Cow's Age Plays Factor in Considering Nutritional Needs

Yesterday we began a conversation with Washington State University Extension Regional Livestock Specialist Dr. Don Llewellyn about the many factors surrounding the nutritional needs of your cattle herd. Today, Dr. Llewellyn shares more how the age of a cow fits into your herd's nutritional assessment. He says separating your herd by age — if possible — can be beneficial.

Llewellyn: "If your young cows — say your first or second calvers — are still growing, trying to mature as well as produce a calf. This is the group that is most at risk for reproductive failure. So we may have more difficulty in keeping them in acceptable body condition. It may mean that we have to separate those young cows out. They may not compete as well as the older cows at the feed bunk. Sometimes from an economic standpoint — even if it takes a little bit more feed — we can recover that by those young cows have less chance of reproductive failure and also being at the point where they need to be culled. We all know that that the cost of a heifer or the cost of development of a replacement heifer is a huge investment for producers. So we want to be able to protect that investment."