Starting Rations and Procedures for Stressed Calves

Abstract

Many interstate and intrastate shipments of yearlings and calves occur each year throughout the United States. Because they have been exposed to a wide range of conditions, it is difficult to decide on which rations and management techniques should be used to obtain efficient, economical gains. These studies were designed to help develop procedures and starting rations for stressed calves so that some of the above management decisions could be made with a higher degree of confidence. In summary, calves performed better when fed a ground alfalfa hay ration. Yearlings performed best on the corn silage ration. Therefore, results from these trials substantiate results from other studies that suggest that prior nutrition (feeding regime) of cattle greatly influence their adaptability to various rations. These results indicate that stressed calves undergoing weaning stress seem to adapt and perform better on ground hay rations while cattle past the stresses of weaning appear to perform well on either corn silage or ground hay rations.