Nutrition Impacts Feedlot Health, Part 3: Receiving Nutrition By: Jeremy Martin, PhD, Great Plains Livestock Consulting Inc. and Zeb Prawl, Zinpro
So far in this series, we have looked at prenatal and preweaning nutrition and how that affects the later feedlot performance of calves. Nutritional management during the receiving phase at the feedlot is often debated between feedlot personnel, nutritionists and veterinarians – and is the phase that is probably the highest stress for both calves and the people responsible for their well-being. In a perfect world, all calves received at a feedlot would be from well-managed cowherds with no shortage of nutrition or immunization prior to arrival and would possess the disposition, genetics and health status we all desire. Since that will likely never happen for us, this article focuses on how we can do the best job of receiving cattle that are unweaned prior to arrival. Regardless of your specific nutrition program, cattle comfort is a key point in receiving calves. This begins with access to fresh, clean water immediately after unloading. Your first contact with the calves during unloading, weighing, and penning is an opportunity to both evaluate the cattle and begin to acclimate them to your feedlot and your crew. Do not take these steps lightly. Discuss them with your consultants to ensure the comfort and health of the cattle is being maintained at every step. Pens should be well prepared for new cattle with manure removed, holes filled and bunks and tanks clean. If pen conditions are less than ideal due to moisture, provide bedding so calves stay clean and dry. In the summer, bedding calves as an aid in preventing heat stress may be a good idea if shades are not present. In terms of nutrition, the first step is just getting calves to eat, and they generally will not eat if they are thirsty. Make sure calves are finding the tanks and are willing to drink out of them. You may have to utilize tanks similar to what calves are accustomed to in some cases. The next step should be to get the calves an initial feeding of clean, highly-palatable grass hay free of mold, stickers and dust. This stimulates intake, helps calves find the bunk and helps equalize differences in gut fill to make sure calves are all starting on a level playing field. Protein concentration in receiving rations varies substantially based on feedstuffs available, but protein generally needs to be higher in receiving rations to account for the limited intake expected from newly weaned calves. pacdvms.com 21
