Agriculture : News
DATE: July 16, 2010
HARDIN COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
201 Peterson Drive
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701-9370
BY: Doug Shepherd
County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources
Cattle Questions:
Here are some cattle questions we receive from time to time and the answers to those
questions.
- When should I palpate my cows for a pregnancy test? Cows and heifers can be
pregnancy checked 45 days after the bull is removed. The sooner a producer knows the pregnancy status of their cow herd, the better they are able to make plans to replace open individuals. If you have two calving seasons, the cow can be moved into the other herd for a second chance, if her production warrants it. It is especially important to determine the status of virgin heifers. If they are open or non-pregnant, they need to be culled immediately. She had an equal opportunity to breed and if she did not, she may be sterile or at least subfertile.
- If my cow has twins, will they be all right as breeding animals? Twins of the same sex
will grow into two normal individuals; but in twins both of mixed sex, the female of this pair may be a free martin. A free martin is a sterile female, lacking a functional uterus and ovaries, that my exhibit normal exterior female genitalia. The bulls from this twinning are normal.
- What do I do if my cow does not “clean off” after calving? Producers should leave a
cow with a retained placenta alone for 72 hours unless the cow shows signs of becoming sick or toxic. More damage is done when producers assist than when nature is allowed to rectify the problem. Usually gravity, due to the sheer weight of the placenta, and her hormones will take care of the problem. If your cow shows signs of being sick, she should only be taken care of by a trained veterinarian.
- My cow aborted; what does it mean? Abortions should be a major concern to cattle
producers. Not only is the calf lost, but abortion may be an indication of a larger problem. Abortions can have physical (kick or butt), nutritional, toxic, genetic, or infectious causes. And producers need to know what the specific cause was, which means they need to contact a veterinarian immediately.
Infectious abortions can generally be prevented with a proper vaccination program developed in conjunction with your herd veterinarian. Diseases causing abortion include: IBR, BVD, Brucellosis, leptospirosis, vibriosis, and anaplasmosis, Non-infectious causes could be due to moldy feed that contain mycotoxins, recessive or lethal genes, poison, hormonal imbalances, other nutritional deficiencies such as Vitamin A and E and selenium.
- My cow has a prolapse. What does this mean to her future as a beef cow? A complete
uterine inversion or prolapse is life threatening, and must be reinserted immediately before the cow goes into shock. Generally cows that have prolapsed are culled at weaning. Some females will rebreed and may remain in the herd. The odds are fair that the cow may prolapse again sometime in her life. Cows with a vaginal or cervical prolapse are less dramatic but can also have a life threatening situation. These types of prolapse usually occurs in older cows and generally reoccurs and worsens with each calf thereafter. These females should also be culled.
- Is getting heifers too fat at a young age a problem later in life? Yes, getting heifers too
fat at an early age, particularly from five to nine months old, does seem to cause some problems later in life for heifers and shows up most frequently as lower milk production. The common problem with heifers too fat at a young age is low weaning weights of calves born to them. Heifers that are fat (body condition score of 7 or 8) at weaning is not a good management practice and should be avoided.
- Should I give a growth implant to my beef heifers being raised as replacements?
Probably not, but there are some advantages to implanting heifers with a growth implant one time at five to seven months of age. Advantages from implanting a heifer include a larger pelvic area and slightly more milk production as a cow. However, there is often a slight decline in breeding percentage of implanted heifers. If implanting a heifer, be sure and follow instructions precisely and only implant heifers once.
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