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Target Age and Weight When Breeding Beef Heifers

To maintain its size, a beef herd’s annual replacement rate typically equals the number of cows that exit annually due to death, marketing, or culling. A typical replacement rate of 15% has been suggested.

Postpartum management of beef cows

Throughout this calving season it is important to remember that continuing proper cow management is necessary for your cows to have a successful, tight calving window next year. One of the most effective ways to manage the post-partum interval is to maintain the body condition scores (BCS) of your herd.

Lamb and Kid Care – the First 72 Hours

Rosie Busch, DVM, UC Davis Cooperative Extension, will cover the common presentations for sick kids and lambs within the first few days of life and practical methods to increase the likelihood of a positive outcome.

Herd Additions Are Risky: How to Mitigate Biosecurity Risk

As the gavel falls on your cattle purchase, do you really know what you bought? Herd additions have inherent risk. Every movement of cattle onto your cow-calf operation—be they cows, heifers, calves, or bulls—brings biosecurity risks to your farm. It is critical to isolate new additions so that any sickness they break with is not shared with your home herd.

Hay Analysis Guide for Beef Cattle: Determining Winter Feed Needs

Winter feed costs typcially represent the largest portion of cow/calf expenses. A hay analysis is important to determine if hay will meet a cow herd’s nutrient requirements during winter. This factsheet will cover interpreting a hay analysis and to calculate winter feed needs.

Don’t overlook nutritional needs of 2-year-old cows

A frequently heard recommendation for beef farms is to separate the 2-year-olds and thin cows from the main herd during the winter-feeding period. Three-year-olds may also benefit from being in this group because they are still growing. This is important every year, and likely even more important during years of limited forage resources.