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 New research from University of Illinois animal scientists and
I-BELIEF students shows cow-calf pairs can be managed in drylots
throughout the summer grazing period with few negative
consequences.
“When we extended the drylot phase throughout the summer, we
were able to get excellent performance on our drylot cows. They
maintained body weight and body condition and had good
reproductive rates. Everything was excellent in that regard.
Calves on the drylot had increased performance throughout the
pre-weaning phase, as well,” says Dan Shike, associate professor
in the Department of Animal Sciences at U of I and lead
researcher on the study.
The team compared Angus × Simmental cow-calf pairs on pasture
and in drylots – in this case, concrete lots and open-front
sheds with bedding – between May and August, repeated over two
years. Broadly, they looked at growth performance, lactation,
locomotion, and calf behavior at weaning and during the feedlot
receiving period.
“Producers who want to explore drylotting have a lot of
questions, so we tried to tackle as many of the big-picture
answers as we could,” Shike says.
In the drylot, cows were limit-fed a standard TMR maintenance
diet, but calves had free access to the same diet in an adjacent
creep pen. Pairs on pasture grazed available forage, with calves
nursing and eating a processed creep feed three weeks prior to
weaning.
The research team expected cows and calves to do as well or
better in the drylot, and that’s just what they found.
“The cows in the drylot performed exactly as we intended because
we had more control over their environment and were able to
formulate a ration to meet their nutritional needs. The cows in
the pasture are really at the mercy of the weather,” Shike says.
“Consequently, the cows on pasture had lower body weight and
body condition score compared to cows in the drylot.”
Calves did better in the drylot than pasture, again because of
the controlled diet and environment. When it was time for
weaning and shipment to the feedlot, pasture-raised calves were
significantly smaller than their drylot-raised counterparts.
“We anticipated the pasture-raised calves would have
compensatory gain, and they did. They had higher rates of gain
and tended to be more efficient in that receiving phase,” Shike
says. “But, even after 42 days, they hadn’t caught up because
they started so far behind the drylot calves in weight.”
Pasture-raised calves were brought into the drylot for weaning,
where they had nose-to-nose access to their mothers in adjacent
pens. Calves raised in the drylot stayed in place, but were
separated from their mothers by a fence. Drylot calves seemed
somewhat less stressed at this phase, according to behavioral
indicators including vocalization, eating, walking, and lying
down.
After six days of weaning, calves were
transported 170 miles from the Orr Agricultural Research and
Demonstration Center in Baylis to the U of I campus farms to
begin the feedlot phase.
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Surprisingly, pasture-raised calves showed fewer
signs of stress during feedlot receiving than their drylot-raised
counterparts.
“We were thinking if they're in a drylot, they're already used to an
intensive system. Maybe that will help them transition to another
intensive system like the feedlot. But it didn't give them an
advantage. That was probably one of our more surprising findings,”
says Josh McCann, assistant professor in animal sciences and
co-author on the study.
“We think calves on pasture may have adapted faster to the feedlot
because they had already gone through one transition – from the
pasture to pen at weaning – and because being on pasture gives them
more physical separation from their moms. We could imagine they were
more mentally prepared to be separated when shipped to the feedlot.
For the drylot pairs, it's like when your kids stay home with you
all day, sending them off to school becomes a little more stressful
at first.”
The researchers say producers should consider a few potential risks
associated with drylotting. In the study, they found a higher
incidence of foot and leg issues, including lameness and problems
with locomotion.
Shike says, “The dairy industry certainly experienced more issues
with feet and legs as they intensified and moved cows into
confinement. The beef industry will have to pay attention to this
issue as well, but there are things we can do in terms of how we
manage bedding and drainage. Even though we had to treat some cows,
it ultimately didn't impact body weight, body condition, or
reproduction. There was some labor and expense associated with
treating them, though.”
Although the team didn’t conduct an economic analysis, McCann notes
the cost of treating locomotion issues isn’t the only expense to
consider.
“An intensive system requires more labor and, of course, there’s the
cost of feed,” he says. “There wasn’t much of a downside to the
drylot system for animal performance, but producers will want to
look at the economic tradeoffs for their individual operations.”
The study, “Effects of housing beef cow-calf pairs on drylot or
pasture in the Midwest on production parameters and calf behavior
through feedlot receiving,” is published in the Journal of Animal
Science [DOI: 10.1093/jas/skab357]. The research was funded by the
Iowa Beef Council Industry. The USDA-supported Illinois Beef
Experiential Learning and Industry Exposure Fellowship (I-BELIEF)
funded two student authors, Keifer Sexton and Lucas Hofer.
[Sources: Dan Shike, Josh McCann
News writer: Lauren Quinn] |
