 1980s and 1990s, standing taller than most men, Seibert said. Although the show ring has not emphasized large frame size the last few years as much as it has in the past, most breeds of cattle, in general, are still larger than they used to be. Considering large-framed bulls haven't been shown to give producers much more dollar value in terms of calves, cattle producers might think of considering moderate frame size as ideal.
Disposition
"We don't need cattle that'll run us up a gate or wreck our equipment," Seibert told producers. He suggested producers use one of several methods to determine the temperament of their cattle. Chute exit velocities have been used to measure cows' flight times by measuring the amount of time each cow takes to leave a squeeze chute. Chute docility scores have also helped producers evaluate a cow's disposition in the chute, with 1 being docile and 6 being very aggressive. Facial hair whorls have also been shown to be a determinant of temperament, and are likely the easiest sign of temperament for cattle producers to measure.
"The location of facial hair whorls is fairly highly correlated with disposition, because the whorl is developed from the same layer of cells as the nervous system," Seibert said. Cows with no facial hair whorl or those with a whorl above the eyes are generally pretty excitable when restrained, Seibert said. Cows with a whorl below the eyes, on the other hand, tend to be less agitated and excitable.
Whether measured by hair whorl or some other method, disposition tends to be an important consideration for cattle producers, seeing as poor temperament can negatively impact economic traits, Seibert said. Among the traits that can be negatively impacted are reproductive efficiency, milk production, feed intake, average daily gain and meat quality.
Fleshing ability
Seibert defined fleshing ability as the ability of an animal to adapt and produce in a specific environment. Animals with high fleshing ability are those that can maintain their body condition longer on marginal feed and increase their body condition quickly on ideal feed.
In general, British breeds have higher levels of fleshing ability than do Continental breeds, Seibert said. Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn are generally considered the highest-fleshing breeds, while Charolais, Maine-Anjou and Branvieh are moderately fleshing and Chianina, Limousin, Gelbvieh, Salers and Simmental are low-fleshing. Variation in fleshing ability can also be seen among breed individuals, however, Seibert noted.
Fertility
According to the USDA's National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), fertility problems account for the single greatest reason cows are culled from the herd. In fact, 25.6 percent of the cows culled from herds are culled for reasons related to fertility.
Several breed associations have developed their own methods of measuring fertility in cows, as well as ways to recognize individual cows that fare well in that arena. The Red Angus Association of America, for example, measures stayability of cows, or the cow's ability to stay in the herd beyond six years of age. Other associations measure fertility based on calving ease, calving intervals, calf birth and weaning weights, milk production and age at puberty.
Seibert suggested producers use bull scrotal circumference as a determinant of one fertility measure - heifer age at puberty.
"Daughters of large scrotal circumference bulls should have greater lifetime reproductive potential," Seibert said. "For every 1 centimeter increase in scrotal circumference, you can expect a four- to seven-day decrease in age at onset of puberty in that bull's heifers."
Mothering ability
"If producers ignore mothering ability, it will go away," Seibert said. In other words, producers who don't select for good mothers in their herds will likely regret it in the long run. Producers should select for females who calve unassisted, nurse and nurture the calf, and eventually wean a heavy, healthy calf. Seibert applauded producers in the beef industry in general for decreasing birth weights (and thereby improving calving ease) over the past several years while still increasing yearling weights.
Adaptability
Certain breeds of cattle and certain individuals within breeds are better able to adapt to the environment in which they live, Seibert said. Factors for producers to consider here include heat tolerance, insect tolerance, disease tolerance and several other tolerances.
Convenience traits
Traits such as horns, prolapses and eye problems should be avoided, Seibert said. These sorts of negative traits generally add time and labor to producers' responsibilities as herd managers
