Management
Getting Cows to Breed Back and Breed Up Quickly
By Travis Meteer, University of Illinois
This winter was brutal. Weather events, poor
conditions, and hay shortages have resulted in
some cows that will need extra attention prior
to and during breeding season. After a hard
winter, it would be salt in the wound to have
cows breed late and fall out of your calving
season. Monitoring and intervening with some
timely supplementation is important and a
valuable component to a profitable cowherd.
First, a rough season can help identify the
cows that can’t hang. Marking cows that are
too high maintenance for cull can be a good
thing for the future of your cowherd. This winter
likely has identified some members of the
herd that need to see the gate. However, if the
majority of cows are behind merely due to a
hard winter and below average feed supplies…
then timely supplementation can help keep
these cows from falling back in the season.
The biggest focus should be getting thin cows
gaining weight. Cows that are gaining weight
breed up at a higher percentage. This is easier said
than done considering spring calving cows will be
lactating and hay supplies are likely exhausted.
For those producers that will still be feeding
harvested feeds during the breeding season,
utilizing co-product feeds like corn gluten
feed, dried distillers grains, and even just corn
can help offer additional energy to forages.
For those producers that will be turned out on
pasture at the time of breeding, a dry, low protein
supplement should be used to help balance your
pasture ration. New pasture growth has challenges.
It is washy, high in protein, and low in fiber. To
transition cattle successfully to pastures with
these hurdles from winter diets, we need to offer
a supplement that adds dry matter, energy, and
fiber. Adding energy is likely the priority. Thus, I
have found success in advising cattlemen to feed
cows a 50:50 mixture of corn grain and soybean
hulls when starting cattle on pasture. Feeding 4
to 5 pounds of this mixture can help add energy
to the pasture ration. Offering a bale of hay or any
palatable dry forage can help but stay away from
high protein forages like alfalfa. Getting more dry
matter, energy, and fiber in the cow will help her
better utilize the lush grass pasture for weight gain.
Now, here are a few reasons to focus on getting
cows bred early. First, research has shown that
getting a higher percentage of cows to calve
within the first 21 days of the calving season
results in heavier weaning weights and increased
pregnancy rates compared to later calving cows.
Heavier calves and more bred cows has been and
will be a pretty good combination for making
money. Later calving cows are more apt to fall
out of your calving season and can ultimately
cost you several dollars in replacement costs.
Just one missed cycle can add several dollars
to the annual cost to keep a cow. It can also
result is loss from weaning weight that could
have been realized if the calf was older, on the
ground and growing sooner. Table 1 shows
figures of the cost per cow that fails to breed
in the first 21 days of the breeding season.
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