Nutri. Dairy Cattle (8)

How much has milk cow operations decreased over an 18 year period from 2003-2012?

33%

How much has milk cow operations decreased over a 10 year period from 1991-2000?

42%

What are the characteristics of at birth bottle fed colostrum?

Separated from dam shortle after birth, milk legally considered colostrum (48 hours) and colostrum feeding may continue for some time

What are the characteristics of calves bottle fed until weaning?

Colostrum (frozen, fermented), waste whole milk and milk replacer

What are the characteristics of weaning that occurs between 4-8 weeks?

Early weaned calves (4 weeks) may have a slow start and earlier weaning minimizes calf mortality

What do calves given access to high quality alfalfa hay and calf starter do?

Begin nibbling (2 weeks of age), rumen fully functional (8 weeks), reach puberty (6-7 months), bred at 13-15 months, should calve at 22-24 months

What does too rapid growth do to heifers?

Means more fat deposition

What does excess fat in prepubertal mammary glands do?

lower lifetime milk production

What is fat cow syndrome?

Overweight/overconditioned/obese, downer cow syndrome, greater susceptibility to infectious diseases, greater susceptibility to metabolic disorders and fatty liver

What are dry cows being fed for?

Maintaining body condition

When do you being feeding a lactating cow?

After parturition (being slowly) and gradually ramp up to full feed

What does preventing cows from going off feed do?

Prevents rumen acidosis and ketosis

T/F You should group feed the lactating herd

True

What is the minimum percentage of ration DM as a forage?

40%

What is effective forage?

Not too finely chopped