Roughages are an essential but often overlooked part of a cow’s diet. Most of the time, people only focus on things like crude protein, energy, and possibly even mineral content. While those are vital for the overall production of cattle, roughages play just as important a role. Consuming a certain amount of roughage is essential to keep the rumen functioning, thus allowing the digestion of things like protein, energy, and minerals.
The rumen, mainly the microbes, needs to be taken care of if the animal is to produce. The purpose of the rumen is to degrade complex structural fibers found in plants. When it does that, it then metabolizes them to make the nutrients that the animal needs. In order to keep them going, the microbes need to be fed just like the animals themselves.
The quality and availability of roughages can directly impact the success of a cattle ranch. There are many factors that can affect the quality of roughages. Things like rainfall, stage of maturity, and how they are managed can all affect the quality.
Creep feeding can be an excellent tool for improving the overall weaning weight of your calves. Thus, it can be a good management and economical option for improving your bottom line.
Salt blocks are available to producers in a variety of different colors. This variety is something any trip to your local feed store can tell you. Each color represents different situations in which they are needed.
A feed tag is a very informative but often overlooked item on a commercially produced feed. Other than looking at the Crude protein or the energy content, not many people really look at them. With some of the confusing numbers and such listed on them, it is understandable how that can happen.
Colostrum is one of, if not the most critical thing for newborn calves. It lays the very foundation for their health and well-being throughout the remainder of their life. Through the dam, the calf takes in all the antibodies needed to fight off disease. But what if they are not able to get it from their mother?
Producers tend to have a love/hate relationship regarding supplements. On the one hand, they love how it improves the performance of their cattle, but on the other hand, they hate that it adds to their expenses. It is for this reason that producers tend only to feed supplements if they absolutely have to.
Like any other business, cattle producers are always looking for ways to reduce costs. As any producer will tell you, there is no more significant expense than feed costs. A management tool used quite often to regulate feed intake is using salt. Though it can have some impact, controlling feed intake with salt is not precise and will require some tinkering in order to get it right.
Formulating a ration for cattle is critical to any successful beef operation. There are times when forages alone will not supply what the cows need for the stage they are in. When it comes that time, you will need to provide a supplement that will fill in the gaps to keep them producing.
Roughages are an essential but often overlooked part of a cow’s diet. Most of the time, people only focus on things like crude protein, energy, and mineral content. While those are vital for the overall production of cattle, roughages play just as important a role. Consuming a certain amount of roughage is essential to keep the rumen functioning and allow the digestion of things like protein, energy, and minerals.
Dietary minerals are necessary for optimal growth and reproduction. The amount needed depends on forage mineral content, the animal’s age, and the production stage. Just knowing what the cow requires is only 1 component in evaluating its mineral status. Even the soil type, fertilizer used, and rainfall can affect what mineral is available at a particular time.
