Transition: From being with mom to being independent (not unlike going to college!)

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Transition From being with mom to being
independent (not unlike going to college!)

• Need to manage for minimal morbidity/mortality
• A calf that becomes sick at receiving will have a
  hard time making money!
• Management aspect to be presented
• Early weaning
• Preconditioning
• Receiving

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Early weaning

• Traditional age of weaning of 205 days or 7
  months likely is associated with the typical
  grazing season
• Early weaning may mean many different things
• 4 month old calf is a functioning ruminant and is
  able to make it on its own
• Principle biologically more efficient to feed
  the dry cow and the growing calf than to feed the
  wet cow and growing calf
• Feasibility issues what are they?

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Early weaning recent studies

• Myers, 1999a, Illinois 90, 152, and 215 days of
  age weaning
• improved overall ADG (.33 and .15 lbs/day)
• improved feed conversion in feedlot
• no carcass differences
• improved BCS of cows
• improved pregnancy rate for 90-d group
• Shift to more gain from concentrate than forage
• Myers, 1999b, Illinois 177 d versus 231 d (w or
  w/o creep)
• 100 faster gain and more feed efficient (5.88 vs
  6.54)
• Improved marbling
• What about morbidity and mortality young versus
  old calf??

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Early weaning

• EW versus creep feeding

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What about Preconditioned Calves?

• Preparation of a calf which has been nursing its
  mother that is destined for the feedlot to
  withstand the stresses associated with shipping
  and adapting to a feedlot environment
• Procedures usually involve
• Wean at least 30 days prior to sale, start on
  feed
• Castrate and dehorn 3 weeks prior
• Vaccinate for virals and Clostridials
• Parasite treatment
• Others implant, ID, etc

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What about Preconditioned Calves?

• Procedures may have out-of-pocket cost of at
  least 30 with little (if any) weight gain
• So what are the advantages?
• When cattle prices are high cant stand the
  morbidity and mortality loss
• Advantage to buyer when his/her pull rates are
  high not an advantage when have a good receiving
  program and a stable environment
• Preconditioning alternatives??

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Get serious about preventing morbidity
economically!

• More alliances/arrangements between ranchers and
  feedlot
• Some form of BQA standards for vaccinations
  (timing, product, etc), weaning procedures,
  castration, dehorning
• After shipping fever (BRSV), major challenge is
  BVD extremely insidious disease?
• Type 1 and Type 2 strains, and strains that
  auto-mutate require MLV
• Even after disease, or in disease carrier
  (persistently infected PI), have reduced immune
  capability, poor performance
• Can alliance with the ranch help? Is blood
  testing prudent??

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• PI steer what does
• he cost the feedlot?
• Terrible performance
• Reduced performance of pen mates

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BVD-PI facts
BVD-PI incidence is low (.3) but a BVD-PI calve
affects pens mates and across-fence mates one
PI may affect performance of over 700
cohorts BVD vaccination will not prevent
PIs Cant tell a PI calf may look unthrifty
or may look thrifty PIs can come from anywhere
sale barn or ranch PIs are PIs for life,
non-PIs are non-PIs for life
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Show me the money
Bill Hessman, DVM, of Central States Testing and
the Haskell County Animal Hospital at Sublette,
KS 2004 study with 21,743 head across 240 pens,
some PIs removed, some left in the pen .4
incidence of PI, at least one PI in 71 of the 240
pens (31) Cost per head exposed to PI in that
operation is 67.49/head, resulting in a total
average cost per head across the entire
population of 41.17/head Not all of this loss
was directly due to morbidity/mortality Refer
to a similar refereed article Guy H. Loneragan,
JAVMA, Vol 226, No. 4, February 15, 2005
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BVD Challenge/Opportunity

• Low incidence seems to have resulted in a wait
  and see mentality
• Costbenefit seems to warrant testing
• Need more data?

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PRICE SPREAD WILL BE HIGH IN THE FEEDER MARKET

• SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM THE PACK
• Preconditioned/weaned healthy calves
• Beef quality assurance
• Source/age verification
• Superior genetics leading to better performing
  cattle
• Branded products

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Managing Newly Received Cattle

• Critical to provide good transition for young,
  naïve calf
• This may be the most expensive, inefficient phase
  of the beef industry!

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Managing Newly Received Cattle

• What are the predisposing factors for getting a
  calf successfully received, what are the stress
  factors (rank their susceptibility to morbidity)?

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Fewer sick cattle grade Choice
Iowa State
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The Value of Healthy Cattle
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The Value of Healthy Cattle

• Net return
• Healthy 69.60
• Sick -22.66
• Difference 92.26

• If steer weighs 570 lbs
• 92.26/5.7
• 16.19/cwt !!!
• McNeil, 1997, Noble Foundation

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Receiving Cattle Programs

• VERY source dependent
• neighbor vs saleyard
• yearlings vs calves
• Should expect some death loss
• 1-2 on calves?
• .5 on yearlings?
• Before receiving cattle
• need to prepare the lot

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Needs to be clean, comfortable, and dry but not
dusty need to rest
Long, narrow pens- 150 sq ft/head
Always close to bunk
Allow 18-24 bunk/head
Pens should be close to working facility- good
sorting capabilities
Want good clean water supply
Long trough or tank running over
If cattle have been on the road for a long time,
dont allow them unlimited access to water
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RIGHT PEN, AMOUNT, TIME, WAY

• CLEAN PEN
• LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
• WATER, WATER, WATER
• HUNGRY CALF HEALTHY CALF
• BUNK HAY
• TOPDRESSED with FRESH STARTER RATION
• LIMIT HAY to 1-2 DAYS

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Processing

• Upon receipt of cattle
• watch carefully at unloading (and get accurate
  record for inventory)
• Splitting cattle into small groups may help
• lower stress at working
• more accurate temps
• able to detect sick cattle easier
• symptoms??

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When should you work cattle?

• Can process directly off of the truck if they are
  not tired and stressed
• Later for high risk cattle next day or 2
• Should be 3-4 hrs after sunup
• 1st time through
• visually inspect cattle to identify definite
  sicks
• temp all cattle going through facility
• ID and treat sicks and cattle with temps above
  104 degrees
• keep good records
• could cut out sicks to special hospital pen (s)
• What about mass medicate?

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Mass Medication (Metaphylaxis)

• Various injectable antibiotics approved for use
  as mass medication
• New Mexico State study - Micotil
• Calves treated for BRD 0 vs 46
• 28-day ADG 2.82 vs 2.55
• DM intake 8.58 vs 7.81 lb
• Temp and treat as affective as mass medication
• Cost beneficial when pull rate gt 35

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MEDICATED FEED

• Pennchlor
• Aureomycin
• FEED ACCORING TO LABEL
• 350 mg/hd/d or 10 mg/lb BW

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Receiving and Processing

• All animals get ear tag, ivermectin, IBR-PI3 -BVD
  MLV(?), clostridia and implant
• dehorn and check to see if all steers are
  castrated
• can get weights if possible or desired
• Heifers
• spay, abort or do nothing what to do???
• Need to observe cattle 2- 4 weeks
• yearlings less time than calves

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Feeding at receiving time

• Initially eating to stay healthy rather than gain
  weight
• Objective at this time is to get intake increased

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Nutrition of calves eating during 1st ten days
No calves ate on all days of the first week
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Fox et al., 1985
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REMEMBER THE 3 RS

• REST, REHYDRATION, and
• RUMEN
• REDUCE or PREVENT METABOLIC CHANGES
• SPEED RECOVERY
• PREPARE for next ration

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Receiving Nutrition

• Because of intakes this period is critical
• eating to stay healthy not to gain
• Usually feed long hay for a few days
• restore rumen health
• can work on to mixed ration gradually
• hay on bottom mixed ration on top
• Because of lower intakes need to increase
  nutrient concentration

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Receiving Nutrition

• Ration should be dry, not dusty, palatable, fresh
  and not ensiled - clean bunks regularly
• No moldy hay or unstable silage!
• If capable can include a little fat
• Energy- want to concentrate but not overdo it
  because of rumen problems
• 50-70 concentrate
• will sacrifice gain for morbidity and mortality

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Receiving Nutrition

• Protein 13-14 - can be lower for yearlings
• alfalfa is good for degradable protein and K
  (after animals are on feed)
• Escape protein could be beneficial early
• disrupted rumen
• palatability is a concern with this
• NPN???
• NEVER!!!

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Receiving Nutrition

• Minerals - important!
• Loss of body fluids and electrolytes
• K especially important
• 1.2-1.4 of ration for 2 weeks esp w/ gt4 shrink
• decreases MM increases 28 day gains
• Trace minerals?
• Vitamins
• A E can reduce MM
• B complex

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Receiving Nutrition

• Ionophores
• Helpful to prevent coccidiosis
• can also use Deccox for this
• Palatability
• Bovatec vs Rumensin
• Direct-fed microbials (probiotics)
• more stress greater potential response
• Restore favorable gut microbial ecosystem
• Add to feed - can oral dose in hi stress cattle
• Antibiotics (controversial!)

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RATION GUIDELINES