feeding recipient cows
- Thread starter Hodgie76
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justintime
Well-known member
I have found that a good mineral is essential. I don't think it is real important as to what you feed, providing it is good enough to flush the recips. What I have found is really important is that the recips go back on the same ration after being implanted as they were on before. So if your recips are on grass prior to implantation, put them back on grass afterwards, and if they were dry lotted prior to implanting, put them back in the dry lot on the same ration afterwards. I have found my pregnancy rates have increased substantially since I started doing this. I used to dry lot my recips prior to implanting simply because it was handy for me, and once they were implanted I would kick them out on pasture. I really had a mixed bag of results. Once I stayed with the same program, my preg rates improved.
Thanks for the info. We are planning on feeding a mixture of soybean meal, corn, and a vitamin mix at 1% of body wt. We will also feed high quality mineral that is made locally by a nationally known manufacturer at 3oz. per head per day feed free choice. If they do not eat 3 oz. I will add molasses to the mineral to increase consumtion. The cows will get two flakes of high quality alfalfa orchard grass hay and graze a brome grass clover pasture. The implanting will be done by a vet traineed by a nationally known company. We will use cows 4 to 6 yrs. old as recips. Any other sugestions for a first timer?
firesweepranch
Well-known member
pds said:
Funny you say that. We switched to VitaFerm concept-aide this fall (September) and our conceptions have been better than years past. We put in 4 embryos, all stuck. We have had 70% conceptions on our AI, and the ones that cycled back after 21 days were all bred to the same AI sire. We have bred those back for a second AI attempt, and most are due in next week so we will see.
Our recips are all fed the same as our regular cows. We just had an embryo calf tonight, in this freezing cold weather (snow, with -20 expected Sunday night.... unheard of in SW MO!), she was 10 days early and weighed 66 pounds. A Steel Force x Extra Nice cow - she has two brothers showing in Denver this year so we are pretty excited!
AAOK
Well-known member
pds said:
All cattle should be on a Good, Complete free choice mineral every day of the year! The absence of proper mineral balance is the cause of most problems.
More info------all our cows have been on a free choice quality mineral program 365 days a year for 40 plus years. The mineral has worked well for us, it made by a nationally known feed manufacturer ------ if the cows do not eat 3 oz. per head per day we add soybean meal or molasses to up the consuption ----------Hodgie76
