DIO-Lancaster Farming Saturday, January 12,1991
Livestock
IL«.f Ledger
By
Kv Chester D. Hughes
JHHH Extension Livestock Specialist
Happy holidays and a prosper
ous New Year to all of our good
livestock producers and caretak
ers! I hope you take time to relax
and enjoy the holiday season, but
be thinking ahead to include mea
sures that can improve your lives
tock enterprise. Following are
meeting dates of interest and
selected ideas for your
consideration.
Upcoming Events
Lancaslcr/Chestcr Swine Assoc.
Annual Banquet, January 24,
1991; Cattle Feeder’s Day, Lan
caster, February 5, 1991; Lancas
ter Sheep Assoc. Annual Meeting,
February 11, 1991; Holstein Beef
Conference, Harrisburg, February
13-15, 1991; Keystone Pork Con
gress, Harrisburg, February 20,
1991; Lancaster Coop. Extension
Annual Meeting, Lane., February
21, 1991.
For Swine Producers
Consider all-in, all out.
One of the most important con
cepts in a continuous farrowing
PAUL a.
GATES and FENCING
Coated With Baked On Thermoset Epoxy
Powder Costing After Fabrication
• Protection from rust & corrosion
• Chip resistant
• Smoother finish, stays cleaner
Standard Heights For Gates & Fencing:
• 38” High - 4 Bar • 48” high - 5 Bar • 54” High - 6 Bar
• Super tough finish
• Superior electrical insulation
• Resists acid & chemicals
NOTE:
• 13 Ga. steel 15% heavier than 14 Ga. steel
• 13 Ga. steel 45% heavier than 16 Ga. steel
• 13 Ga. steel 85% heavier than 18 Ga. steel
All Sites & Fencing Mode Of 1.9" Outside Diameter
High Yield Steel Tubing WHi 13 Os. Wall
SLANT BAR FEED THRU FENCE
Custom Built To An
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operation is the “all-in, all-out”
idea. This is especially important
in the farrowing house and
nursery. The capacity of the far
rowing house should be limited to
the number of pigs resulting from
10 farrowing days and the nursery
should be of comparable size.
Being able to pul “breaks” in the
program keeps the scour-causing
organism from building up viru
lence. This idea aNo provides for a
continuous and scheduled cleanup
and disinfection program between
groups of sows and pigs.
Keep track of feed usage.
Feed usage in your swine oper
ation needs to be monitored
monthly or quarterly instead of
yearly. It’s tough to do, but with
feed representing 65 percent of
total costs, perhaps it means more
to total herd productivity than any
other record. The best approach is
to record feed inventory at the end
of each month. Coupled with feed
purchases, that will tell you feed
consumed dunng the period.
SDuDOODgraiIDQ
Over several months, you’ll
have a record of feed used, and
pounds of pork sold, and from that
you can calculate feed efficiency.
Whole herd feed efficiency
averages more than four pounds of
feed per pound of gain for farrow
lo-finish farms. Your goal should
be 3.5 (3.1 for market hogs alone).
Start at the end of this month by
taking a feed inventory and plan
for profitability.
Watch semen tanks for corrosion.
Whether your liquid nitrogen
refrigerator is stainless steel, alu
minum, or other material, be sure
to observe it for possible corro
sion. Any metal can corrode under
unfavorable conditions. The most
likely location for corrosion to
start is on the bottom of the
refrigerator, especially if it rests
on concrete. High moisture areas
increase the probability of
corrosion.
You can minimize semen losses
by routinely observing your
refrigerator for nitrogen usage
rates, corrosion, or other condi
tions detrimental to the tank. Liq
uid nitrogen tanks are simple and
dependable, but they do need
some observation and manage
ment.
Replacing a refrigerator is good
risk management and good semen
insurance. If your tank is seven
years or older, or if it is rusted,
dented or corroded, it is a prime
candidate for replacement.
Length
For Cattlemen
“Waffle Cattle Slats”
Waffle Heifer Slats
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Your Animals Comfort In Mind
30"
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r 1 x
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products
Plan for winter feeding of beef
cows.
Winter feeding beef cattle can
be as simple or as difficult as one
desires. Balancing feed rations for
various age groups, sex, and pro
duction can be relatively painless
if certain guidelines arc followed.
First, you should have all of
your feedstuffs analyzed for qual
ity. This becomes very important
when purchased feeds are expen
sive as they presently are. Feeds
that should be analyzed are hays,
grains, silages, or any other feed
or byproduct.
Second, you should consider
the quantity you have of each
feed. Third, you need to balance
your feed rations for the require
ments of each group of animals
being fed.
You should of course consider
feeding the following groups
separately because they each have
distinctively different require
ments: dry cows, wet cows, herd
sires, weaned calves, pregnant
first calf heifers, and replacement
heifers.
Granted, most of us have to
combine groups due to labor and
facilities, but realize in most cases
where we combine groups, we
will be overfeeding one group or
underfeeding a group. For best
results keep two things in mind; 1)
feed balanced rations and 2) util
ize inexpensive feeds!
For Shepherds
Enroll in a sheep performance
"+l l
■ MC.
program.
A National Sheep Improvement
Program (NSIP) has been deve
loped to provide sheep producers
of all breeds and crosses a means
of genetically evaluating animals
in their flocks for maternal, lamb
growth, and wood traits.
NSIP is designed to give pro
ducers maximum flexibility in
performance recordkeeping. The
program consists of six measure
ment feactors; 1) number of lambs
bom per ewe lambing; 2) pounds
of lamb weaned per ewe exposed;
3) weight of lamb(s) at 30, 60,90|
120, and 240 days of age; 4) clean
or grease fleece weight; 5) staple
length; and 6) fiber diameter.
Those interested in enrolling
should contact Greg Palas, NSIP
Processing Center, 3 Kildce Hall,
lowa State University, Ames, IA
50011. (515) 294-4859.
Consider probiotics for lamb
feeding.
Recently, a great deal of interest
has been given to the use of a fer
mented bacterial culture of Lacto
bacillus acidophilus as a means of
restoring animals to feed after
stessful conditions or following
antibiotic treatment.
Lambs seem lo respond quickly
to treatment of probiotics. Anti
biotics are used to treat infections,
but probiotics will restore the nor
mal bacterial population required
for adequate function of the intes
tinal tract.
(Turn to Page D 11)
Waffle Hog Slats
Concrete Hog Penning
477 East Farmersville Rd.
New Holland, PA 17557
(717) 355-2361
Formerly Syri-Con
Precast Corp.
J-Bunks