Whether you are feeding brood cows on your own or working with an experienced producer, there are several things to consider. For one, the quality of forage they consume will impact their daily intake on a dry matter basis.
In addition, the stage of production they are in (gestating or lactating) will also have a major influence on their intake.
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Feeding
There are many commercially available supplements that are aimed at meeting the energy and protein requirements of cows. These products have a place, but they must be carefully evaluated and not viewed as management replacers, rather as management enhancers.
A nutrient analysis is an important part of a complete feeding program and can help determine the most effective supplementation strategy for the herd. It also helps match nutrient needs to the forage resources available on a particular operation.
Forage quality has a major effect on the amount of forage a cow can consume on a daily basis. Non-lactating cows consuming low quality forage (TDN content 52% or less) may consume about 1.8% of their body weight on a dry matter basis, while lactating cows consuming average quality forage (TDN content between 52% and 59%) can consume about 2.0% of their body weight.
Forage quality and forage digestibility are two major factors that affect how much a cow can eat on a daily basis. High quality forage is highly digestible and has a high degree of neutral detergent fibre.
Minerals
Minerals are vital to the health of cows and their performance. They help in a variety of body functions such as bone formation, development and maintenance, teeth, blood clotting, membrane permeability, muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, heart regulation, milk secretion, hormone secretion and enzyme activation and function.
Cattle require an adequate balance of major minerals (calcium, phosphorus and salt) and trace minerals to promote optimal performance. Deficiencies in these minerals can have significant detrimental effects on overall performance.
Feed brood cow calving and breeding supplements at the rate of 0.5 pound per head per day along with roughage and grain. These supplements are most often ordered as pelleted products, which minimize waste and provide the opportunity to evenly mix the supplement with the ration.
Brood cows can be fed year-round with a variety of brood cow supplements that include feed additives at FDA-approved levels. These include brood cow minerals, dry lot and coproduct brood cow supplements. They are particularly appropriate for herds with historically poor reproductive performance, herds that desire maximum reproduction performance, herds that have been on a low plane of nutrition and herds in which trace mineral antagonists such as molybdenum, sulfates and iron are present at high levels.
Bloat Prevention
Bloat prevention is one of the most important aspects of brood cow management. If you follow a number of simple recommendations, your animals will not be likely to suffer from this problem.
The first thing you need to do is not turn your animals onto fresh, high bloat-potential pasture that is moist with dew, rain or irrigation water. This is because both the rate of intake and initial rate of digestion are much faster when plants are moist.
This causes a build-up of excess gas in the rumen, which forms stable foam that cannot be belched out. This is a very serious situation that requires immediate attention.
Bloat is a severe and often fatal condition. It can kill an animal in as little as 2 to 4 hours if it is not treated promptly.
Management
Managing cow feed is all about keeping the costs low while meeting the nutrient requirements of the herd. In many cases this involves the use of ration balancing software.
The software can help producers quickly adapt to changes in forage quality, supplement resources, weather and stages of production to ensure least-cost feeding strategies. Typically the initial cost of the software is offset by the feed savings within the first handful of rations that are balanced.
In addition, ration balancing is essential to minimize nutrient oversupply. When a cow’s requirements are not met, she will consume more than is necessary. This is a waste of money and a poor management practice, particularly in purebred herds or show herds.
Identifying age groups within the herd and sorting them based on their nutritional needs allows for targeted feeding strategies, minimizes dominant/subordinate relationships at the bunk, and reduces overall feed costs of the herd. Typically young and growing females need more total dietary energy and protein but cannot ingest as much dry matter as mature cows, therefore, it is best to manage them separately.
