Select Sires

Energy Balance and Dry Matter Intake
(Part Two)
Transcript of Select Sires' Reproductive Moment Program
on DairyLine Radio Which Aired March 24, 2005
With Ray Nebel,
Extension Specialist and Professor of Reproductive Management,
Virginia Tech

This week’s Reproductive Moment is with Ray Nebel, Extension Specialist and Professor of Reproductive Management at Virginia Tech.

We pick up, Ray, from last week where you talked about Energy Balance and Dry Matter Intake and its effect on reproduction. The way to monitor that is through body condition scoring. You said that when a cow is dry and getting ready to calve the score should be around three and a quarter to three and a half, and then the cow should lose about a point going from calving to breeding. So, the question is: what do you do if that scoring is out of the norm?

The nutritionist has to be involved so that we look at the total ration. We try to look at dry matter intake, what the available feeds are, the time at the feed box, body condition scoring. Are the cows too thin when they go out of lactation before the dry period, at which late lactation is where we usually have the time to catch up and put body condition back on. But, the nutritionist really needs to look at the energy in the ration itself, the palatability of the rations, and availability of the ration that the cow is eating. We normally say that there are actually three rations that are being fed on the farm. There is one that is formulated, the one that is put out there to the cows, and the one that the cows are actually eating. So, the whole point of today’s talk is that the nutritionist is a valuable part of this productive team, and that we keep energy balance and body condition scoring in line so that we can get a good reproductive performance.

This body condition scoring should be done throughout, I mean, how often do you keep score and is it from the very beginning of calving all the way to the end of breeding, or just monitoring that on a regular basis?

There are key events, and it has to be when we have an event that we can key off of, like calving. Usually it is about a week after calving. Right at calving is usually one of the most dramatic times in her life and she doesn’t look the best. If you think about that time and everything that is involved in the calving, about a week after calving is the first score. Then, at breeding is the next score. Usually at pregnancy we can see how much we have lost. And sometime in late lactation or at dry-off is the next scoring. So, we usually only monitor her to get a score probably four times during her whole cycle: when she calves, when we breed her, late lactation, and then at dry-off. Those are the key times. One of the things that is normally missed, we need to write that down somewhere. Too many times we come in and say, "Well, the herd looks a little thinner than it did six months ago." But unless we actually have the numbers down to say that this group averaged a three and a half, and now they are averaging a 2 point seven five, then we won't have a control of it. Again, like almost anything, we need to write down and monitor.

Obviously, good management skills are essential.

Correct. It is a team effort. Everyone has got to be pulling in the same direction. The nutritionist fits in there, the guy that is thawing the semen and breeding the cows, and the guy that actually picks out the semen for the bulls that are identified to be used. The whole team has to work together. There is a little saying, "You don’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you have been." So keeping those records to know where you have been really helps to track the where you are going.

Thank you, Ray. That’s Ray Nebel, Extension Specialist and Professor of Reproductive Management at Virginia Tech.

Select Sires Inc., 11740 U.S. 42 North, Plain City, Ohio 43064 / Phone: (614) 873-4683 Fax: (614) 873-5751