Nutrition’s impact on breeding
Nutrition is arguably the most important management consideration for your herd’s reproductive success. And, unfortunately, changes made overnight don’t yield immediate results. In fact, research suggests changes to nutrition need to be made 60-90 days before breeding season to affect change across the herd. As you look to maintain a yearly calving window, here are some considerations:
Body condition
Your cow’s body condition score (BCS) at calving is a significant predictor of breeding success. Black angus cows and heifers are scored on a 1-9 scale, examining their spine, ribs, trailhead, brisket, hooks/pins and muscling. Most operations are asking a cow to successfully calve, support the calf and return to a normal estrus cycle all within 90 days of calving. Needless to say, this period is nutritionally demanding, and only made more challenging if your cattle have a lower BCS. For instance, research shows that cows with a BCS of 3, take on average 88 days to return to estrus, as compared to 52 days for cows with a BCS of 6. Furthermore, pregnancy rates increase by roughly 30 percent between cows scoring a BCS of 4 and those scoring a 6. While BCS is inherently subjective, it is recommended for cows to calve at a BCS of 5 or 6. For first-calf heifers, a BCS of 6 is more suitable as they require additional nutrients to continue their own growth and development.
Supplementation
As ranchers, we understand that a cow’s energy requirements increase throughout pregnancy, and particularly as they move to late gestation. But, by how much? The University of Nebraska-Lincoln quantified this, stating that a mature cow’s energy and protein requirements increase by 25 and 10 percent respectively. Post calving, a cow’s energy requirements further increase to support lactation. Depending on your calving season, forage protein and energy may be scarce. It’s at this stage that supplementation of metabolizable protein is critical in helping support the cow, resulting in increased pregnancy rates, weaning weights and allowing the cow to cycle faster post calving. Research shows that these positive outcomes can be achieved by providing 2.8 lbs/day of crude protein coupled with 16 lbs/day of hay, forage, etc. These figures are based on a 1,200 lb mature cow supplying 20 pounds of milk.
Whether you’re buying a bull, heifer or cow from our operation, we believe an animal’s foundation is built by their nutrition. At Kinger Cattle, we are a fully artificial insemination operation. We do not utilize clean-up bulls, so we rely heavily on breeding high fertility females and managing them to support reproductive success. We intentionally work to support an animal’s natural growth cycle and minimize carcass fluctuations by mimicking the feed they’ll most likely receive at their new home. In turn, we see great success in our female pregnancy rates and bulls that hold up after grueling breeding seasons. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about our program.