Lecture 11: Beef Cow-calf Health Management Flashcards
Where are the majority of beef cows in CA? How does this differ from diary? What is the average # of beef cows per farm in CA?
-Majority are out west (Alberta, Manitoba)
-Dairy is mostly ON and Québec
-Average in CA is 69 head
How are cow/calf farms structured?
-Variable prices (beef prices, grain prices) biggest expense on farm is feed
-Low input common
-Small farms (<50 cows) may lack facilities
-Independent, unstructured industry
-Slow decline & consolidation in total cow-can herd numbers over the past decade
TRUE OR FASLE: The average return on an Alberta 550lb calf is in general pretty low.
TRUE
-Market has had influxes but overall pretty low cost.
What are the general objectives on a beef farm?
-Ideally have a calf born alive from every cow
-Having calving over a short time (2-3m weighted toward early so have time to grow and get big) ie want to synchronize calfs so they have uniform calf crop easier to concentrate labour and tasks such as weaning (diary want to have spread out constant flow of milk)
-Have calves grow efficiently
-Market a desirable calf
-Get cows back in calf in a timely way (get pregnant so productive)
-Low maintenance of cows and heifers over winter
What is the beef cow-calf profit formula?
Beef cow-calf profit= (#of cows x % calf crop x weaning weight x Sale price) - cost
% Calf crop
-Cow nutrition, Dystocia, cow culling intensity, breeding program, region/climate/year, age of cow herd
Weaning weight
-Time of birth during calving (bigger easier bc more grow time), sex of cow (males bigger), genetics for growth, milk production, calf disease, pasture quality, timing of castration
Sale Price
-Prices of finished cattle and grain, weight, breed, health, pre-vax/preconditioning
Costs
-Feed cost (over winter when not on pasture), capital costs (barn, feed, storage), cow morbidity/mortality, pregnancy determination, labour, interest rate
*note some farms may have less input costs but lower profit where some have higher costs and more profit
What are some key aspects in calving management?
-Dystocia: supervision and assistance (ideal decrease risk factors)
-Passive transfer from colostrum: assisted or bottle (5 Q’s) receiving from dam
-Hypothermia
-Scours prevention (environmental management), treatment plans
What are some common calf diseases?
Neonatal diarrhea
-Causes same as in dairy calves
-Preventative management depends on 1.Colostrum (main prevention bc placenta doesn’t let anything pass in utero) Vax of dams before calving boost immune, BCS of cows at calving (influence if mom has good quality colostrum)
2. Environmental management (how clean areas are when calving)
3.Decrease pathogen load through decreased animal density, movement to clean pens, yards, pastures
-Can potentially increase bc lots of cows for longer period of time, keep spreading pathogen
What is the triad for neonatal calf diarrhea in cow-calf operations? When does disease only occur?
Host
-COLOSTRUM, 5Q’s plus quantify
Environment
-CLEANLINESS, animal density, cold wet weather favourable (increase moisture increase pathogen load)
Agent
-E. coli, coronavirus, rotavirus, crypto, coccidia
-Disease only occurs if sufficient cause; factors are present
TRUE OR FALSE: regarding neonatal calf diarrhea the following can increase the chance of an infection, dams always present with calves, sick caves are never isolated, and dams colostrum can be variable.
TRUE
-Dams are always present with calves which more introduce pathogens through mothers manure
-Sick caves are never isolated may increase pathogen load for other calves in the environment (difficult to isolate sick calf)
What are some prevention strategies for neonatal calf diarrhea?
COLOSTRUM
-Well-vax dams w/ good plane of nutrition to improve quality (usually 1m before calving to increase antibodies)
-Ensure calf is suckling well- supplement/milk if necessary
-Exact amount received is generally not known (unlike dairy)
MINIMIZE OTHER STRESSES
-Provide clean/warm/dry calving area
-Shelter for calves in bad weather (outdoors in spring usually indoor winter)
-Minimize dystocia risk (proper sire election and nutrition for cows/replacements)
Why is dam body condition score important?
BCS out of 9 (1 emaciated- 9 extreme chonk)
-Important for colostrum, study showed cows with BCS of 1-2 had significantly lower concentration of IgG
- 4-6 had the best
- 7-9 didn’t have lower concentration but a high BCS may lead to dystocia which will cause other problems
What are neonatal calf diarrhea prevention strategies?
Reduce pathogen exposure
-Prevent excessive pathogen build-up
by: 1. changing calving pastures/ clean indoors or calving pens through out the season)
2.Maintain separate pasture or barn area for sick calves or high risk calves (isolate, separate animals giving birth)
-Do not purchase cows or replacement calves during calving season
What are the goals for reproductive management?
-Define, short, consistent breeding season
-High proportion of pregnancies in first cycle
-Generally little use of AI and estrus synchronization
-Still requires management for profitable performance
What are some factors that affect reproductive management?
-Suckling suppresses fertility to a degree
-Direct associated with nutrition, improved BCS leads to a better cyclicality and fertility
Diseases
-Vibriosis
-Trichomoniasis
-Abortion cases (same as dairy)
What is anestrus and why does it matter?
-Anestrus: cows not cycling or not normal reproduction cycle
-All cows are in anestrus after calving
-Target is for cows to start cycling by 45d after calving
-Many will take longer
Cows: 60-80d
2 yr olds: 80+ days
