Effects of Precalving Feed Level on Birth Weight, Calving Difficulty and Subsequent Fertility

Bellows, R. A.; Short, R. E.

doi:10.2527/jas1978.4661522x

Cited by 158 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Significant reductions in birth weight were caused by prolonged underfeeding of heifers from weaning until parturition (Wiltbank et al, 1965), and underfeeding of heifers and cows for the second and third trimesters (Ryley and Gartner, 1962;Hodge and Rowan, 1970;Freetly et al, 2000;Cafe et al, 2006b) or late pregnancy only (Hight, 1966;Tudor, 1972;Bellows and Short, 1978;Kroker and Cummins, 1979). The effect of nutritional restriction on birth weight was more pronounced in calves from heifers than those from cows when the period of restriction encompassed mid-and late gestation (Hennessy et al, 2002) rather than late gestation only (Tudor, 1972).…”

Section: Intrauterine Growth Retardationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Variation in feed energy available to the dam during this period resulted in differences in birth weight, ranging from 0 to 8.2 kg (Dunn et al, 1969;Tudor, 1972;Laster, 1974;Corah et al, 1975;Bellows and Short, 1978;Kroker and Cummins, 1979;Bellows et al, 1982). Similarly, variable protein supply of the diet during the third trimester may or may not (Anthony et al, 1986a;Holland and Odde, 1992) alter birth weight of calves, while restricted or supplemental dietary protein during early or mid-pregnancy had little effect on birth weights (Perry et al, 1999 and.…”

Section: Intrauterine Growth Retardationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prenatal and pre-weaning growth and nutrition of cattle: long-term consequences for beef production

Greenwood

Café

2007

Animal

150

113

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Severe, chronic growth retardation of cattle early in life reduces growth potential, resulting in smaller animals at any given age. Capacity for long-term compensatory growth diminishes as the age of onset of nutritional restriction resulting in prolonged growth retardation declines. Hence, more extreme intrauterine growth retardation can result in slower growth throughout postnatal life. However, within the limits of beef production systems, neither severely restricted growth in utero nor from birth to weaning influences efficiency of nutrient utilisation later in life. Retail yield from cattle severely restricted in growth during pregnancy or from birth to weaning is reduced compared with cattle well grown early in life, when compared at the same age later in life. However, retail yield and carcass composition of low-and high-birth-weight calves are similar at the same carcass weight. At equivalent carcass weights, cattle grown slowly from birth to weaning have carcasses of similar or leaner composition than those grown rapidly. However, if high energy, concentrate feed is provided following severe growth restriction from birth to weaning, then at equivalent weights post-weaning the slowly-grown, small weaners may be fatter than their well-grown counterparts. Restricted prenatal and pre-weaning nutrition and growth do not adversely affect measures of beef quality. Similarly, bovine myofibre characteristics are little affected in the long term by growth in utero or from birth to weaning. Interactions were not evident between prenatal and pre-weaning growth for subsequent growth, efficiency, carcass, yield and beef-quality characteristics, within our pasture-based production systems. Furthermore, interactions between genotype and nutrition early in life, studied using offspring of Piedmontese and Wagyu sired cattle, were not evident for any growth, efficiency, carcass, yield and beef-quality parameters. We propose that within pasture-based production systems for beef cattle, the plasticity of the carcass tissues, particularly of muscle, allows animals that are growth-retarded early in life to attain normal composition at equivalent weights in the long term, albeit at older ages. However, the quality of nutrition during recovery from early life growth retardation may be important in determining the subsequent composition of young, light-weight cattle relative to their heavier counterparts. Finally, it should be emphasised that long-term consequences of more specific and/or acute environmental influences during specific stages of embryonic, foetal and neonatal calf development remain to be determined. This need for further research extends to consequences of nutrition and growth early in life for reproductive capacity.

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Section: Intrauterine Growth Retardationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Intrauterine Growth Retardationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal and pre-weaning growth and nutrition of cattle: long-term consequences for beef production

Greenwood

Café

2007

Animal

150

113

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Restricting the ME intake by 17% (L v. H) had no effect on the behaviour of the cows, calving ease or calf birth weight. Other workers have shown that unless severe restrictions in feeding level (energy allowance) are applied, there are only minor effects, if any, of feeding level on calf birth weight (e.g., Bellows and Short, 1978;Russel et al, 1979;Bellows et al, 1982), with the main effect being on change in cow weight and CS. Thus this lack of effect on calf weight was in agreement with previous studies and suggests that, with cows in good condition initially, a moderate loss of CS over the winter may not be detrimental to cow productivity and calf welfare.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the welfare challenges to out-wintered pregnant suckler cows

Morgan¹,

McIlvaney²,

Dwyer³

et al. 2009

Animal

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Out-wintering beef cows reduces annual housing costs and bedding requirements and there is less exposure to diseases associated with housing. However, to counter these benefits cows may be exposed to conditions that pose a significant challenge to welfare, and ways of assessing this are required. Two feeding treatments were applied to four groups of 10 cows (two groups/treatment), one to maintain condition score (H) and the other to allow a modest loss of condition score (L), which is commonly applied in farm practice. Cow groups were rotated around four paddocks in a Latin Square design of four periods each of 3 weeks, and they were weighed and condition was scored at the end of each period. Their behaviour and location was recorded at 30-min intervals with six 3-h sessions in each period. Ambient temperature, wind speed, rainfall and solar radiation were recorded every 30 min to enable calculation of cow lower critical temperature (LCT). The climatic conditions were wet at the start of the experiment with moderate wind speeds throughout (5 m/s) and relatively mild ambient temperature (58C). Feeding treatment had no significant effect on any of the variables measured. Cows spent most of the observation sessions standing, particularly at the beginning of the experiment when the soil conditions were wettest. They sought sheltered locations when wind speeds were high and thus their calculated LCT was near or below ambient temperature. Nutritional models predicted periods of cold stress but the cows adapted their behaviour to counteract this, emphasising the need for a combined physical and behavioural approach to assessing welfare challenges.

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“…Diversos trabajos han descrito también diferencias en la reactivación ovárica postparto entre diversas razas. Cuando las vacas lecheras y las de carne se manejan de forma similar, criando también las lecheras, estas últimas tienen APP más largos que las de genotipo cárnico (Hansen et al, 1982), aunque también se han observado diferencias entre razas de vacas nodrizas (Bellows and Short, 1978). Sin embargo, estos efectos raciales son a menudo debidos a diferencias en la producción lechera o en la ingestión de alimentos.…”

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Management factors associated to the duration of postpartum anoestrus interval in Brown Swiss and Pirenaica beef cows

Sanz

Bernués

Casasús

et al. 2003

Span. j. agric. res.

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IntroducciónLa obtención de un ternero por vaca y año es el objetivo productivo de las explotaciones de vacas nodrizas.Los prolongados periodos de inactividad sexual son uno de los mayores limitantes del rendimiento reproductivo para obtener una buena rentabilidad en la explotación.Los sistemas de producción en áreas de montaña están sujetos a grandes variaciones tanto en la producción como en la calidad de los recursos pastorales que utilizan, limitando en ocasiones la recuperación de pe- ResumenPara determinar los factores de explotación relacionados con la reactivación ovárica postparto en vacas nodrizas se realizó un análisis global de una serie de indicadores productivos y la duración del anestro postparto (APP) de 549 vacas explotadas en condiciones extensivas. Debido a la naturaleza multifactorial del proceso en estudio se eligió la metodología estadística multivariante (Análisis Factorial de Correspondencias Múltiples y Análisis Cluster). La duración del APP estuvo asociada a cuatro factores que explicaron el 59% de la heterogeneidad inicial de la muestra y que se definieron como: «Alimentación preparto» (19% de la inercia), «Alimentación postparto-Edad» (16.4%), «Manejo del ternero» (13%) y «Dificultad al parto» (10.5%). Estos factores se introdujeron en un Análisis Cluster que identificó cinco grupos de vacas con características productivas y reproductivas diferentes, y que denominamos como: «Primíparas», «Acceso restringido», «Acceso Libre-Parda de Montaña», «Parto de otoño» y «Parto de primavera». La raza no estuvo relacionada con la duración del APP, aunque el análisis Cluster asoció los largos APP inducidos por la crianza libre con la raza Parda de Montaña. En la raza Parda de Montaña, la duración del APP fue mayor en primavera que en otoño debido a diferencias nutricionales más que a un efecto estacional en sí. El parto de otoño se adaptó mejor a las condiciones de montaña seca.Palabras clave: vacas nodrizas, anestro postparto, factores de explotación, análisis multivariante. Abstract Management factors associated to the duration of postpartum anoestrus interval in Brown Swiss and Pirenaica beef cowsA global analysis of several productive indicators and the postpartum anoestrous interval (PPI) of 549 beef cows was carried out to determine the management factors related with postpartum ovarian reactivation in extensive mountain farming systems. Multivariate statistic methods (Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis) were used to analyse the data due to the multifactorial nature of the processes involved. PPI was associated to four factors that explained 59% of the total inertia of the sample and were defined as follows: «Prepartum feeding level» (19% of the inertia), «Postpartum feeding level-Parity» (16.4%), «Suckling frequency» (13%) and «Calving difficulty» (10.5%). These factors were introduced into a Cluster Analysis that identified five types of cows: «Primiparous cows», «Twice-daily suckling», «Ad libitum suckling-Brown Swiss», «Autumn calving season» and «Spring calving seaso...

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Effects of Precalving Feed Level on Birth Weight, Calving Difficulty and Subsequent Fertility

Cited by 158 publications

References 8 publications

Prenatal and pre-weaning growth and nutrition of cattle: long-term consequences for beef production

Prenatal and pre-weaning growth and nutrition of cattle: long-term consequences for beef production

Assessing the welfare challenges to out-wintered pregnant suckler cows

Management factors associated to the duration of postpartum anoestrus interval in Brown Swiss and Pirenaica beef cows

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