Beef Cattle Feed Nutrients

     Beef Cattle Feed Nutrient Requirements and Guidlines For Feeding

     The goal of a cow-calf operation should be to produce a calf weighing a minimum of 450 pounds every 12 months from every cow. The key to success in developing a beef cow herd to reach this goal lies in becoming  knowledgeable in nutrition, breeding and health management of the beef herd. You must develop economical systems to harvest and utilize roughages for fall and winter feeding and economical pasture or drylot feeding systems for the critical lactating and breeding periods. The good cowman knows the nutrient value of the feeds available and knows how to use these to meet the requirements of the cow at the various stages of her reproductive cycle. Feed costs are over 1/2 of the total cost in producing a calf. This is the area where the greatest reduction in costs can probably be obtained. Under-feeding, however, is false economy.

Nutrient Requirements
     Minimum nutrient requirements for various classes of cattle are presented in the tables that follow. Requirements are listed for energy (TDN or total digestible nutrients), crude or total protein, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin A. Along with water and salt, these five nutrients are the ones that are of greatest practical concern to cattlemen. Salt (sodium chloride) and various trace minerals are certainly important, but their requirements are normally met by feeding trace mineralized salt. The vitamin D requirement is met by exposure to direct sunlight or by feeding sun-cured forages. Vitamin E deficiency is found only in young calves in the form of white muscle disease and is best prevented by a vitamin E - selenium injection at birth. Mature ruminants, including cattle, receive adequate amounts of B vitamins and vitamin K through bacterial synthesis in the rumen.

     The nutrient requirements are presented in two ways: (1) in pounds, grams or international units (IU) per day; and (2) in percentage of the ration dry matter (DM). In each of the tables, an estimate is made of the animal's maximum possible daily dry matter intake. As a guide to total daily DM consumption, most dry hays and grains contain 85 to 90% dry matter, whereas most silages contain only 30 to 50%. Maximum dry matter intake varies with the moisture content of the ration, season of the year, palatability of the ration, size and age of the animal, and whether or not the animal is lactating. For example, maximum intake is usually higher on dry feeds than on silages; higher in cold weather than in hot; increases with size and age; and is generally higher for the lactating cow than for the dry cow. As can be seen in the tables, the amount of a given nutrient required per day tends to increase as young cattle grow larger, however, the required concentration of that nutrient in the diet tends to decline with age and size.

<< Previous    [1]  2  3  4  5  ...11    Next >>