Managing and feeding cattle in winter can be tricky. Maybe you can’t tell the difference between 15 and 32 degrees F after spending a few minutes outside, but your cattle can. Slight changes in temperature can have a considerable impact on energy and cow nutritional requirements.Cold stress occurs when cattle require more energy to sustain basic bodily functions at a specific temperature, called the lower critical temperature (LCT). The LCT helps us understand when cows start experiencing cold stress. See the chart to the right for LCT broken down by hair coat. As temperatures decrease, cow nutritional requirements increase. Add in precipitation or wind and requirements increase even more.
If cows are shorted on nutrition during cold stress, it can have a domino effect on performance.
Nutritional deficiency resulting from cold stress can lead to cows producing lighter and weaker calves. Low-quality colostrum and later return to estrus in the breeding season
can also result, compromising conception rates and weaning weights.
Strategies for managing and feeding cattle in the winter can help alleviate cold stress and support cow nutritional requirements.
How can you mitigate cold stress?
Cold stress mitigation should start with keeping cattle warm. Offering protection from the elements like bedding, windbreaks, snow breaks and a place to get out of the mud can all help keep cattle warm and dry. Protecting cattle from wind, rain, and snow isn’t always enough, however.
Snow often reminds us to think about cow nutritional requirements and supplementation options. But what if the snow never falls? Temperature is the underlying factor in cold stress.
When feeding cattle in winter, provide them with nutrition to meet their needs during cold stress. Plan out feeding strategies early, before cow body condition scores start to slip, to help your cows weather cold temperatures.
Know your forages.
Feeding cattle stored forage can be challenging. Testing forages gives you a better understanding of what you’re feeding cattle in winter when temperatures drop.
Testing total digestible nutrients (TDN) will provide an estimate of the total amount of nutrients that could be digested by the animal. The greater the TDN value, the more energy cattle get from forages.
Forage intake is another consideration. Cows will likely spend less time grazing as temperatures decline. Less grazing time results in reduced forage intake which makes it challenging to meet cow energy requirements. Feeding cattle in winter with low-quality hay might not be enough to offset reduced forage intake.
Once you know forage nutritional value and assess intake levels, monitor cow body condition score (BCS) and temperature to identify cow energy requirements.
Evaluate cow nutritional requirements.
A cow’s energy requirement, or TDN, increases by 1% for every degree below the LCT as a rule of thumb.
However, cow body condition scores impact nutritional requirements. A cow in a BCS 5 needs 30% more energy to maintain body condition than a cow in a BCS 6 at 32 degrees. The same principle holds true as BCS decreases below 5.
A third trimester 1300-pound cow requires 13 pounds of TDN at 32 degrees. However, at 0 degrees the same cow needs an additional 4 pounds or roughly 17 pounds of TDN. For comparison, the temperature drop means the same cow now requires 8 more pounds of 50% TDN hay.
When feeding cattle in winter, consider a high-quality supplement to help fill a cow’s energy gap while helping cows get the most out of existing forages.
Purina® Accuration® supplements are a great option to provide additional energy, balance forage nutrient deficiencies and support performance.
Elizabeth Backes, Ph.D.
Nutritionist, Beef Technical Solutions
Show your horses some love with NEW Purina Carb Conscious and Outlast Horse Treats, now in-stock at J&N Feed and Seed.
Vitamins are an important nutritional component in cattle diets. Vitamins are a specific class of nutrients that are required for efficient metabolic processes and enable cattle to utilize other nutrients. For cattle, it is only essential to supply the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E because rumen bacteria can synthesize vitamin K and the B vitamins to meet animal requirements. The fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the body, and in the case of older cattle, it can take 100 to 150 days to deplete these stores. Consequently, not replenishing lost body stores of vitamin A could result in production and economic ramifications up to 6 months later.
Onion sets and seed potatoes arrive mid-January at J&N Feed and Seed. Planting potatoes and onions are at the top of everyone’s gardening list this time of year. As everyone in North Texas knows, our late January and February weather can be a gamble— temps can be spring-like one day and fall below freezing the next. But, the weather extremes should not deter gardeners from planting during these months. Potatoes are top of the list for planting this time of year.
Don’t forget your feathered friends as the weather turns cold. Winter bird feeding is important as food sources for birds slow in the cold, winter months. At J&N Feed and Seed we have a great selection of bird feeders, suet, treats and of course, Purina Wild Bird Chow to keep your backyard friends coming back year after year.
The Young County Jr. Livestock Show kicks off Wednesday, January 9, 2020, and runs through Saturday, January 11, 2020, in the Main Arena of the Young County Arena. Come out and show your support for our local kids at this great event.
We currently stock the following Mr. Heaters Portable Heaters:
Pick up Boss Hawg Feral Hog Traps at J & N Feed and Seed. Feral hogs are a big problem for our area of Texas. Feral hogs are prolific breeders and can cause considerable damage to property. Their rooting and trampling activity for food can damage agricultural crops, fields, and livestock feeding and watering facilities. They can even damage or destroy wildlife feeders.