Calving Question (Please Reply)

[Carlson Cattle]

When cows are about to calve what should you feed them? What do you feed them?  :-\

 

[bruiser]

We put oats and grass hay out for heifers and first time cows. Mother nature will tell them when to quit eating unless they are a total glutten.

 

[vanridge]

In our colder climate it is recommended that we feed them 9% protein and 60% TDN (total digestable nutrients) mineral supplements at 0.1 lbs per day 1:1 for legume based ration, 2:1 for greenfeed/grain/straw and their dry matter intake should be at 2.5% body weight of the cow. (plus their is about a 15% waste that needs to be added to finally figure)

Currently we are feeding about 38 lbs of oat silage (we are still waiting for feed test results) and they get access to this for about 3 hours a day. We top them up with peas (hulls/starch) at about 12.5 lbs a day. We also give them 2:1 mineral which we add to their grain so we know they are getting enough selenium intake. There is a trace mineral salt block in their pens at all times.  They can eat straw/ corn stalks  during the day when they can't get at the silage. Until we know how much protein is in the oat silage we can't lessen the amount of peas we are feeding.

After calving they say to bump up the protein to 11-12% and TDN to 65%

 

[leanbeef]

There are a lot of different scenarios and circumstances that will affect what you should feed and how much. What feeds & supplements are available & affordable? What kind of body condition are the cows in currently? What's expected of these females besides producing a calf, milking, and rebreeding? For example, first-calf-heifers are still growing and probably need more or better supplementation compared to mature cows in the same environment and under the same management.

Our mature cows get decent quality hay throughout the winter and whatever pasture might be available. The only other supplementation they ever get is free choice complete mineral and sometimes a liquid protein supplement. We do separate our first calvers and give them 2-3 pounds per head per day of a 15% coarse feed. That seems to help them keep growing and breed back on time, and occasionally we'll add to that group any old or thin cows, a cow that has twin calves, or a three-year-old second calver if she fits.