Browsing by Subject "beef cows"

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    Influence Of Feed Delivery Method, Supplement Moisture, And Access Time On Intake And Waste By Beef Cows
    (2019-04) Jaderborg, Jeffrey
    A series of three 10-d experiments using a Latin Square design, was performed to determine whether hay processing and feeding method (Exp. 1), energy supplement moisture content and feeding method (Exp. 2) or access time to hay (Exp. 3) by late-gestating beef cows affected hay or supplement DMI and waste. In Exp. 1, large round bales were processed with a bale buster, to an average theoretical length of 12 cm, and delivered on the pen surface or in a bunk or left unprocessed and delivered in a hay ring or rolled out on the pen surface. In Exp. 2, corn screenings (CS) or wet beet pulp (BP) was fed in a structure (inverted tire or feed bunk) or on the pen surface (BP only). In Exp. 3, cows were permitted access to large round-bale hay in a hay ring for either 6, 14 or 24 h. In Exp. 1, hay DMI was not (P > 0.05) affected by hay processing or feeding method, and averaged 11.6 kg/d. Hay waste was greater (P = 0.0003) for cows fed hay on the pen surface (19.1%). In Exp. 2, hay DMI was greatest (P < 0.05) for cows fed no energy supplement and those fed CS in a bunk. Cows fed BP in a bunk wasted the most (P < 0.0001) hay (18.1%). In Exp. 3, DMI and waste was greatest (P < 0.0001) when cows had access to hay for 24 h. Cows allowed 6-h access to hay consumed and wasted less (P < 0.0001) hay compared to those given 14-h or 24-h access. In these experiments, cows fed hay on the pen surface achieved similar DMI as those fed in a structure, but wasted more hay. Delivering a high-moisture supple¬ment on the pen surface or bunk increased supplement or hay waste. Controlling access to hay reduced DMI and waste while maintaining cow BW.
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    Optimizing Resource Utilization In Beef Cattle Operations: Reducing Hay Waste, Improving The Value Of Roughage, And Preserving Integrity Of Rations
    (2017-12) Nenn, Katie
    Rising prices of roughages and grains lead producers to constantly re-evaluate their feeding methods. Feed waste during storage, transfers, diet mixing and delivering is often underestimated or ignored. Concurrently, forages and forage quality are important to achieve production objectives, and sufficient profits. Feed costs are associated with forage quality because typically the higher the nutrient value the more expensive a feed source is. Reducing input costs, maintaining healthy livestock all while making a profit can be a challenge for many livestock producers in the Midwest. Thus, three different experiments were conducted to optimize resource utilization. The first experiment was conducted to evaluate forage waste when beef cattle were fed using three feeding systems. Systems evaluated were pull-type self-feeder, conventional bale ring and fence-line bunk. In this experiment, using a pull-type self-feeder led to less feed waste than feeding through a conventional bale ring or fence-line bunk. Experiment 2 was a backgrounding study with lightweight steers to evaluate growth performance effects of dry lot feeding corn stover untreated (CON), corn stover treated with an alkaline treatment (calcium hydroxide; TCS), corn stover hydrated with water (TWS), or grazing cattle on a cover crop (radishes and turnips; CC). Dry lot treatments were fed for 49 d followed by 64 d during which steers were fed a common backgrounding diet. Cattle grazed a cover crop for 29 d and then were fed the same backgrounding diet for 85 d. Following the common backgrounding period, cattle from all treatments were fed for 176 d on a common finishing diet. Feeding TCS resulted in intermediate rates of gain that were similar to those of cattle fed TWS or CON. In situ determination of DMD led to observations that, numerically, TCS had greater DMD (43.49%) and NDFD (54.82%) than cattle fed CON or TWS at 48 h (31.02%, 39.50% and 18.99%, 22.17% respectively). At harvest, cattle fed CON had larger (P = 0.03) LM area than cattle fed either TCS or TWS. Cattle fed TWS tended (P < 0.06) to have less 12th rib fat depth than cattle fed TCS. There were no differences in other carcass characteristics between treatments. Results from this experiment demonstrated that treating corn stover with only water may be used to enhance low quality roughages albeit at higher DM intakes. A third experiment was designed to determine the effect of supplement type precision and accuracy of delivery. Findings from this study demonstrated that supplement form affected concentrations of DM, CP, Ca and Cu delivered to the bunk. Concentrations of DM and CP were closest to reference values when LS was used but those of Ca and Cu were closest to reference values when DS was used. Results from this study demonstrated that concentrations of Zn moved further away from the reference value as the mixer approached the end of delivery sites. Through this short-term study, we have demonstrated that supplement form and, for micro-minerals such as Zn, delivery order may impact nutrient concentrations in bunk samples.