Mastitis

Cull Cows – Should They Stay or Should They Go? And When Should They Go?

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 16:10:29 GMT

In Financial Opportunities of Cull Cow Marketing , the cull cow market, the importance of cull cow revenue to cow-calf operations, and the potential of adding value based on seasonal patterns in cull cow prices was discussed. Cull cow prices tend to bottom in the fall and peak in the spring, presenting a range of opportunities. Let’s take a deeper dive into the culling decision along with post-culling management and marketing with a focus on spring-calving herds.

Cow-calf producers with spring calving herds typically wean calves in late summer or early fall and subsequently make decisions about culling cows from the herd. The culling decision is based on many factors related to fertility, productivity, management ease, and health, as described in Figure 1.

Ask yourself these questions when making cull cow decisions.

(K. Raper)

Alongside that culling decision is the marketing decision – the decision to market cull cows immediately or retain them on the farm for marketing at a later date (Raper and Biermacher, 2017). Many factors influence this decision, including individual cow health, cash flow needs, on-farm resources for retention and feeding, current market conditions versus market expectations, and time. If a cull cow is not healthy enough or structurally sound enough to stay in your herd, she likely needs to go on the trailer for immediate marketing, as the risk of carrying her for 4 more months outweighs the opportunity for added revenue. If a cull cow carries too much body condition, she should also join those on the trailer, as adding or maintaining weight will likely be more costly than any revenue gained from the seasonal price upswing. On the other hand, if a cull cow is sound, reasonably healthy and not over-conditioned, AND if you have the resources to do so, there are multiple retention strategies with the potential for increasing cull cow salvage values in a profitable way. These strategies focus on taking advantage of the typical spring upswing in cull cow prices without spending all of the revenue gain on feed intake cost.

This article will focus on feeding strategies and leave the conversation about selling culls as bred cows for later.

In the previously referenced studies, 162 cull cows over a three-year period were assigned either to a native pasture or to a low-cost dry-lot retention program.

Market value and retention costs were assessed at October culling and again at one-month intervals from November through March and used to calculate net returns.

Net returns from cull cow retention measure the difference in revenue at culling and revenue when marketing at a later date, less the associated retention and feed costs, written as:

Net Returns = Revenue at Marketing – Retention & Feed Costs – Revenue if sold at Culling

Cows retained in the dry-lot setting had higher weight gain, on average, than cows retained on native pasture, but cumulative feed costs also increased at a much faster pace, even with the low-cost strategy. Cows with BCS≤6 (thin and medium) were profitably retained in the native pasture system, regardless of the retention period, with net returns ranging from $20/head in November to $70/head in March. Many of these cows actually lost some weight during the retention period, but the seasonal price upswing ‘outweighed’ the lost weight. However, in the low-cost dry lot system, only the 4-month retention period was profitable for thin and medium cows, with net returns of $20/head and $10/head, respectively, as feed costs consumed most of what would be gained from the seasonal price upswing. Net returns for cows with BCS>6 were negative across the board in the dry lot system, with minimal profitability in the pasture system as well.

So…as my family says in dominoes, get rid of your big ‘uns! And then carefully consider how to manage and market the rest.

Your Next Read: Success in the Sagebrush: Navigating Cattle Ranching Challenges For Seven Generations

How to Prevent Mastitis in Beef Cows

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 14:27:18 GMT

Mastitis Diagnosis and Treatment

Often, a beef producer or veterinarian will not notice a cow with mastitis, because beef cattle are not typically observed daily from a short distance, and many cases do not result in visible swelling or other signs of udder infection. In situations when cases of mastitis are not detected, the cow is likely to remain infected throughout the lactation and possibly for the rest of her life.

If mastitis is diagnosed, cows can be treated with special formulations of antibiotics that can be infused into the udder itself through the end of the teat. The veterinarian may also choose to treat cows with mastitis with antibiotics injected under the skin of the neck that then travel through the blood stream to the udder.

Many cases of mastitis respond well to treatment, but some quarters never return to full milk production. If a cow with mastitis is severely ill, the veterinarian may recommend aggressive therapy with frequent milking out of the affected quarter, the use of anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotic therapy.

Because beef cows are not handled frequently, the most common time to check cows for mastitis is when they are gathered for purposes of vaccination, fly control, or breeding early in lactation, or at the end of lactation when the cows are checked for pregnancy status and/or the calves are weaned. Some herds routinely check udders and treat any affected cows at the time the calves are weaned.

Preventing Mastitis

Although it is probably not possible to prevent all cases of mastitis, heavy fly populations, calving in a drylot and poor teat and udder confirmation are linked with situations with multiple cows being affected in the same herd.

Older cows, particularly those with larger, low-slung udders and large teats are considered to be at greater risk for mastitis. Therefore, prevention focuses on calving cows on clean pasture and avoiding calving in wet or muddy environments, culling potential replacement heifers if their dam has poor udder or teat confirmation, and controlling flies by focusing on sanitation and appropriate use of insecticides.

Read More:

Mineral and Vitamin Considerations When Drylotting Cows

Understanding Hardware Disease

Mastitis in Beef Cows: What You Need to Know

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 18:35:14 GMT

Although mastitis, an infection of the udder, is often considered a dairy cow problem rather than a beef cow problem, the disease does affect many beef herds.

Most cases of mastitis only involve one quarter (one teat) of a cow’s udder and the other three quarters remain normal. Even though most cases of mastitis do not result in the complete loss of milk production, calves from affected cows have lighter weaning weights than if their dam had a normal udder.

Occasionally, mastitis causes severe illness in the cow, but in most situations, the cow is not greatly affected other than having reduced milk production. Mastitis can occur at any stage of lactation or even when the cow is dry, but most commonly becomes a problem early in lactation shortly after a cow calves.

Most cases of mastitis are caused by germs that are very common in the environment and on a cow’s skin. Occasionally, mastitis is caused by injury to the udder. Lactating cows are by far the most commonly affected, but heifers and even bulls or steers can have infected udders.

Severe cases of mastitis, when the udder becomes reddened, swollen, and hot to the touch and the cow shows signs of illness such as being off-feed and inactive, will result in severe weight loss in the calf and cow and occasionally the death of either the cow or calf.

Often, a beef producer or veterinarian will not notice a cow with mastitis because beef cattle are not typically observed daily from a short distance and many cases do not result in visible swelling or other signs of udder infection. In situations when cases of mastitis are not detected, the cow is likely to remain infected throughout the lactation and possibly for the rest of her life.

If mastitis is diagnosed, cows can be treated with special formulations of antibiotics that can be infused into the udder itself through the end of the teat. The veterinarian may also choose to treat cows with mastitis with antibiotics injected under the skin of the neck that then travel through the blood stream to the udder.

Many cases of mastitis respond well to treatment, but some quarters never return to full milk production. If a cow with mastitis is severely ill, the veterinarian may recommend aggressive therapy with frequent milking out of the affected quarter, the use of anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotic therapy.

Because beef cows are not handled frequently, the most common time to check cows for mastitis is when they are gathered for purposes of vaccination, fly control, or breeding early in lactation, or at the end of lactation when the cows are checked for pregnancy status and/or the calves are weaned. Some herds routinely check udders and treat any affected cows at the time the calves are weaned.

Although it is probably not possible to prevent all cases of mastitis, heavy fly populations, calving in a drylot and poor teat and udder confirmation are linked with situations with multiple cows being affected in the same herd.

Older cows, particularly those with larger, low-slung udders and large teats are considered to be at greater risk for mastitis. Therefore, prevention focuses on calving cows on clean pasture and avoiding calving in wet or muddy environments, culling potential replacement heifers if their dam has poor udder or teat confirmation, and controlling flies by focusing on sanitation and appropriate use of insecticides.

Read More:

Mineral and Vitamin Considerations When Drylotting Cows

Over-the-Counter Antibiotics: What You Need to Know Before June 11

Understanding Hardware Disease