Nutrition
Table 3. Daily added pounds of feed needed to
maintain BCS on a 10 o F day with a 10-mph wind
Table 4. Energy reserves for cows with different
body weight (BW) and BCS (NRC, 2000)
Mature BW (lbs) at BCS 5
Pounds, as fed
Grass hay 10.2 BCS 1,200 1,300 1,400 1,500
Corn grain 5.4 3 172 186 200 214
Corn silage 17.2 4 196 212 229 245
5 226 245 264 283
6 264 286 308 330
7 311 337 363 389
Additionally, these effects are cumulative. For
example, when feeding corn silage, not only
does the cow need an additional 17.2 pounds for
managing cold stress, but she will require another
estimated 4.5 pounds when prolonging lactation.
This equates to an additional 22 pounds of corn
silage required daily, simply to maintain condition.
Adding condition
A common situation is trying to put a “little
condition” on cattle. Findings by the National
Research Council (NRC) in 2000 have provided us
with the information necessary to determine the
appropriate nutrition required to change condition
(Table 4). While each condition score results in
roughly the same change in weight for a given
cow (80–100 pounds), the composition of gain
changes (more fat, less protein). Thus, it takes more
energy to achieve each pound of weight gain for a
cow with a BCS 5 compared to one with a BCS 3.
*Mcal NE required or provided to
change condition score
So, how is this information practically
applied? Cow feeding decisions require
the following considerations:
• What change in BCS is desired?
• How many days do we have to
make this change?
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