Processing Calves, Implanting Bulls, Pre-Pasture Turnout Checklist

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

3:08 Processing Calves at Turnout

11:26 Listener Question: Implanting Bulls  

16:20 Pre-pasture Turnout Checklist
Beef Quality Assurance  

Guest: Julia Herman, Beef Cattle Specialist Veterinary

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Summer Pneumonia of Suckling Calves 

Calves running with their dams on grass pastures are considered to be at low risk for developing pneumonia because they are not facing any of the risks typically associated with bovine respiratory disease (i.e. trucking, commingling, diet change, etc.). However, every year, outbreaks of “summer pneumonia” in calves occur in some herds. The viruses and bacteria that are associated with summer pneumonia of suckling calves are very common and it is assumed that they are present in every herd of cattle. Therefore, these disease-causing germs are only a problem if they are able to multiply in the lungs to the point where they cause enough damage for the calf to show signs of illness.  

Even though the well-known stresses that often contribute to pneumonia in weaned calves are not present in suckling calves on pasture; stresses such as dust, temperature swings between afternoon highs and nighttime lows, or close contact with other calves are believed to increase the risk of summer pneumonia.  

Because cattle grazing pastures are not typically observed daily, the first sign of problems may be finding one or more dead calves with other calves showing signs of pneumonia such as rapid breathing, laying down and being reluctant to rise, and having a high rectal temperature. I recommend that a necropsy be performed on calves that are found dead in the pasture in order to look for signs of pneumonia or other potential causes of death. A number of other causes of loss in suckling calves such as: blackleg, sudden death caused by Clostridial perfringens, trauma, and digestive tract disease can be differentiated from pneumonia by a necropsy examination. In some situations, tissue samples may be sent to a diagnostic laboratory for further investigation.  

Calves that exhibit signs of pneumonia should be treated with injectable antibiotics to combat bacterial causes of respiratory disease. If treated early enough in the disease process, many calves are likely to recover; however, calves with advanced lung damage may not respond to treatment. If the pneumonia is caused by a virus such as bovine respiratory syncitial virus (BRSV), antibiotic treatment will not be a directly effective treatment. In addition to antibiotic treatment, young calves with pneumonia should be protected from weather extremes, dusty conditions, and poor forage – this may require moving them and their dam to a new pasture or grass-trap.  

Because a number of different bacteria and viruses can cause pneumonia in suckling calves, prevention is focused on: protecting calves from environmental stress, ensuring that adequate forage is available for the dam and calf, as well as maintaining good herd immunity with available vaccines. Some veterinarians recommend that herds with a history of summer pneumonia vaccinate young calves at “turn-out” or “branding time” with vaccines against the viruses IBR (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis), BVD (bovine viral diarrhea), PI3 (parainfluenza 3), and BRSV (bovine respiratory syncitial virus) as well as bacteria that are associated with pneumonia such as Mannheimia haemolytica, or possibly Pasturella multocida and Histophilus somni. The theory behind this strategy is that summer pneumonia is most likely to occur as the immune protection from the dam that the calf received in colostrum is declining and before the calf develops its own immunity to common pneumonia-causing germs. The specific vaccines that you should consider should be decided by working with your veterinarian to identify your risk and likely effectiveness of calf vaccinations. Following the label directions and working with your veterinarian will help guide the selection of the type and timing of vaccination to reduce the risk of summer pneumonia. 

It may not be possible to completely avoid the risk of an outbreak of pneumonia in suckling calves, but focusing on good overall health of the cows and calves by: meeting the herd’s nutritional needs, providing a good environment, and timely use of vaccinations in the cows and calves are important tools. If calves are affected with pneumonia while suckling their dams on summer range, they should be given the best possible care and treated with appropriate antibiotics. No one likes dealing with summer pneumonia of calves, but working to decrease the risk and being prepared to recognize and treat cases early are the best methods to be prepared to minimize losses. 

Diving into Diets: Minerals

What type of mineral should you be using on your cows? Does the time of year have an impact on mineral requirement? What economical factors effect mineral choice? These questions and more are answered by Dr. Phillip Lancaster and Dr. Brad White on this episode of Diving into Diets.

Feeding Cows, Dairy Beef, Front End Loading

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

2:28 Feeding Cows Too Much or Not Enough

10:28 Dairy Beef Changes/Expansion 

16:40 Potential Solutions to Front End Loading

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Tox Talk: Freezing Conditions and 20 Dead

What would cause only 30 out of 50 head to make it through the night after they were put in the barn, shielded from the winter storm? This case had everyone scratching their heads trying to figure out what had happened. Listen to this episode to hear toxicologist Scott Fritz and Dr. Brad White work through this bizarre case.

IVF/Reproduction, Breeding Questions, Fertility in Herds

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

3:04 IVF/Reproduction

10:05 Breeding Questions  

16:57 What Have You Learned About Fertility in Herds

Guest: Dr. Clay Briener, Veterinary for Cross Country Genetics

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

Soybean vs. Corn Processing Coproducts: The Changing Feed Ingredient Landscape 

The push for renewable energy has a full head of steam and is and will cause changes in how we feed cattle. Many remember the ethanol boom in the 2000s that resulted in a run up in corn prices and a large supply of corn ethanol coproducts (distillers grains, corn steep, etc.). The beef industry adapted by replacing corn in feedlot rations and using distillers grains in supplements for cows and calves grazing pasture.  

During the ethanol process, corn starch is fermented to ethanol resulting in the distillers grains consisting of the corn hull, protein, and fat making it an excellent feed source for cattle. The hull is a highly digestible fiber that works well in supplements for cattle consuming high forage diets as it does not decrease rumen pH like starch and consequently decrease forage digestion. If dried correctly, the protein in distillers grains provides a good balance of rumen degradable and undegradable protein, and the fat increases the energy value without negatively affecting forage digestion as it is not free oil. 

The new wave of renewable energy is focused on biodiesel, which at this point is primarily coming from production of oilseed crops – soybeans, canola, cottonseed, etc. Thus, we expect to see a shift in acres of oilseed crops replacing acres of corn. Reduced production of corn will again increase the price of corn as ethanol and livestock vie for the lower supply. However, the increased crush of oilseeds will result in a larger supply of coproducts from these manufacturing processes. The supply of oilseed meals – soybean meal, cottonseed meal, and canola meal – will increase making them more cost effective for cattle diets and supplements. Additionally, soybean hulls are a high fiber coproduct of the soybean crushing process. 

Potential nutritional deficiencies exist with replacing distillers grains with oilseed meal and soybean hulls in beef cattle diets. Soybean hulls are a highly digestible fiber like distillers grains, but lack protein and fat; thus, have a lower energy value than distillers grains (Figure 1). Oilseed meals are high in protein (soybean meal = 54%; cottonseed meal = 45%; canola meal = 41%), but obviously low in fat. Thus, coproducts of the oilseed crushing process lack some nutritional aspects of distillers grains. 

A recent study evaluated replacing distillers grains in a feedlot finishing ration with a combination of soybean meal and soybean hulls. In this study, there was no difference in cattle performance or carcass quality between treatments. Thus, a combination of soybean meal and hulls was able to adequately replace distillers grains at 15% of a dry rolled corn diet. Further research is needed to evaluate these types of scenarios in various diets and production systems. 

In conclusion, feed ingredient availability is changing, which will affect diet formulations for drylot cattle and supplements for pasture cattle. The availability of distillers grains may decrease and ethanol manufacturing may look to remove the fat and protein from distillers grains for more valuable markets in order to offset the increased cost of corn. However, the availability of coproducts from oilseed manufacturing will increase and can, at least partially, replace the nutrients in distillers grains. 

Figure 1. Nutrient profile of distillers grains (DDG), soybean hulls (SBH), and soybean meal (SBM). NDF = neutral detergent fiber; ME = metabolizable energy. 

After the Abstract: Enrofloxacin Treatment of Acute Anaplasmosis

Join Dr. Brian Lubbers and Dr. Brad White on this episode of After the Abstract where they discuss the paper titled: Clinical effectiveness of enrofloxacin 100 mg/mL injectable solution for the treatment of acute anaplasmosis in cattle caused by Anaplasma marginale.

Clinical effectiveness of enrofloxacin 100 mg/mL injectable solution for the treatment of acute anaplasmosis in cattle caused by Anaplasma marginale

After the Abstract is recorded with the goal of assisting veterinarians in the interpretation of scientific literature.  This podcast is not an endorsement of specific practices and medical decisions should only be made in consultation with your veterinarian. 

** Baytril CA-1 is no longer marketed for use in the US.

Beef Advocacy, Defining Sustainability, Beef Checkoff Research

Welcome to BCI Cattle Chat!  Please click on any links below to be taken to sources mentioned in the podcast. Keep an eye out for news regarding the podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

4:21 How to be a Beef Advocate?

11:28 Sustainability is it Important to Me?

17:35 Checkoff-funded Beef Nutrition Research
Kansas Beef Council Research

Guests: Abby Heidari, Director of Nutrition at Kansas Beef Council
Grace Jacobson, Communications Coordinator at Kansas Beef Council  

For more on BCI Cattle Chat, follow us on Twitter at @The_BCIFacebook, and Instagram at @ksubci. Check out our website, ksubci.org. If you have any comments/questions/topic ideas, please send them to bci@ksu.edu. You can also email us to sign up for our weekly news blast! Don’t forget if you enjoy the show, please go give us a rating!

A Case of Bloat?

When discussing bloat in cattle, there are many types, each requiring different treatment options. Hear from Dr. Matt Miesner and Dr. Brad White as they discuss an odd case of bloat on this week’s episode of Bovine Science with BCI.