Listing the ins and outs of suckler herd winter housing
Paddocks have been grazed out really well lately, which will help with grass quality next spring.
However, at this time of the year, you must appreciate that grass is low in dry matter and, as a result, total dry matter intakes are declining for all stock. This means that animal performance will not be what it had been earlier in the year. This must be taken into account when deciding what animals should remain out to graze it.
Many suckler farmers will have few if any of their stock indoors.
However, housing is not far away, once all of the grass has gone, or weather conditions deteriorate further.
Management of a suckler herd changes a lot once they go indoors.
Most sucklers seem to calve without assistance when outdoors. Indoors, however, with less exercise and a typically lower plane of nutrition, cows are often slower to calve and sometimes require assistance.
Autumn cows with calves at foot must be fed accordingly. Try to supply sufficient energy for milk production, remembering that she is soon to be put back in calf.
If spring calving cows are in good condition at housing, their diet should aim to maintain that condition up to drying off, and the dry cow’s condition should then be maintained right up to calving.
A silage test will allow you to devise the nutritional requirements more accurately for both purposes.
If the silage is top quality, intakes may need to be restricted. If silage is not of great quality, supplementation may be required to maintain cows. Mineral supplementation is also very important in the dry period; a good quality mineral should be fed for at least five weeks before calving.
Once autumn cows and calves head indoors, it is important that calves are managed well to optimise weight gain and animal health. Keep creep areas well bedded with plenty of deep, clean straw.
Ensure that there are minimal draughts in the creep area. Calves should also have access to clean water in their creep area, particularly if they are on meal and are eating straw.
Start to creep feed autumn calves once housed; this will help to increase calf performance while also helping the cow to go back in calf. The creep feed should be made up of top quality ingredients, and be very palatable, to encourage good intakes.
Don’t over-populate creep areas, as this will cause unnecessary stress to smaller/younger calves. These calves may spend less time in the creep area, and be at increased risk of injury/illness if they lie down more in the cow accommodation, rather than in the safety and comfort of their own area.
If your herd has a history of scours indoors, it might be worth discussing a scour vaccination programme with your vet. Remember there is an ideal time-frame before calving in which you should vaccinate for maximum protection against scour in your new-borns. You must also get sufficient colostrum into the calf in time in-order for the antibodies to be transferred to the calf.
Suckler cows need good feet to function properly. If they can’t stand well, their food intake suffers.
Cows with poor feet are harder to see bulling, because they don’t stand in heat for as long. If any cows have long hooves or are showing any signs of lameness, it is critical that their feet are attended to before housing.
