A weaning practice that has received increased attention both in terms of research and producer experience is fenceline weaning. It’s a simple process: calves and cows are separated but can still go nose-to-nose and see, hear and smell one another. The goal is to help the weaning calves attain as close to normal growth rate and weight gain as possible. And if the cow is close by and there is a consistency in diet, the results can be positive.
Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Animal Science Professor Emeritus, noted in an article, Fenceline Low Stress Weaning, that “California researchers weaned
calves with only a fence (Fenceline) separating them from their dams. These were compared to calves weaned totally separate (Separate) from dams. The Separate calves could not see or hear their dams.” Selk observed that, “After two weeks, Fenceline calves had gained 23 pounds more than Separate calves. This difference persisted since, after 10 weeks, Fenceline calves had gained 110 pounds (1.57 lbs./day), compared to 84 pounds (1.20 lbs./day) for Separate calves.
There was no report of any differences in sickness, but calves that eat more during the first days after weaning should stay healthier.” In fact, another study conducted at Ohio State University indicated that Fenceline calves had a lower incidence of respiratory diseases.
Nutrition and Pasture Management are Also Key
Several producers have coupled fenceline weaning with the use of CRYSTALYX® Brigade® Stress Fighting Formula that provides diet consistency as well as nutritional help to ease the calves through the stressful period.
“Brigade® adds an additional dimension to smoothing the stress of weaning,” Mark Robbins, Research and Nutrition Services Manager for Ridley Block Operations, said. “If cow/calf pairs are provided with Brigade® for three to four weeks before they’re weaned, they get used to licking block supplements. When the calves are taken away from their mother, they’re no longer suckling—getting milk—but they still have the barrel in front of them. That gives them something familiar they can go to. Producers tell us that calves that have been on Brigade® prior to weaning, and have it in the weaning pen, will quit bawling sooner.” They associate that with stress reduction and that, in turn, means they’re going to go to feed quicker, start eating better, gain weight and stay healthy.
That was the experience for Lazy Y Cattle Company in Max, Nebraska. Brigade® barrels were placed with cows and calves on pasture one month prior to fenceline weaning. Five days before separation, the pairs were moved to a pasture that had both native range and a field of volunteer wheat stubble. The Lazy Y fenceline weaning system involved holding cows in portable corrals on one end of the pasture and placing calves in the same pasture. The Brigade® barrels were placed near the corral, at a midpoint near water in the pasture and in the volunteer wheat.
“The calves would loaf near the cows at times, but would also graze to and from the barrels,” Levi Whipps, owner of Lazy Y Cattle Company, said.
“Within three days our calves were fine, and we had no additional sick calves.”
“Producers also tell us that calves that are used to CRYSTALYX® prior to weaning will, once they are weaned and lick the molasses, have a higher affinity to seek out water. And it’s important for calves to remain hydrated when they’re weaned,” said Dr. Dan Dhuyvetter, Director of Research and Development for Ridley Nutrition Solutions.
Sturdy fence and an adequate supply of water on both sides of the fence are recommended for producers who would like to try fenceline weaning. And Brigade® can provide much needed stress-relieving nutrition as well as serving as an effective pasture management tool.
The value of nutrition in combating disease-causing stress that newly received feeder cattle must overcome has been reinforced by several recent research studies.
ANTIOXIDANTS AND FEEDLOT STRESS
Researchers at Texas A&M and West Texas A&M have presented a good case that shipping and receiving stress causes a loss of antioxidant vitamins E and A. These antioxidants have been shown to be an important component of a healthy immune system in humans.
The studies shipped commingled southeastern feeders 1,300 miles to a west-Texas feedlot. One group was subjected to a simulated dusty environment by being housed inside a dust-filled tent after arrival. Regular blood tests showed that shipping stress reduced the level of vitamin E to almost one-fourth the level tested before shipping. The dust-stressed calves also showed lower levels.
Lead A&M researcher Norbert Chirase also found that as vitamin A and vitamin E levels in the blood fall, fever in the calves can be expected to rise. This suggests the diminishing level of antioxidants may be connected to an increase in respiratory disease, the number-one killer of feedlot calves.
THE AFFECTS OF ADDITIONAL VITAMIN E
If you provide newly-received calves with additional vitamin E in their diets, what effect will it have on their performance? That was the question researchers at New Mexico State and Texas Tech took on. They provided newly-received calves with up to 1,140 units of vitamin E per day. They found that the additional vitamin E increased the level of humoral antibodies that calves produced against an experimental inoculation. Cattle receiving the highest level of vitamin E also had a statistically significant lower level of repulls for treatment. The additional vitamin E did not make a significant difference in final feedlot performance, and there was no significant difference in disease level based on supplementation.
The vitamin E research echoed the A&M research findings that feedlot stressors interfere with uptake or utilization of vitamin E. Therefore, additional vitamin E might help light, stressed calves recover from respiratory disease.
Source: Journal of Animal Science, April, 2002.
Research continues to draw the connection between mineral status and immune-system response to keep feeder calves healthy and growing. Now, three recent trials on over 1,000 calves demonstrate that connection in the field.
The studies showed that both pull rate and death loss can be cut by using a low-moisture block supplement to improve rumen function, increase appetite and
provide organic forms of trace minerals.
Brigade,® a CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplement formulated specifically to help fight stress in cattle, was placed in the backgrounding program of CPC Livestock, in Fountain Run, Ky. CPC, owned by Marshall and Brian Celsor and Ivan Pedigo, buys four-weight sale-barn calves from six nearby states, backgrounds them, and ships them to feedlots at about 700 pounds.
When CPC began using Brigade® supplement, which is continuously available to deliver additional protein, electroyles, vitamins and minerals, including organic forms of copper, zinc and manganese, the supplement showed immediate results.
A drop in pulls was seen, as well as fewer chronics and reduced death loss. Similar results were recorded on follow-up trials.
“All trials showed calves on the supplement were eating more,” says Pedigo. “After seeing the results of the trials, we’re convinced that the supplement is a tool we can use to reduce pulls, lower death loss and increase feed consumption.”
Read more about the CPC trial results at www.crystalyx.com (find article at www.crystalyx.com/beef_strat.html).
SUPPLEMENT…BUT DON’T OVERSUPPLY
Supplemental zinc, copper and selenium have all been shown to strengthen immune function and reduce levels of bovine respiratory disease in feedlot field studies. However, researchers from West Texas A&M and New Mexico State note in a recent Journal of Animal Science article, feeders should be cautious about supplying minerals beyond the amount needed to compensate for decreased feed intake and known deficiencies.
Galyean, L. J. Perino, and G. C. Duff,
1999. Interaction of Cattle Health/Immunity and
Nutrition. J. Anim. Sci. 77:1120-1134
STRATEGY: MANAGE STRESS
• To reduce risk from the start, buy cattle from a known, reliable source.
• If you don’t know the calves’ trace-mineral status coming off the truck, assume they’re deficient. Supplement accordingly.
• Formulate receiving diets to compensate for the relatively lower feed intake of stressed new arrivals.
• Although the typical inorganic forms of copper and zinc usually suffice under normal conditions, the complex—or organic—forms have been shown to increase absorption. They are a good investment when supplementing stressed new arrivals.
• Potassium is a common mineral in the body, but scouring or excessive shrink can quickly deplete it. Effective potassium supplementation—particularly starting rations—helps get calves rehydrated and recovering.
• Manage to reduce stress: Provide plenty of clean fresh water, access to high-quality grass hay, short rest before initial processing, vaccination program based on known history.
This year’s combination of multiseason drought, short grass, dusty drylots and calf-killing heat threatens to add even more stress to the most stressful time of the season: weaning. As higher than average numbers of light and early-weaned calves come off thin cows to enter weaning lots, producers will be challenged to get them eating and keep them healthy. New research suggests some non-traditional approaches can help:
• Three years’ weaning studies at University of California at Davis compared weaning seven-month old calves by one of five methods:
– Fenceline separation from dams—on pasture
– Total separation from dams—on pasture
– Total separation from dams on drylot after being preconditioned to hay
– Total separation from dams to drylot without preconditioning to hay
– Non-weaned controls on pasture
Calves allowed fenceline contact spent no less time during the weaning process feeding than unweaned controls, while those in totally separated treatments ate less. Isolated calves spent more time walking fence, standing up and bawling.
In the end, although the behavioral effects of weaning were relatively short-lived, the less-stressed calves showed higher weight gains in the days following weaning—differences that persisted for at least 10 weeks.
• Four to six weeks prior to weaning, provide supplemental minerals to enhance response to vaccines and treatments given after weaning. Now, further field trials conducted and supported by Ridley, makers of CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplements, demonstrate that offering a highly palatable low-moisture block at weaning appears to offer the same jump-start to the feed-familiarization process.
When fortified and—more importantly—highly palatable supplements are placed in weaning pens, even calves that are naive to supplement experience interest that stimulates acclimation to the bunk. And eating calves are less stressed.
QUICK SUMMARY
• Permitting calves to retain their natural behavioral instincts by adjusting your weaning management can help reduce stress.
• Providing a highly palatable weaning supplement aids bunk-acclimation.
SUPPLEMENT STRATEGIES IN ACTION
For the fourth season now, Kentucky backgrounding operation CPC Livestock has been running its own trials to try to prove whether CRYSTALYX® Brand Brigade® low-moisture blocks are cost effective or not. They have.
“The starter feed we provide these calves has everything in it those animals need,” says CPC’s feed manager and co-owner Ivan Pedigo. “So there’s no reason that block should make any difference.”
Yet, they’ve found that when calves consume only about two-tenths of a pound per-head, per-day, dry-matter intake increases, feed efficiency improves, calf gains go up and feed and treatment costs go down. Even after accounting for cost to supply the supplement, total cost of gain drops by 1.5 to 4 cents per pound, notes coowner Marshall Celsor.
Why?
“No matter how good your starter feed,” notes Ridley Block Operations’ Research Manager Mark Robbins, “there’s always a percentage that don’t eat it for several days. A fortified palatable supplement like Brigade® changes that behavior, while providing a nutritional boost when it’s needed most.”
Animal-science researchers continue to demonstrate the value nutrition plays in beating disease-causing stress that newly received feeders must overcome:
In an ongoing series of studies, researchers at Texas A&M and West Texas A&M have presented a convincing case that shipping and receiving stress cause calves to lose the “antioxidant” vitamins E and A. Antioxidants have also been shown to be important components of a healthy immune system in human medicine.
The studies, led by A&M’s Norbert Chirase, shipped commingled Southeastern feeders 1,300 miles to a west-Texas feedlot. One group was also subjected after arrival to a simulated dusty environment by being housed inside a dust-filled tent. Regular blood tests showed that shipping stress reduced the level of vitamin E to almost a fourth of the level when the calves went on the truck.The dust-stressed calves also showed lower levels.
Chirase’s work has found that as vitamin A and vitamin E levels in the blood fall, fever in the calves can be expected to rise, suggesting the diminishing level of antioxidants may be connected to an increase in respiratory disease, the No. 1 killer of feedlot calves.
Source: Proceedings of the American Society of Animal Science
Southern Section meeting, February 2002; Proceedings of the
American Society of Animal Science annual meeting, January 2000.
Researchers from New Mexico State and Texas Tech provided groups of newly received calves with added vitamin E in their diets, at levels of up to 1,140 units per day.They found that although the additional vitamin E didn’t make a significant difference in final feedlot performance, it did increase the level of humoral antibodies that calves produced against an experimental inoculation. Furthermore, cattle receiving the highest level of vitamin E had a significantly lower level of repulls for treatment.
The study authors noted that although vitamin E is believed to help the body produce antibodies that fight disease, past studies have shown inconsistent results in attempting to improve immunity through vitamin E supplementation. Echoing Chirase’s suggestion that feedlot stressors may interfere with uptake or utilization of vitamin E, they suggest supplying additional vitamin E may only be part of the answer if you don’t at the same time try to reduce other stressors that can render it unusable.
Source: Journal of Animal Science. April 2002.
Minnesota’s David Peterson—working a pre-dawn to- 2 P.M. shift off the farm and only 100 miles from the Canadian border—was losing a lot of calves to bad weather…up to 28 percent in his worst year.
“My vet said it came down to they just didn’t have quite enough nutrition at birth,” says the Thief River Falls cow/calf producer.“It didn’t seem like they had the energy to get up and fight. If they got cold, they’d just give up.
“So my feed dealer suggested I try Brigade.® I started putting it out for the cows anywhere from a month to two months before they calved. I noticed a considerable difference.With Brigade,® they are fighting to get up right from the moment they’re born. Now these calves are aggressive.They get up and they go right after lunch.”
The bottom line? This year’s calf loss: Just over 3 percent.
It’s a simple formula for successfully starting calves:
Improved Immune Status - Stress = Higher Profits
Nutritional stress in your calf herd can take money out of your pocket. Stress associated with weaning, shipping, grouping and the breeding period can result in poor weight gain, disease and even death. This fall is the ideal time to put a stress fighter to work for your calf herd.
Brigade® Stress Fighting Formula helps stimulate the appetite of stressed calves and get them off to a good start in the backgrounding lot or feedlot. It’s a nutrient-dense, free-choice supplement that continuously delivers protein, vitamins and minerals. Electrolytes are included as a stress fighter, along with organic sources of copper, zinc and manganese to help enhance immune response.
Brigade® helps reduce stress in calves at weaning or shipping, show calves, stressed calves, and replacement heifers and cows 30 days before breeding. Brigade® works to reduce stress on calves. It works to prevent death loss. It works to stimulate appetite. It works to provide concentrated nutrients in a palatable form. The bottom line: Brigade® Works.
THERE’S STRESS REDUCTION WITH CRYSTALYX® BRIGADE® STRESS FIGHTING FORMULA
Nutritional stress in your calf herd can take money out of your pocket. Stress associated with weaning, shipping, grouping and the breeding period can result in poor weight gain, disease and even death.
Brigade® Stress Fighting Formula from CRYSTALYX® works to reduce stress on calves. It works to reduce death loss due to stress. It works to get replacement heifers at their peak. And it works better than liquid protein supplements. The bottom line: Brigade® Works.
Brigade® Stress Fighting Formula helps stimulate the appetite of stressed calves and get them off to a good start in the backgrounding lot or feedlot. It’s a high energy, free-choice supplement that continuously delivers protein, vitamins and minerals. Electrolytes are included as a stress fighter, along with organic sources of copper, zinc and manganese to help enhance immune response.
RESEARCH PROVES BRIGADE® WORKS
CPC Livestock is a 30,000 head backgrounding operation in Kentucky. CPC tested Brigade®’s stress fighting capabilities in three trials. The results included a reduced number of sick cattle that had to be pulled from the pens and a dramatic result in death loss. In addition, CPC saw increased feed intake, efficiency and average daily gain.
Ivan Pedigo is a big believer in the stress-fighting benefits of Brigade,® a CRYSTALYX® Brand Supplement. Pedigo manages CPC Livestock, a 30,000 head backgrounding operation located near Fountain Run, Kentucky. CPC Livestock purchases 400 pound calves straight from area sale barns and sells them at approximately 700 pounds. Upon arrival, and after processing, the calves are turned out in lots with 300-400 animals per group. According to Pedigo the calves are “pretty green” and “most definitely stressed” coming into the lots. The operation typically deals with sick calves each day and a 2% death loss is not unusual. Over the past few months, Kirby Roberts with Agri Dealers, Inc. of Lexington, KY, persuaded Ivan to test Brigade,® a low moisture CRYSTALYX® block supplement, formulated especially for stressed cattle. Three trials with approximately 700 head per trial have been conducted to evaluate the Brigade® blocks.
Incoming cattle were vaccinated and implanted, and started on a pelleted starter ration. Brigade® Supplement in the returnable, steel half-barrel was offered free-choice in the lots.
“We were really surprised at how quickly they went to the barrels of Brigade,®” said Pedigo.
He explained they check their lots every day and pull sick calves for additional attention. After the Brigade® Supplement was in the fields for four or five days, Pedigo and his crew noticed a difference.
“Our ‘pulls’ dropped. We had from five to fifteen less ‘pulls’ each day from fields with the Brigade® barrels. After 30 days, we noticed our death loss was a percent less – about half of what it was previously,” he noted.
How do the calves on Brigade® look to Pedigo after 30 days? “They look really good. The cattle on the barrels are definitely a better group. Their hair is shinier, and they are fuller. We don’t have near as many ‘non-doers’. They’re definitely eating more during the first 30 days,” he added.
Pedigo figures the Brigade®-fed cattle will be worth more when moved out at 700 pounds.
“Right now the savings on death loss alone will pay for the barrels. There’s less labor and we’re saving on medicine, too, plus, we’re marketing better cattle. We’re going to start all our cattle on Brigade® barrels.”
Additional trials are now underway using another CRYSTALYX® free-choice supplement, Beef-lyx,® which is fed in the pens after the 30-day starting period. Ivan Pedigo is encouraged by what he sees thus far from the Beef-lyx® trial and will be carefully evaluating the performance.
Bringing calves home from the auction barn is always a gamble, but Riley Denning has found a tool to make backgrounding calves less stressful—Brigade® by CRYSTALYX.®
The steers came in at 575 pounds and went right to the CRYSTALYX.® Denning had figured the Brigade® would cost him 10 to 11 cents per head per day, and early consumption made that prediction look like a reality. But after 45 to 60 days, the calves seemed to fill up the nutritional crevices in their system and consumption slowed down. When all was said and done, his CRYSTALYX® cost was just 4 to 5 cents a day. He put out one, 250-pound barrel for every 25 head of calves.
Denning also got a return from Brigade® in the form of lower herd health costs. He didn’t lose a single calf over the winter. He had absolutely no foot rot, no coccidiosis. He never doctored a single case of pinkeye—and usually he treats a handful of bad eyes each winter.
While the improved herd health was the most noticeable advantage to feeding Brigade,® the benefits also paid off in the show ring when the calves were sold at 800 pounds. “Their eyes were bright, they had shiny coats. They sold themselves,” he says. “I will definitely use Brigade® for stressed out calves in the future.”