Top 5 Reasons to Supplement Your Herd for Calving Season
Calving is one of the most important events of the year for the Cow/Calf producer. This is when they take delivery on the calves that will pay for their operation at weaning or take their place as replacements in the herd. The success of calving is the best indicator of how successful their feeding program was the year before and how successful it will be during weaning. Knowing that supplementing cattle will improve the ease of calving, we put together a list of reasons to supplement your herds during this season.
1. Higher Gain for Lower Overall Feed Costs
Consider ALL feed costs. Cost of supplements, delivery, waste, feed efficiency, etc. can all be reduced by planning and having a well thought out calving program. Forage analysis, ration formulation and pasture management are all tools that can improve livestock performance at a time when nutritional requirements increase. Planning ahead and building a supplement program to suit your individual needs will also save you money and time during this busy season
2. When Hay is not Enough
Cows will lose 10-15{ff5548eb8b7551781742a29b9864cd1703b3791f37ac9790ae42b0c6a6bb7d63} of their body weight at calving. Ranchers can still utilize the lower quality forage caused by the drought and fires our region faced. The high quality nutrients available in a liquid supplement can replace what’s missing. This allows mother cows to regain body weight and strength at a much lower interval than with forage alone.
3. Quality for Quality
Make sure the nutrients in supplements are highly bioavailable protein, energy, trace minerals (especially phosphorus) and vitamins. The rumen of a calving cow has shrunk to accommodate growth of the fetus and her diet needs to offset less space with better quality to improve colostrum quality, speed involution of the uterus, clean quickly and promote lactation.
4. Calving Recovery
Recovery from calving is critical to moving pairs onto clean ground and health of both the newborn calf and the cow. The added energy provided by supplements before and during calving helps strengthen newborns and mother cows alike. Consider adding Bovatec and MOS to supplements in calving areas. These additives can reduce the incidence of coccidiosis in calves and diarrhea from salmonella and E. Coli.
5. Play the Long Game
Cattle on good quality forage with access to water and appropriate protein, vitamin and mineral supplements several months prior to calving and during calving will have fewer problems at calving and return more to the producer at weaning and throughout the progeny’s productive lives. Long term nutrition planning will improve cow herd longevity and profitability.
Overall utilization of quality protein energy reduces labor costs, uses home grown forage, and ultimately allows the rancher to increase their bottom line. Taking advantage of a customized supplement program will get ranchers more for their time and more for their money.
For more information or to inquire about a feeding program designed for your operation, contact Nutra-Lix, Inc. 406-248-3631 or 800-568-6952.
Content sponsored by Nutra-Lix
