Breeding Management, Farming Equipment, Tags

Weighing to Reveal Health, Nutrition and Genetic Improvements

Posted on by Reece Thomson
07
Jan
Accurately recording an animal’s weight has become easier with modern handling equipment such as cattle crushes, weigh platforms, and squeeze crates fitted with digital scales. When integrated with EID panel or stick readers, these systems enable meaningful data capture such as weight, that provides valuable insights for livestock producers. In the UK, capital grant schemes also regularly support the purchase of digital weighing and EID solutions.
Ian Norbury is an AHDB Strategic Farm and the @Mobberleyangus beef brand is now achieving a reputation for quality beef through local butchers and pub chain outlets alike with proven provenance of the meat giving higher returns. 
 

“The Tru-Test XR5000 is a game changer, collecting and delivering as much or as little information as you want. I like to see Daily Liveweight Gain, Average Liveweight Gain, Sire / Dam, UK Tag number and health status”. 

Ian weighs every animal off the farm too when selling to abattoir or for breeding, he then stays to see them graded so he can get a good idea of confirmation and carcass quality and ensure that the sire and confirmation are working for him.  

“I use the Datamars Livestock app and needed 0.8kg of DLWG not 1kg DLWG last winter on my store cattle in order to meet my month and weight goal, which is to kill between 16 -22 months, this saves on concentrate usage and saves money.  We utilise this information talking to our feed supplier and fine tune our ration.  By weighing every three weeks, a clear indication can be seen onscreen from the graphs seeing if the feed is delivering what we hope. Regular weighing at Mobberly also reveals any underlying health or nutritional deficiencies quickly so intervention can take place sooner”.

By staying with the bulls at kill and seeing them graded he can see how his weights are comparing to the end kill weight, plus he can see more from his Sire & Dam when a carcass is hanging up as Ian is striving for a more efficient cow who eats less but still produces quality offspring.

Weighing & Health

A host of symptoms indicate poor health, but a key indicator is Daily Liveweight Gain (DLWG) which can reveal an underlying issue in a group or an individual often before other symptoms become apparent and more serious. Respiratory disease in housed cattle such as pneumonia and Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus can see animals take 14 days longer to reach breeding weights and average DLWG reductions of 200g+ per day. Increasing days taken to slaughter and poorer carcase classification (Source; AHDS Better Returns).

The degree of a parasite burden can also be determined by regular weighing backed by other symptoms, pasture history and Faecal egg counts (FEC) etc. Weighing pre-treatment also makes sure that treatment is delivered correctly. Treating to the heaviest in the mob and splitting the group by weight if necessary. This ensures product efficacy and reduces the risk of resistance build up. The most common cause of underdosing sheep is by estimating bodyweights (Source; SCOPS).

Weighing along with Body Condition Scoring (BCS) is also useful in planning and monitoring the condition of the flock pre-tupping and this can even pre-empt an early weaning decision to ensure ewes are in the right condition and if possible, on a rising plain of nutrition pre-tupping.

BCS and weighing in cows can also help to determine a weaning decision for sucklers if cows may require more costly supplementary feed to get them back to optimum condition pre-bulling. Along with producing a healthy calf with enough good colostrum post calving. In dairy units, drying off sooner to help cows regain weight and monitoring of this along with BCS helps confirm their feed regime is succeeding to get them back to their optimum condition before calving too. 
 

Weighing & Nutrition

Attributing the real cause of poor DLWG can be a related health issue as discussed, but also a nutritional deficiency. A lack of fresh forage, or if the animals are housed, an inadequate ration can be a major contributor. It can also be a mineral deficiency too which may take more investigation. Looking at a pasture-based system, lambs at 8 weeks are receiving more nutrition from grazed grass that milk and so at this crucial phase, they are competing against their mothers too on the pasture (Source AHDS Better Returns)
Weighing can highlight issues and may dictate the timing of weaning if grass is tight. Enabling lambs to then be moved to forage aftermath offering nutrient rich high protein supplements and/or drench. The lambs can be kept on their required growth path and leaner ewes can start recovering so their BCS is improving in readiness for tupping.     
 

Poor lamb DLWG and other clinical symptoms scan point to trace element deficiencies in cobalt, copper, and vitamin E and selenium. Cobalt-deficient lambs can also have high levels of gut worms present (parasitic gastroenteritis or PGE) requiring anthelmintic treatment. Often, a relationship exists between their cobalt deficiency and inability to internally manufacture sufficient vitamin B12 in the rumen due to their worm burden and heavy scouring for example. They also respond poorly to vaccinations and be more susceptible to clostridial diseases such as pulpy kidney and pneumonia. Supplements are extremely low in cost compared to production losses from poor growth and delays in finishing costing in excess of £10-£15 per lamb. (Source; NADIS).

Weighing & Genetics

Weighing and tracking performance can also identify key performers within the herd or flock so those genetic traits can be retained when breeding replacements. Or identifying which terminal sires are producing the best animals for resale.
 
Animals that produce offspring at an optimal birthweight, who then thrive and grow faster reaching maturity for finishing or breeding themselves ensure the livestock unit is becoming more efficient and profitable. Weighing of both cow and calf in suckler units reveals an extremely useful key performance indicator (KPI), the weaning index. A calf should weigh as close to 50% of the dam when weaned. During a 12-month period, 75% of feed consumed is used for maintenance by the animal so heavier cows need to perform or be culled out and their genetics not retained if breeding your own replacements (Source; Ian Cairns 5Agri).
 
 

In dairy units, weighing identifies animals that mature quicker and can enter the milking herd much quicker. Reared dairy heifers that thrive and grow faster can be weaned sooner without detriment to their development into a mature cow. Quicker weaning as long they are at the required target weight, aids rumen development as they are eating forage quicker and assists in their growth to their next weight KPI which is their bulling weight. Getting them in-calf at the correct weight when younger gets them to their first lactation and subsequent ones faster too. They also have more chance of remaining in the herd longer and fulfilling their genetic potential by reaching these key milestone weight KPI’s. 

 
Farm Resource Management (FRM) solutions from Tru-Test include EID Stick and Panel Readers. Weigh Scale Indicators with Load Bars help to establish the weight of animal quickly with Superdamp III technology capturing accurate live weights quicker than any other weigh scale indicator range. The Speedrite Electric fence range ensures maximum forage utilisation from your grazed grass. Livestock Identification Systems (LID) include EID tagging solutions with TagFaster and Z for Sheep offering accurate tagging and EID reading. Animal Health Delivery Systems (AHDS) from Simcro and NJ Phillips are highly accurate, many with High Flow Valves (HFV) for oral and pour-on application. The injector range offered are the result of close partnerships with the animal health industry, veterinarians and farmers globally giving maximum efficacy of any products administered.