Rearing the Beef Bred Calf

Transcription

1 Rearing the Beef Bred Calf

2 Fundamental goal of feeding calves Provide immunity to calf Develop the rumen to serve as a fermentation chamber for grain and forage Maximise growth rates Minimise rearing costs

3 Colostrum Provides passive immunity to calf Protects calf until its own immune system (active) is functioning Provides essential nutrients to stimulate digestion and metabolism Success depends on: Quality Quantity Timing

4 Colostrum - Quality Affected by: 1 st yield, age of cow, dry period, leaking milk, breed Milking number Milk Solids % Protein % IgG mg/ml Fat % Lactose % Calving number Antibody % First 5.9 Second 6.3 Third 8.2 Fourth and later 7.5

5 Quantity and timing Colostrum Ability to absorb antibodies declines rapidly over first 24 hours 2-3 litres as soon as possible and 2-3 litres within 8 hours 40% of calves left to suckle do not drink enough colostrum

6 Effect of immune status on performance Immune Status Category (ZST) Units 0-20 >20 Sig % Calves receiving antibiotic pre-weaning LWG 0-3 Months (kg/day) * Age at Slaughter (months) ** Margin /feed ( ) AFBI

7 Building Immune Function Birth 24 h CON MOS CON MOS (n=19) (n=22) (n=19) (n=22) Serum IgG1, mg/dl 1.6 ND Serum IgG 2, mg/dl ND ND Serum IgM, mg/dl Serum IgA, mg/dl ND ND Rotavirus titers ,569 Franklin et al., 2005, JDS 88:

8 Building Immune Function Control MOS Serum rotavirus titers Colostrometer Colostral IgG Colostral IgG 2 Colostrum rotavirus titers Franklin et al., 2005, JDS 88:

9 Rumen development Development starts within a few days Development affected by type of feed Rumen microbes require water to grow Rumen changes in 2 ways Physical size Wall thickness and papillae formation

10 Rumen development 6 weeks - milk only

11 Rumen development 6 weeks - milk and hay

12 Rumen development 12 weeks - milk and hay

13 Rumen development 4 weeks - milk and concentrate

14 Rumen development 12 weeks - milk, concentrate and hay

15 Rumen development Papillae stimulated by butyrate and propionate from concentrate Forage increases size through stretch not growth Forage important for muscular development after weaning

16 Features of United Feeds Calf Feeds Starches and restricted sugars butyrate + propionate Inclusion of saturated fat high digestibility and energy Mother smell ensures early uptake Biomoss binds to pathogenic bacteria and stimulates calf s immune system Yeast promotes beneficial bacteria

17 Finishing Steers Level of concentrates Days to gain 200kg Daily liveweight gain (kg) Feed costs ( /head) Other costs( /head) Total cost ( /head) Scottish Agricultural Colleges

18 Lifetime rearing programmes Bulls Intensive Housed 2.6T concentrate Forage / conc. based 1 st summer at grass 1.7T concentrate Steers Medium conc. input Grass / grass silage 1.5T concentrate Low conc. input Grass / grass silage 0.8T concentrate

19 Comparison of performance according to programme Lifetime rearing programme Intensive Bull system Forage/conc. Bull system Low conc. input Steer Lifetime LWG (kg/day) Age at slaughter (months) Carcass weight (kg) Carcass Value ( ) Total conc. fed (t FW) Total silage (t DM) Grazing area (ha/animal) FCR - kg DMI/kg LWG Margin/feed lifetime ( ) Feed costs/kg carcass gain ( /kg) AFBI

20 Comparison of performance according to programme Consider rearing 100 calves per year through to finish Lifetime rearing programme Intensive Bull system Forage/conc. Bull system Low conc. input Steer Months to finish 2 batches No. Years Carcass Value ( ) Margin/feed lifetime ( ) Total Value of animals finished ( ) 37,800 43,000 31,400 Total Value/year ( ) 15,120 15,926 7,136

21 Recommendations Pre calving nutrition of cow important Ensure early colostrum intake Introduce Calf Starter from day 3 and ensure fresh clean water available Wean when calf eating kg starter and introduce forage when calves eating kg of star Consider length of keep in finishing system