Herd Issues When Feeding Cattle in Dead of Winter

By Jane Fyksen Crops Editor
Friday, January 2, 2009 9:06 AM CST

There are ways to save feed in the winter - and ways not to. Don’t short the cattle on what they need to weather Wisconsin’s wintry blasts, but neither do you want to “over feed” a manure pack.

Big round bale feeding losses are influenced by feeder design, says Clif Little, Ohio State University Extension educator in Guernsey County. He cites research investigating ring, cone, trailer and cradle feeders, noting that the percentages of hay loss ranged from 3.5 to 14.6, with the cone and ring feeders resulting in the least amount of hay lost, respectively. The trailer and cradle feeders resulted in four times the waste compared to the cone feeder design, according to this trial that documented changes in cattle behavior influenced by feeder design.

In this Michigan State University study, all feeder types provided about 14.5 inches of linear space per head. Dry matter hay waste was 3.5, 6.1, 11.4 and 14.6 percent for cone, ring, trailer and cradle feeders, respectively. Calculated dry matter intake of hay ranged from 1.8 to 2 percent of body weight and didn’t differ by feeder type.

Cows using a cradle feeder were three times more likely to show behavior that displaced another cow from the feeder and four times the frequency of entrances compared to cows using the other types of feeders. Feed losses were positively correlated with such interactions.

Cattle eating from the cone and ring feeders were also able to more closely mimic the natural grazing position than those eating from the trailer and cradle feeders.

Further, slanted bar designs encourage cattle to keep their heads in the feeder opening by providing some “constraint.”

Little suggests producers consider a low-labor winter feeding system that utilizes large round bale rings, which many producers already own. Hay bales are placed in a winter feeding area on pasture, spaced on 20-foot centers. The number of bales per paddock is based on bale size, number of head to be fed, and length of stay. Temporary electric fencing protects bales that will be fed later, while allowing cattle access to enough bales for three days feeding in the rings. (See the accompanying diagram.)

When the three-day supply is eaten, the temporary fence is moved back, and the next group of bales is covered with the bale rings. Hay waste -and mud issues late winter/early spring - are kept to a minimum. Producers can target pastures with low fertility year-to-year by placing bales there. There’s no need to start up the tractor on frigid days. The only “equipment” possibly needed is a good pair of snowshoes to trudge out and check the cattle and feed situation.

Minimizing labor isn’t the same as taking short cuts that could prove dangerous to the livestock. In other words, twine isn’t feed, says University of Nebraska agronomist Bruce Anderson. He warns against leaving twine or net wrap on big round bales.

“What happens to twine that’s eaten?” Anderson poses. “Well, some of it passes completely through the digestive tract and ends up in manure. But a large amount of it can end up as a tangled-up ball that gets stuck in the rumen - especially the plastic twine.”

Dee Griffin, a veterinarian at the Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center at Clay Center, Neb., discovered a large twine mass in a feedlot heifer, and wondered if other vets also frequently found twine in the rumen of dead cattle. Unfortunately, it’s quite common - but usually isn’t a serious problem.

“However, in large amounts, the twine could limit intake by occupying space in the rumen, and it might aggravate other illnesses or health conditions, and on occasion, causes obstruction so severe as to cause death,” Anderson reports.

Although it doesn’t appear to be a cattle health concern very often, Anderson thinks it still might be wise to remove as much twine - especially plastic twine - before feeding the bale. It doesn’t take a lot of time to cut each individual twine near the bottom of one side of the bale with a pocket knife and pull the twine out from under the frozen bale from the opposite side, ball it up and carry it out with you.

Cattle are under a lot of stress in the winter. It’s crucial not to let them run out of the fuel they need to keep warm. James Neel, University of Tennessee animal scientist, quotes the old-timers who, he quotes, “used to say about cattle and winter, ‘February will shake ‘em and March will take ‘em.” Of course, here in Wisconsin, where our football team plays on “Frozen Tundra” much of the season, December and January are no picnic either.

Neel says the extra feed needed when it isn’t raining or the wind isn’t howling can be figured with a simple “rule of thumb.” Cattle energy needs for maintenance increases about 1 percent for each degree below 32 degrees in dry cold weather. Say it’s 25 degrees and there’s no wind or freezing rain. Subtract 25 from 32, for a remainder of 7. The feed will need to be increased so the ration will contain 7 percent more energy; if a cow is being fed 18 pounds of hay, feed 19.25 pounds per head.

If the wind is blowing and the wind-chill temperature is 4 degrees, subtract 4 from 32, for a remainder of 28. In this case, the cows need 28 percent of their normal daily energy intake. If you’re feeding 18 pounds of hay, step it up to 23 pounds per head.

If your herd faces 32 degrees and rain, the calculation, according to Neel, is similar, “except the starting temperature is 59 degrees and the energy increase is 2 percent for each degree below 59 degrees.”

If cattle hair coats are extra heavy, the critical temperature drops to 18 degrees. However, if a normal hair coat is wet, the lower critical temperature can be as high as 59 degrees - a temperature cattle producers might not typically think is all that crucial.

“Feed needs are much greater with a wet hair coat. When it is rainy, the critical temperature is 59 degrees,” he says of subtracting 32 from 59, for a remainder of 27. Now apply the wet weather “rule of thumb” and increase energy intake 2 percent for each degree below 59 degrees. Multiply 27 by 2. In this situation, increase the ration 54 percent of normal energy intake. Again, assuming 18 pounds of hay, due to wet hair coats, hay needs to be increased to 28 pounds per head.

Now assume it’s raining and the wind chill is 25 degrees. Because it’s raining, the critical temperature is 59 degrees. Apply the wet weather “rule of thumb” to increase energy 2 percent for each degree below 59. In this case the temperature difference is 34; multiply 32 by 2 for 68. Neel says the wind chill “rule of thumb” also needs to be applied. Subtract 25 from 32, for a remainder of 7. “Therefore the feed will need to be increased an extra 7 percent for the wind chill,” he notes. “Add the adjustments for the wet hair coat and the wind chill - 68 percent plus 7 percent equals 75 percent. Therefore in this situation, increase the ration 75 percent of the normal intake.”

Assuming 18 pounds of hay was meeting a cow’s energy needs, the amount needed now would be 31.5 pounds. Unless the hay is better quality than what’s normally fed beef cow herds, Neel says it will be difficult for cows to meet that kind of energy need. Producers need to haul out some grain. However, because doing so suddenly would risk digestive upset in the cows, he says it would be preferable to increase energy intake by a smaller amount during extreme weather and extend it into the days when the weather is more favorable.

“The hay could be increased to 22 pounds per day and feeding 5 to 6 pounds of corn per day. Extending this added feed level for three to four days following the bad weather would help the cows recover the losses that occurred during the bad weather and would not cause the digestive problems that could result from rapidly providing too much grain to meet the energy needs,” he says, adding “it would be better to keep up with the weather forecasts and start making adjustments in feed intake two to three days before bad weather occurs.”

“Keeping hay in front of cattle will not take care of the problem,” Neel reemphasizes. “If the hay is good - cut before it matured and baled before it was rained on - cattle will probably make it through cold weather in good condition. If hay quality is poor, the cattle may be in trouble.”

“A 1,200 pound cow, in good body condition, needs a ration that has a minimum total digestible nutrient (TDN) value of 50 percent and crude protein (CP) value of 8 percent under neutral environmental conditions. Concentrates have higher TDN values than forages, but do not generate as much heat. Shelled corn has a TDN of 90 percent and soybean hulls, 80 percent. If hay falls below the 50 percent TDN minimum, producers should consider supplementing with an energy-dense feed,” he stresses.

Further, Neel says if protein levels are too low, rumen microbes cannot efficiently digest fiber. In that case, adding supplemental protein can increase hay consumption and digestion. High-protein feedstuffs include soybean meal (49 percent CP), cottonseed meal (41 percent CP) and corn gluten feed (19 percent CP). If both energy and protein are low, the supplement should contain a balance of both.

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