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Transitioning calves from pasture to the feedyard can be a stressful process for cattle, but it doesn't have to be. Producers can minimize that stress, which will help calves respond better to vaccines, stay healthy, and start eating feed sooner.
In this blog post, you’ll learn top factors that cause stress and get three tips for reducing those stressors for your calves so you can protect your herd health and your livestock ROI.
Download our free guide 3 Tips to Precondition Calves for a Profitable Fall Run to learn actionable tips for transitioning calves from the ranch to feedlots.
Calves experience many firsts at the feedyard and may not always understand or cope well with what’s happening around them. Some of the main factors that contribute to their stress include:
Learning to eat from a bunk
Drinking from water tanks or automatic drinkers
No vaccinations pre-weaning
Coming off poor forage due to drought
Lighter placement weights
Gathering, sorting, and trucking
Shrink
Commingling with other calves
Having a transition plan in place can help minimize stressors on calves. Here are three tips to help set up your calves for success in the feedyard.
Securing enough labor to process the wave of cattle that comes in the fall is a big first step. It’s also important to train employees on low-stress handling techniques, such as not yelling or using loud equipment near them. This helps keep cortisol levels as low as possible, returning cattle to a normal immunological status as soon as possible so they more effectively respond to vaccines.
Implementing a vaccination protocol that accounts for the risk level of the calves arriving at the feedyard is another helpful step. Apart from any pathogens from their mother, they may not have had exposure to disease up until they were transported to the feedyard. While it’s a good idea to let them rest when they immediately come off the truck, make sure they are soon vaccinated. During fall run, it’s important to also have a deworming program in place.
When calves come off the truck, help them find water as soon as possible as they may be experiencing dehydration during their travels. Going forward, make sure there is always plenty of fresh water in easy-to-find locations for your herd. Dirt, bird droppings, and algae can easily contaminate water, so keep it clean so they continue to hydrate.
It’s a good idea to supplement microminerals to get calves’ immune systems off to a good start and ensure their diet includes high-quality forage. Probiotics may be helpful for nutrient absorption and general gut health, and enzymes may enhance feed components.
To help you protect your herd and your ROI, we put three top-tier tips for helping calves perform well in the feedlot in a guide that you can download for free here. In 3 Tips to Precondition Calves for Fall Run, you get insight into the importance of preconditioning your herd, insights on the products that can help during the fall run season, and information on improving feed efficiency.
Get your free copy of the guide here.
FBN offers a broad range of vaccines, dewormers, implants, and supplies for livestock producers, and we’ll work with your preferred veterinarian to obtain any necessary prescriptions. With convenient online purchasing options and fast, direct-to-farm delivery in three days or less, FBN offers a seamless and streamlined purchasing experience for all your animal health products.
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