At this week’s Irish Farmers Journal/FBD beef mart demos in Kerry and Mayo, we looked at the importance of getting spring-calving suckler cows into correct body condtions, how to body condition score a cow and the correct feeding rates for thin and fat dry cows this winter.
The importance of optimum cow condition
We don’t want our suckler cow to be too thin or too fat when she goes to calve next spring.
The main problems with fat cows are difficult calvings; they are lazy calvers and they can have reduced milk yield.
A difficult calving can stem from the cow building up a layer of fat in her vaginal canal – from which the calf will be born. The tighter this is, the more likely it is that you will be running for the calving jack, at the very least.
Being a lazy-calver and having suppressed milk yield can come as a result of the same problem: low energy. Fat cows will eat less (a phenomenon caused by intake-depressing hormones realeased as a result of excessive body fat). If cows eat less in the period before calving, their energy intake could be compromised, thus resulting in low energy to physically calve and lactate.
On the flip side, thin cows can be just as problematic at calving, with poor calving ability, weak calves and then significant difficulty in getting cows back in calf for the following year. Once again, these problems are caused by a lack of energy and nutrients available in the cow’s body reserves.
Body condition scoring
Body condition scoring (BCS) does exactly what it says on the tin. A scale of 1 to 5 is used to rank cows on their body condition – 1 being very thin, 5 being very fat.
The target, body condition score for a suckler cow at calving is 2.5. At housing, ideally BCS will be higher than this – between 3 to 3.5 – to allow us to restrict intakes slightly, the cow use up some of her body reserves and us to cut feed costs in process.
Obviously cows at BCS 2.5 now need to be maintained the whole way to calving while cows at BCS under 2.5 need to be built up. This will come at extra cost.
A cow’s BCS can be generated by assessing three key areas – the long ribs, the loin (short ribs) and the tail head.
The long ribs
BCS <2.5 – visible or can be felt without applying pressure.BCS 2.5-3.5 – moderate pressure must be applied to feel individual ribs.BCS >3.5 – difficult to feel individual ribs. Fat folds can often be felt.The loin (short ribs)
BCS <2.5 – ends of ribs can be felt individually with little to no pressure.BCS 2.5-3.5 – significant pressure must be applied to feel the ends of the ribs.BCS >3.5 – ends of individual ribs cannot be felt.The tail head
BCS <2.5 – obvious crevice between hip bones and tail head. Not enough fat cover to pinch.BCS 2.5-3.5 – fat cover around tail can be pinched.BCS >3.5 – tail head is "swallowed-up with fat cover". No crevice between hip bone and tail.
Feeding rates
When you have condition-scored your cows, they should be penned accordingly. Thin cows will need a build-up diet, fat cows will need a trimming diet while optimum condition cows will need a maintainance diet.
Table 1 shows the feeding rates for dry cows over the winter based on BCS and silage quality. Getting your silage quality tested is vital – it only costs €30-40 per sample.
The final Irish Farmers Journal beef mart demo will take place in Ennis Mart, Co Clare, on Wednesday 27 November at 7pm.
At this week’s Irish Farmers Journal/FBD beef mart demos in Kerry and Mayo, we looked at the importance of getting spring-calving suckler cows into correct body condtions, how to body condition score a cow and the correct feeding rates for thin and fat dry cows this winter.
The importance of optimum cow condition
We don’t want our suckler cow to be too thin or too fat when she goes to calve next spring.
The main problems with fat cows are difficult calvings; they are lazy calvers and they can have reduced milk yield.
A difficult calving can stem from the cow building up a layer of fat in her vaginal canal – from which the calf will be born. The tighter this is, the more likely it is that you will be running for the calving jack, at the very least.
Being a lazy-calver and having suppressed milk yield can come as a result of the same problem: low energy. Fat cows will eat less (a phenomenon caused by intake-depressing hormones realeased as a result of excessive body fat). If cows eat less in the period before calving, their energy intake could be compromised, thus resulting in low energy to physically calve and lactate.
On the flip side, thin cows can be just as problematic at calving, with poor calving ability, weak calves and then significant difficulty in getting cows back in calf for the following year. Once again, these problems are caused by a lack of energy and nutrients available in the cow’s body reserves.
Body condition scoring
Body condition scoring (BCS) does exactly what it says on the tin. A scale of 1 to 5 is used to rank cows on their body condition – 1 being very thin, 5 being very fat.
The target, body condition score for a suckler cow at calving is 2.5. At housing, ideally BCS will be higher than this – between 3 to 3.5 – to allow us to restrict intakes slightly, the cow use up some of her body reserves and us to cut feed costs in process.
Obviously cows at BCS 2.5 now need to be maintained the whole way to calving while cows at BCS under 2.5 need to be built up. This will come at extra cost.
A cow’s BCS can be generated by assessing three key areas – the long ribs, the loin (short ribs) and the tail head.
The long ribs
BCS <2.5 – visible or can be felt without applying pressure.BCS 2.5-3.5 – moderate pressure must be applied to feel individual ribs.BCS >3.5 – difficult to feel individual ribs. Fat folds can often be felt.The loin (short ribs)
BCS <2.5 – ends of ribs can be felt individually with little to no pressure.BCS 2.5-3.5 – significant pressure must be applied to feel the ends of the ribs.BCS >3.5 – ends of individual ribs cannot be felt.The tail head
BCS <2.5 – obvious crevice between hip bones and tail head. Not enough fat cover to pinch.BCS 2.5-3.5 – fat cover around tail can be pinched.BCS >3.5 – tail head is "swallowed-up with fat cover". No crevice between hip bone and tail.
Feeding rates
When you have condition-scored your cows, they should be penned accordingly. Thin cows will need a build-up diet, fat cows will need a trimming diet while optimum condition cows will need a maintainance diet.
Table 1 shows the feeding rates for dry cows over the winter based on BCS and silage quality. Getting your silage quality tested is vital – it only costs €30-40 per sample.
The final Irish Farmers Journal beef mart demo will take place in Ennis Mart, Co Clare, on Wednesday 27 November at 7pm.
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