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Many purchasers these days insist that the young cattle they receive have been yard weaned.  Why is this important and how can it be easily achieved? Once you have tried yard weaning successfully you will wonder why you ever tried any other way.

The first step is to ensure that your yards are large enough and strong enough to handle the mob.  If room is an issue, consider splitting the mob and weaning in stages. The yards need to be strong enough to keep the calves in, but also to prevent injury.

You will need to ensure that water is available at all times. Ideally the water should be fresh and clean, although for many of us this can be hard to come by, particularly in times of drought. The better quality the water and the more readily available it is, the more your calves will eat. The more the calves eat, the better their transition will be.

What should you feed? This will depend on what you have on hand or have access to purchase. There are a few things to remember:

• Calves should have access to hay at all times. The hay should have good levels of functional fibre. Pure clover hay would be unsuitable for this reason. The hay you chose is important and it is well worth getting a feed test done. Feed tests will highlight such things as nitrate or water soluble carbohydrate levels, which can cause problems. These can really set your young stock back. It can get fairly messy during a yard weaning and if the calves are on high nitrate feed, they will not only under-perform, they can develop respiratory issues as a result of excess ammonia in the environment. If you are unsure of where to get your feed tested, you can ask your rural store or give us a call and we can point you in the right direction.
• Try and keep the soluble protein and nitrate level as low as possible. This does not mean keep the protein low.  Fast-growing young stock have smaller rumen sizes relative to the rest of their body and their demand for feed protein is high.
• Along with access to hay and water at all times, calves should be fed once a day with a concentrate supplement. If calves have been on a lick feeder or creep fed, they can remain on this system, (creep feeding is a superior method to lead into weaning and will be discussed in later articles).
• Ideally, purchase a feed that is high in bypass protein, through inclusion of ingredients such as canola meal or soybean meal. Most stock feed mills cater for the needs of young stock, so it is a good idea to ring and ask which is an appropriate mix to use. If you are in doubt, we can help you out with advice.
• Calves must be weaned onto concentrate feeds to avoid acidosis. This is particularly important if calves have not previously had access to cereal grains. On day-one of weaning, offer a small line of feed along the bottom of all troughs about 5cm in width.  Watch the feeding behaviour. Once about a quarter of the calves are eating, slowly, over 4 to 5 days, increase the feed up to about 1.5 to 2kg per head per day depending on size and growth requirements. To get the amount of feed fine-tuned, it is best to weigh at weaning and discuss growth goals with an animal nutritionist.
• If you find the calves are not interested in concentrate feed during the initial stages of weaning, purchase some molasses and tip this over the top of the feed, or mix it through, whichever is most convenient.  This is simply to attract the calves via the smell, so the exact quantity does not matter and you can water it down to make handling easier if you wish. Raw sugar has a similar effect.
• Always use troughs for cattle. Pellets or grain mixes should not be fed to cattle on the ground. They are not as efficient as sheep at accessing it like this and they will tend to consume a fair amount of soil. There is anecdotal evidence that the incidence of clostridial type diseases such as Blackleg, Pulpy Kidney and Black Disease increases when cattle are fed concentrate on the ground. The clostridial bacteria can survive for long periods of time in soil. Young stock should be vaccinated with 7 in 1 or 5 in 1 prior to weaning to prevent this.
• Once the calves have settled down and can be let out into pasture, continue to offer the hay they have been on for about a week. Ideally the amount of pasture offered should be increased gradually. Concentrate feeding can be slowly weaned back down again if the pasture offered is of good enough quality. This will only be the case if the pasture is not too rank and there is enough of it to fully feed the stock. If this is not the case then continuing with concentrate feed will yield excellent results. In most cases, the longer calves are on concentrate the better their growth rates. Feel free to contact us to discuss duration of concentrate feeding.

The Flushing Effect When cattle are in good order and heifers are well grown using a timed AI program should give excellent conception rates.  Last year a particularly exceptional result was achiev…

Source: The Flushing Effect

The Flushing Effect

When cattle are in good order and heifers are well grown using a timed AI program should give excellent conception rates.  Last year a particularly exceptional result was achieved by one of HCH Genetic’s clients who used a synchronised breeding program and managed nutrition to generate what is commonly referred to as the “flushing effect”.  There has been much anecdotal evidence over the years that this effect is real, but why it works has only recently been understood.

The flushing effect is created when cattle are fed well above maintenance about three weeks prior to joining.  In the past, research focused on the effects of increased nutrition on gonadotropins (Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH)), LH (Luteinising Hormone) and FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone).  No relationship could be found.

More recently, scientists such as JG Gong in the UK have been investigating the effect of “flushing” at the ovarian level.  They have found a marked effect on the growth of small follicles from increased nutrition.  Increased nutrition causes increased levels of insulin IGF 1 and bGH.  The effect of these metabolites in the blood does not seem to affect GnRH, LH or FSH, but actually have a direct effect on the follicles within the ovaries.

This research has been well accepted by the scientific community and a great deal of work has been done on the metabolic pathways involved.  It is now accepted that insulin in the blood has a direct effect at the follicular level.

The science is very impressive and convincing, but how can this be applied to practical farming?   The effect that total nutrition has on fertility is complex, but the main effects discovered in this research have been ENERGY dependent.  Therefore diets three weeks prior to joining should increase the total energy of the diet while ensuring that water, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals are not limiting and soluble nitrogen sources such as nitrates and urea are not too high.  (Some lush rapidly growing pastures can present this problem).

It is relatively easy to formulate a diet to increase energy and achieve the flushing effect.   If pasture is the only option, then limiting intake for about a month to three weeks and then allowing access to as much as the cattle can eat may create this effect as long as nitrates in lush pasture do not interfere.

A diet that produces high levels of propionic acid in the rumen gives higher levels of insulin in the blood.  As we now know, high insulin levels in the blood increase the number of small follicles in the ovary, boosting fertility.  Supplementing with (correctly buffered) cereal grains three weeks prior to joining will increase the energy levels consumed by cattle.  Cereal grains are known to produce higher levels of propionic acid in the rumen and should therefore; more reliably cause the flushing effect.

Feeding cereal grains may present a problem if farms are not set up to handle concentrated supplements.  If the set up is there, then buffered cracked grain mixes or pellets, even whole oats are a great option.  Increased grain levels in a TMR is an ideal option for those who have the infrastructure. Stock “cubes” with a high grain content can work well if feed troughs are not an option.   There are many ways to incorporate grains in to the diet.

Feel free to give us a call at HCH Genetics if you need assistance in this area.

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body with most of it being found in the skeleton. However, its function throughout the rest of the body is varied, vital and luckily usually well regulated within the body.  As cattle producers we can run into difficulties if calcium levels are too low long term, particularly for our young stock and after calving when lactation requirements for calcium increase markedly.

Calcium is needed for bone, tooth, hair and hoof formation and maintenance, correct nerve and muscle function (including when calving) and blood clotting.  It is a component of many enzymes, vital for cellular function and is also necessary for milk production.  Needless to say it is an important mineral.

Luckily for cattle producers, providing supplemental calcium is not only easy, it’s cheap.  There’s something you don’t often hear.

Being such an abundant mineral in the body, it is also required in large amounts in the diet.  Many licks do not provide enough calcium and in fact this is also the case with many premixed mineral pellets that can be added to concentrate rations.  This is because as soon as the correct amount of supplemental calcium is added, the dose rate goes up markedly and so does the price.

Most cattle producers are better off providing macro minerals such as calcium, sodium, phosphorus and magnesium to the diet, blended as a loose lick.  Other vitamins and minerals can be offered in the typical premixed blends or licks.

It is particularly important to consider supplementing cattle with calcium

• when are young
• when they are old
• at calving time and for at least six weeks after calving
• when feeding a diet high in concentrates
• when feeding a diet high in fat or vegetable oils

Diets low in forage, high in concentrates and/or fats and oils can reduce the availability of calcium.

Due to the fact that calcium is inexpensive, it is worthwhile to have it available to all classes of stock all year round.

One of the most available and cost effective sources of calcium is limestone.  Limestone provides cattle with a palatable, available source of calcium; in fact calcium supplied in this form can be more available than calcium found in forage.  Forage calcium is commonly found in high proportions in its indigestible oxylate form.

Cattle producers can mix their own calcium lick easily and safely simply by adding between 5 to 10kg of limestone to a bag of course salt and leaving this mixture out as a lick.  HCH Genetics have a macro mineral blend available for purchase pre-made as a loose lick for those who like the convenient option.  This lick is devoid of filler so the cattle are only being offered the minerals they need.  It is designed as an inexpensive option to provide cattle with their macro mineral requirements.  If you would like to enquire, just contact us.