Lifetime impact of early life nutrition on BeefxDairy crossbred steers
Animal Science
Denise Schwab
Extension Beef Specialist
Iowa State University
Vinton
Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine how early life nutrition, specifically starch or fiber, impacted performance later in life. One-hundred-twenty day-old beefxdairy steers were fed either a high-starch (HS) or low-starch (LS) starter ration for 60 days in the nursery, then weaned and moved to a receiving trial for another 60 days where they were fed either a pelleted (PEL) ration or a forage-based TMR ration. Following the receiving trial, all were fed a common growing ration for 140 days, then moved to a finishing yard and fed a common finishing diet for 200 days. In the calf nursery stage, the HS calves ate significantly more grain (0.99 vs 0.95 lb/day) and had a numerical advantage in weaning weight (179.8 vs 177.7 lb) compared to the LS calves. In the receiving trial the pellet-fed calves consumed almost double what the TMR calves ate and ended with a heavier weight at the end of the 60-day trial. However, a month later the weight difference had narrowed and there were no performance differences between groups in intake, gain or weight in the growing or finishing phases. All calves were marketed at 465 days of age. Steers graded 15% Prime, 66% CAB, 15% low Choice and 4% Select with no difference in the quality or yield grade between groups. The low-starch TMR group had numerically heavier carcass weight and 20 percent fewer liver abscesses and rumen condemnations. Beefxdairy steers in this project only averaged 19 percent liver abscesses, which is well below other reports of beefxdairy steers. The biggest impact from a carcass merit and gain perspective was from multiple treatments for respiratory issues. Calves that were treated two or more times had a significantly lower daily gain in the finishing phase, resulting in a 29-lb lighter carcass weight, and returned $91 less compared to non-treated animals. When combining the slight differences in feed intake, feed efficiency and increased weights, the LS-TMR group had numerically higher carcass value.
Authors: Denise Schwab
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Denise Schwab Extension Beef Specialist, Iowa State University Extension, Iowa, 52349