Question about feed for pregnant cow.

[Wisteria Farms]

We've got a pregnant cow. I asked the breeder what his feeding program was... he said they were on pasture/hay with loose mineral, protein tub and got grain once a week.

Ours are on pasture/hay but we've been giving her 1 scoop of grain in the a.m. and 1 scoop in the p.m. (this is a standard plastic farm store scoop) The mix is corn, oats, pellets, salt, molasses and mineral. Is this OK? I know you don't want your cows to get fat so we felt this was just enough grain to keep her coming when we call. Does this sound OK? She's a big girl so I don't think its too much... but want confirmation as I read somewhere about pregnancy problems relating to grain. Thanks!

 

[3rdgeneration farmer]

i dont think its a big deal until the third trimester, just like women....lol

 

[msscamp]

The mix is corn, oats, pellets, salt, molasses and mineral. Is this OK?

I would provide salt/mineral on a free-choice basis. Reason being is that salt/mineral requirements will vary from season to season, and I don't want to short change my animals. I don't know how big your herd is, but we mixed a 50 lb bag of mineral with 1/2 of a 50 lb bag of salt for a herd of roughly 70 head, and replaced as necessary.

 

[dun]

We've got a pregnant cow. I asked the breeder what his feeding program was... he said they were on pasture/hay with loose mineral, protein tub and got grain once a week.

Ours are on pasture/hay but we've been giving her 1 scoop of grain in the a.m. and 1 scoop in the p.m. (this is a standard plastic farm store scoop) The mix is corn, oats, pellets, salt, molasses and mineral. Is this OK? I know you don't want your cows to get fat so we felt this was just enough grain to keep her coming when we call. Does this sound OK? She's a big girl so I don't think its too much... but want confirmation as I read somewhere about pregnancy problems relating to grain. Thanks!

Shouldn;t be a problem. BTW, unless she's a complete idiot you don;t need to give her grain every day twice a day. Once they get the idea, every couple of days or even once a week will do. Our cows only get grain when we bring them up to work them or when we want to get them up to AI one of them. They go months at a time without grain but will come running when I show them a bucket. If they don;t need the supllement for nutritional reasons there isn;t a lot of sense in spending money that isn;t necesarry.

 

[Limomike]

Dun is right... especially with the way grain prices are now.

 

[OK Jeanne]

If she gets too fat on that grain you may very well have
calving problems, i.e. calf too big. Watch out if her
brisket is really plump and if she has fat "pads" around her
tail head. Good luck.

 

[mgman]

Wisteria,

My experience with Murray Greys has been that rarely does a cow need ANY grain to maintain body condition as long as she's getting decent forage. As OK Jeanne stated, you don't want her getting too fat.

 

[Wisteria Farms]

We've got a pregnant cow. I asked the breeder what his feeding program was... he said they were on pasture/hay with loose mineral, protein tub and got grain once a week.

Ours are on pasture/hay but we've been giving her 1 scoop of grain in the a.m. and 1 scoop in the p.m. (this is a standard plastic farm store scoop) The mix is corn, oats, pellets, salt, molasses and mineral. Is this OK? I know you don't want your cows to get fat so we felt this was just enough grain to keep her coming when we call. Does this sound OK? She's a big girl so I don't think its too much... but want confirmation as I read somewhere about pregnancy problems relating to grain. Thanks!

Shouldn;t be a problem. BTW, unless she's a complete idiot you don;t need to give her grain every day twice a day. Once they get the idea, every couple of days or even once a week will do. Our cows only get grain when we bring them up to work them or when we want to get them up to AI one of them. They go months at a time without grain but will come running when I show them a bucket. If they don;t need the supllement for nutritional reasons there isn;t a lot of sense in spending money that isn;t necesarry.

Dun...she's definately not an idiot...we were amazed at how quickly she "learned the program" around here. We'll reduce the amount to just to give her a taste and to ensure we don't fatten her or the calf. Thanks!

OK Jeanne... its similar with the horses (fat pads around tailhead) so I'll watch for that. Thank you.

Msscamp...We have a salt block and loose mineral that lays in one end of the trough (the feed trough is under shelter). Thanks for your input... since we have salt and mineral put into the feed we wondered if it was enough or to keep the free-choice available... (not so much for this cow but the others who are on more grain) and you gave us the answer, thanks.

 

[bigbull338]

i try to feed the bull everyday if e comes up.an i feed the cows 2 or 3 times a week.but i got start cows.an they know when i do the feeding.an they come up with the bull.so they can get fed to,but in all fairness we keep hay out close to the feed troughs as well.so they come up to eat both.

 

[novatech]

If she gets too fat on that grain you may very well have
calving problems, i.e. calf too big. Watch out if her
brisket is really plump and if she has fat "pads" around her
tail head. Good luck.

All my cattle are on grass except when (like dun I want them in the pen). This year due to the over abundance of grass they all got excessively fat. I expected some extra heavy calves but all were still averaging 74 to 78 lbs. That has been my average for quite some time. I have Brahmans so could it be a difference because of the breed?

 

[dun]

If she gets too fat on that grain you may very well have
calving problems, i.e. calf too big. Watch out if her
brisket is really plump and if she has fat "pads" around her
tail head. Good luck.

All my cattle are on grass except when (like dun I want them in the pen). This year due to the over abundance of grass they all got excessively fat. I expected some extra heavy calves but all were still averaging 74 to 78 lbs. That has been my average for quite some time. I have Brahmans so could it be a difference because of the breed?

I sometimes wonder if the fat they put on from grass/forage has the same affect as the fat from grain/supplement. We had a couple of really late calvers that had gotten hog fat during the spring, but by the time the calved they were probably still a 6.5plus BCS. Not to the point of fat pones by the tail head but briskets that looked like basketballs and no ribs showing. Their calves were the same size as they normally had when the calved in the early spring at around a BCS of 5.5-6 and they had no problems squirting the calves out just like prior years.

 

[novatech]

If she gets too fat on that grain you may very well have
calving problems, i.e. calf too big. Watch out if her
brisket is really plump and if she has fat "pads" around her
tail head. Good luck.

All my cattle are on grass except when (like dun I want them in the pen). This year due to the over abundance of grass they all got excessively fat. I expected some extra heavy calves but all were still averaging 74 to 78 lbs. That has been my average for quite some time. I have Brahmans so could it be a difference because of the breed?

I sometimes wonder if the fat they put on from grass/forage has the same affect as the fat from grain/supplement. We had a couple of really late calvers that had gotten hog fat during the spring, but by the time the calved they were probably still a 6.5plus BCS. Not to the point of fat pones by the tail head but briskets that looked like basketballs and no ribs showing. Their calves were the same size as they normally had when the calved in the early spring at around a BCS of 5.5-6 and they had no problems squirting the calves out just like prior years.

I have a friend that buys 3 bred show heifers every year just to help out the kids. (BCS 7 & 8) I don't recall him ever having a problem. (I'll ask this morning at coffee). This sort of makes me wonder if this is an old wives tale that has turned into fact over the years.
It is obviously not the breed as I don't think Dun has brahman influence in his cattle.

 

[dun]

If she gets too fat on that grain you may very well have
calving problems, i.e. calf too big. Watch out if her
brisket is really plump and if she has fat "pads" around her
tail head. Good luck.

All my cattle are on grass except when (like dun I want them in the pen). This year due to the over abundance of grass they all got excessively fat. I expected some extra heavy calves but all were still averaging 74 to 78 lbs. That has been my average for quite some time. I have Brahmans so could it be a difference because of the breed?

I sometimes wonder if the fat they put on from grass/forage has the same affect as the fat from grain/supplement. We had a couple of really late calvers that had gotten hog fat during the spring, but by the time the calved they were probably still a 6.5plus BCS. Not to the point of fat pones by the tail head but briskets that looked like basketballs and no ribs showing. Their calves were the same size as they normally had when the calved in the early spring at around a BCS of 5.5-6 and they had no problems squirting the calves out just like prior years.

I have a friend that buys 3 bred show heifers every year just to help out the kids. (BCS 7 & 8) I don't recall him ever having a problem. (I'll ask this morning at coffee). This sort of makes me wonder if this is an old wives tale that has turned into fact over the years.
It is obviously not the breed as I don't think Dun has brahman influence in his cattle.

It might be how the fat is deposited. Had a cow last year that when I AIed her I felt a strange lumpjust at the pelvis. When she was preg checked the vet said it was a fatty tumor and it wasa the size of a loaf of bread and that it could possibly cause a porblem. It didn;t and this year it was still there. Could also have to do with cows that just geneticly aren;t as easy calvers and a little fat might be more critical in them then others. And you're right, no Brahman influence

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Brahman cows have a "built-in" limiter as to the size of fetus they grow. Found this out because of the Simbrah breed. You can take a Brahman cow & breed it to the worse CE/BW bull you can find. She will have a tiny little 75# bull calf. BUT, that bull calf bred to anyother breed cow, will/can produce HUGE calves because he genetically inherited that ability from his sire.
Latest research on protein vs huge calves - it is better to feed cattle and get them fat (not OBESE) than to have them thin for calving. "Normally fat" cows don't have calving dystocia compared to thin cows. It takes a HUGE amount of fat to cause a problem with the birthing canal. Feeding high protein feed CAN increase the size of the calf - but researchers say it will only be about 10# increase. That 10# increase does not warrent concern over a "too thin" cow. Thin cows are weaker, can't push as strong, have hard time breeding back, and thin cows have thin calves which may exhibit "weak calf syndrome".
I don't have the article in front of me, but I have put several articles concerning this issue in my newsletter, so I remember it well.

 

[novatech]

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Brahman cows have a "built-in" limiter as to the size of fetus they grow. Found this out because of the Simbrah breed. You can take a Brahman cow & breed it to the worse CE/BW bull you can find. She will have a tiny little 75# bull calf.

Since I raise them you would think I would know that. Just goes to show ya . What you think you know, sometimes you don't.
Thanks for the info.