Nutrition and Management of Newly-Arrived Cattle

Abstract

The key to success in starting new cattle is setting realistic goals and objectives. For most producers the primary goal is to maximize profit. With this goal, objectives are needed for death loss, morbidity, medical cost, weight gain, feed conversion and cost of gain.

One difficulty in setting goals and objectives in a starting program is the moving target. Each new group of cattle offers a unique challenge. Another problem is that valid objectives are often not compatible. For example, the ration that results in the best weight gain and feed conversion may not give the lowest morbidity and mortality.

Despite these difficulties, producers should define goals and objectives in writing. Then a detailed plan is needed for each group of new cattle. Plans will be similar in basic structure, yet flexible enough to suit each circumstance.

In a nutritional program, the fundamentals are easily defined. Simply stated, proper nutrition is 1) defining animal requirements, and 2) satisfying those needs with appropriate feedstuffs. Although the fundamentals are easily stated, they are challenging to implement because many variables influence animal needs and feed quality.