Feeding the pregnant beef cow

Abstract

Nutritional management of beef cows during pregnancy is critical for both cow and calf health, as well as future fertility. Careful management of cow body condition throughout the year is vital to maintain good cow reproductive efficiency, as well as utilising body reserves during the winter to reduce feed costs. Regular body condition scoring is therefore key, and appropriate action should be taken with cows that are either too thin (below body condition score (BCS) 2.5) or too fat (over BCS 3.5). Forage analyses of grass silage is important for the assessment of forage stocks and appropriate supplementation. Metabolic profile blood testing of cows during the winter housing period for the assessment of energy, protein and mineral status can be a useful management tool to assess current nutritional status. This allows informed decisions to be made to correct nutritional problems before they harm cow and calf health, as well as future fertility.