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Have you thought about your cow's winter nutritional program recently?By Michael Fisher CSU Area Livestock Extension Agent Colorado This time of year, most of our range pastures are likely in a nutritional downswing. The late summer/early fall pastures just do not provide enough energy or crude protein to support the lactating beef cow. By November, most of our calves will be weaned but the standing forage will not have the nutritional levels needed to maintain the dry cow, get her body back into condition, and provide for the growing fetus within her uterus. For this reason, many producers will begin feeding their cows before long, if they have not begun so already. An inadequate nutrient intake in the cow's (or bull's) diet can have some very adverse effects upon her reproductive abilities. Studies by Bearden and Fuquay (1992) demonstrated the reproductive consequences of inadequate nutrient consumption among cattle. A lack of energy intake delayed puberty and suppressed estrus, ovulation, libido, and spermatozoa production. Limited protein intake once again resulted in suppressed estrus. It also lowered conception rates, increased the number of fetal resorptions and premature births, as well as resulted in weaker calves. Bearden and Fuquay also looked at the effect that vitamin and mineral deficiencies might have on reproduction. A vitamin A deficiency caused impaired spermatogenesis among bulls and cows became anestrous, had low conception rates, greater levels of aborted fetuses and more retained placentas than control cows. The vitamin A deficient cows that did have a calf had weaker offspring than those cows meeting their vitamin A requirements. On the mineral side, a phosphorus deficiency proved to cause cows to either be anestrous or present with an irregular estrus cycle. When selenium was limited in the diet, there was an increase in the number of retained placentas following calving. General depressed reproduction, an impaired immune system, and impaired ovarian function were all exhibited by cows that were not receiving adequate dietary copper. Bulls that had a zinc deficiency exhibited a reduction in spermatogenesis. As you can see, maintaining a proper nutritional plain within our cattle herds is very important to the bottom line. Without a solid reproduction level in the herd, there is not going to be a healthy, vibrant calf crop to sell. In addition to the reproductive issues that can arise when the cow's winter nutritional requirements are not met, we also need to consider the growth of the fetus that the cow is carrying. The last three months of gestation is when 80 percent of fetal growth is going to occur. This puts an added stress on the cow's diet, as she not only has to meet her maintenance requirements but also the growth requirements of the fetal calf. That being said, assume that you begin calving on March 1. This suggests that the fetal growth spurt is going to begin around December 1. In other words, the additional nutritional burden of fetal growth falls in the middle of our winter feeding program. Most of the area's beef producers are already providing a winter nutritional feeding program, whether that is simply feeding hay or combining hay with a supplementation program. However, cattlemen are always looking for a way to lower their input costs and winter feeding is a substantial input cost. However, there are some strategies to cut these costs without skimping on the winter nutritional level that you are providing to your herd. I plan to address a couple of these cost saving supplementation strategies in further articles. If you have questions on developing your winter feeding program, feel free to contact me at the Yuma County Extension office, 970-332-4151 or by e-mail at mj.fisher@colostate.edu. 10/8/07 Date: 10/3/07
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