Cattle feeders need good receiving program
LANCASTER Pennsylvania
cattle feeders can improve profit
potential by paying closer at
tention to the health and
nutritional needs of their calves
through well-planned receiving
programs, says one cattle
researcher.
Dean Hodge, Ralston Purina
Company beef cattle researcher,
says the objective is to help newly
received calves overcome the
stress caused by weaning and
shipping to feedlots.
Receiving programs, he ex
plains, are comparable to
preconditioning, but focus on the
three-to four-week period after
calves arrive at the feedlot.
Preconditioning, on the other
hand, is designed for calves
following weaning and prior to
shipping.
“Every step in these programs is
essential,” Hodge s*” “In
helping to restore a stres. *d calf to
peak performance condition.
Shipping, he explains, leads to
stress, with calves becoming weak
or anorexic. This in turn, leads to
weight loss or sickness. However,
Hodge points out, proper nutrition
can help overcome this stress and
restore normal digestion.
Bacteria inside a calf’s rumen,
he explains, are responsible for
converting feed eaten by a calf into
nutrients used to promote growth
and combat disease. “These
bacteria starve when a calf doesn’t
eat. Cattlemen know that the first
sign a calf is distressed is when it
stops eating,” Hodge says.
After a calf has gone two days
without eating, Hodge continues,
nearly all the bacteria may be
dead. Without these bacteria to
produce essential nutrients, the
calf begins to lose weight along
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with its natural immunity to
disease and infection.
“The key to restoring proper
rumen function and immunity is
getting calves onto full feed as soon
as possible,” Hodge emphasizes.
“The best way to do that is to start
calves on good quality grass hay
the first day after arriving at the
feedlot, and then onto a highly
palatable ration, such as
Preconditioning/Receiving Chow,
on the second day.”
He says the natural palatabihty
of this ration gets stressed calves
onto full feed quickly. Each pellet
contains a carefully formulated
balance of nutrients which
researchers have found restores
full rumen function quickly.
“Calves should remain on
Preconditioning/Receiving Chow
for 21 to 28 days to maximize its
potential advantage,” Hodge
notes.
Besides putting a calf onto feed
as quickly as possible, receiving
programs also require additional
vaccinations as recommended by
local veterinarians. And if the calf
has not been preconditioned, it
should be dehorned, castrated and
given other medical protection.
Cattle feeders who have put their
calves onto a receiving program
upon arrival at the feedlot have
reported gains of 50-80 pounds
during the three-to four-week
period their calves were on the
program, Hodge says. Calves
usually, he adds, lose weight
during this period.
A receiving program does more
than just help a calf to gam weight,
Hodge insists. It also prevents
many diseases, such as
respiratory infections, which are
caused by stress. Cattlemen in the
Lancaster area have reported that
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respiratory infections among
newly weaned cattle arriving on
feedlots has become a serious
problem.
Glenn Shields, a divisional sales
manager for Purina, points out
that most cattlemen in the Lan
caster area operate small feedlots
of 100 to 200 head of cattle with
primarily two types - six-month
old newly weaned calves, and
yearlings between 700 and 900
pounds.
However, John Bowman, a cattle
broker for B & R Cattle, said that
because of the health problems
associated with shipping newly
weaned calves, most cattlemen
“had completely gotten away from
calves." He said these cattlemen
had experienced high “death loss”
with calves. In a few cases, he
says, cattlemen had lost between 6
and 7 percent of their feedlot
cattle, primarily due to
respiratory infections.
Bowman also said that feedlot
operators indicate they would
return to lighter weight calves if
they could be assured they
wouldn’t have further death loss
problems.
Chester Hughes, a beef specialist
for the Lancaster County extension
office, said much of the problem
originates as a result of poor
weaning management of source of
the feeder cattle; cow/calf
operators To prevent such
problems, calves should be
properly preconditioned before
being shipped to the feedlot.
However, Hughes notes that
“many cow/calf operators do not
wean calves long enough before
shipping them.”
Hodge says preconditioning
requires calves to be adjusted to
eating feed at least three weeks
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before shipping In addition, calves
should be vaccinated for various
diseases, as weli as castrated,
dehorned and healed prior to
shipment
Preconditioned calves, Hodge
points out, have been attacting
average premiums of J 5 more per
hundred weight. He says cattle
feeders are willing to pay more for
them because of the weight ad
vantage and the knowledge the\
are getting a healthier calf.
Erskin Cash, a Pennsylvania
State Tlnivercitr animal science
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professor, says preconditioning
and receiving programs are
beneficial for both cattle producers
and feeders The concept is
good.” Cash concludes "Once
newly arrived calves are ac
customed to eating feed prior to
arriving at the feedlot, they adapt
more readily to the feedlot "
And, calves that adapt more
readily to the feedlot, Hodge points
out. require less finishing time
with the end result being extra
money for cattle feeders
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